April/May 2013 Pilot Discussion

[Claxon]

I, E. Allen Hemenway declare and state as follows:

1. I am the Vice President, Labor Relations for US Airways, Inc. (“US
Airways,” or the “Company&rdquo. Except where otherwise indicated below, I have personal
knowledge of the matters set forth in this Declaration and, if called as a witness, I could
and would competently testify thereto.

2. I understand that, in Count Two of the Complaint in this lawsuit, plaintiffs
allege that US Airways has breached the Transition Agreement’s implied covenant of
good faith and fair dealing by entering into the Memorandum Of Understanding
Regarding Contingent Collective Bargaining Agreement (“MOU&rdquo because the MOU
does not specifically require use of the Nicolau Award to integrate the seniority of the
East Pilots and the West Pilots as part of the overall US Airways/American Airlines pilot
seniority integration that would occur if the merger of the two airlines is consummated.

3. The Transition Agreement establishes a Board of Adjustment to hear and
determine disputes regarding the interpretation or application of the Transition
Agreement. Neither plaintiffs, nor any other US Airways pilots, have filed grievances
with the Company or otherwise attempted to invoke the Transition Agreement’s Board of Adjustment procedure with respect to the claim, described in Paragraph 2 of my
Declaration, that US Airways has breached the Transition Agreement by entering into the MOU.

4. Notwithstanding the language in the Transition Agreement which limits the
Board of Adjustment procedure to disputes initiated by US Airways or the US Airline
Pilots Association, US Airways is willing to process to arbitration under the Transition
Agreement any grievance filed by plaintiffs or any other individual pilots which asserts
the claim (described in Paragraph 2) that US Airways has breached the Transition
Agreement by entering into the MOU.


I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the United States of America,
that the foregoing is true and correct.
EXECUTED this 4th day of April, 2013, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
/s/E. Allen Hemenway

 

[Black Swan]

Yes you must have missed the fact that you RATIFIED a conditional CBA. The TA is still in full force but the "neutral" company wants the courts to be the bad guy. Silver may very well throw this right on top of Johnny come lately's lap and inform them to put on their big boy pants. She already told the company that if they really wanted to avoid any liability that they, "knew what to do" your lame duck rogue "union" has wasted more of what was supposed to be your money than anything else in your endemic "career".

Relax, the bleeding is about to stop. Someday, you'll thank Marty Harper for getting you that pay raise without further delay.

The Nicolau Award was an issue that was never implemented. It needed a West/East JCBA to implement it. That never came to pass. It was just like a piece of legislation from a previous legislative session of Congress that never hit the floor for vote, then a new Congress came in and never brought it to vote. You lost your chance by delaying a JCBA with the East over pay parity. It is that simple. That one stupid move kept the sides apart. I know for fact a lot of East pilots could care less what seat they were in if the pay was right. But the fact you kept their pay low through a negotiating strategy then forced on YOU their only option. Defy any JCBA with Nicolau in it as the attrition and captain upgrades were now the only options for pay raises. then you taunted us with it. Made your Nicolau even more of a rallying point. stupid.You never thought it would drag on this long did you? Took you right to the unexpected American merger. Your own personal black swan event. It literally crushed the Nicolau.
This is why Leonidas is freaking out. They know they are finished with no JCBA possibility with the East. None at all. You missed the boat Metro. You miscalculated and played your deck too long. The AA merger and MOU was the end of the Nic.
Marty Harper gave you the worst advice ever. And he also took you for 2 million in Addington 1. He is going to clip you again for at least another million because he missed the day in law school when they talked the RLA. His poor grasp of ripeness is laughable. The only one of you that gets ripeness on this board is Callaway. He needs to shake some sense into the rest of you.

 

[snapthis]

I hesitate to post on this thread, things have a way of spiraling into insults and flame wars.

But would like to draw a parallel to the Pan Am / National merger, while over thirty years ago; it was similar to the US/HP merger. Pan Am had a great many pilots on furlough, the Sun King airline had been expanding and had a relatively junior pilot corps. NA had captains who were hired after Clipper Skippers on furlough. DOH was considered unfair to the NA pilots; I must confess that I don't know the details , but IIRC that ALPA came up with some sort of slotting scheme that few were completely happy with, but did go into effect without too much nastiness. Of course, there was no internet back then, just graffiti in the loos of the crew rooms. Not nearly as effective!


There is a bit discussion of the issue in Robert Gandt's Skygods (which an excellent read and finally back in print). I'll try to dig up my copy.

Surely, someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Not flame bait.

I remember the Pan Am, Eastern days, flew the 727. I've been furloughed, had to start over. Not all of us were "rookies" when we came here. I did not fly for almost 3 years after my company shut down.

By Usapa's logic, I should just ignore those years like it never happened. Still employed but not flying is not longevity.

 

[traderjake]

Some of us still get crew meals. Actually, very nice crew meals...served on real plates, with metal utensils.

So, I say: "Seniority is like crew meals, at least when it comes to negotiating a contract." (The RLA agrees with me. Too bad about your point of view.)

The most of us don't get crew meals.

Where's the contract that contains the DOH seniority list some think USAPA is going to present to APA?

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Not flame bait.

I remember the Pan Am, Eastern days, flew the 727. I've been furloughed, had to start over. Not all of us were "rookies" when we came here. I did not fly for almost 3 years after my company shut down.

Were both PA and NA pilots ALPA? I think so, but could easily be wrong.

 

[Phoenix]

The most of us don't get crew meals.

Where's the contract that contains the DOH seniority list some think USAPA is going to present to APA?

Why would USAPA present a single DOH list to APA?

 

[snapthis]

Were both PA and NA pilots ALPA? I think so, but could easily be wrong.

You are correct:

On March 19, 1980, the four unions involved--the ALPA Master Executive Council ("MEC") for the Pan Am pilots, ALPA's MEC for the National Pilots, FEIA's Pan Am Chapter, and FEIA's National Chapter--agreed on a procedure for determining how to integrate the seniority lists. In the event that agreement on seniority integration should not be reached within a limited period arbitration was to be "mandatory," and "[t]he Award of the Arbitrator shall be final and binding as to all flight deck operating crew members and shall be defended by the parties." March 19, 1980, Agreement p 8(j).

 

[Zone5]

Yes you must have missed the fact that you RATIFIED a conditional CBA. The TA is still in full force but the "neutral" company wants the courts to be the bad guy. Silver may very well throw this right on top of Johnny come lately's lap and inform them to put on their big boy pants. She already told the company that if they really wanted to avoid any liability that they, "knew what to do" your lame duck rogue "union" has wasted more of what was supposed to be your money than anything else in your endemic "career".

Relax, the bleeding is about to stop. Someday, you'll thank Marty Harper for getting you that pay raise without further delay.

You have mistaken an opinion; that the MOU constitutes a "conditional CBA" in the context of the soon to be (at the POR) "former" OBE TA, for a fact; that the MOU constitutes a new "process" to eventually reach a JCBA between LCC and AMR. By the way, the JCBA process which will soon begin between the "new" AMR, the APA and USAPA, is not a given in terms of what it will ultimately look like. There will be further negotiations with the company based on a framework outlined in the MOU and the AMR contract, regarding the final CBA, possibly even subject to additional arbitration if agreement is not reached.

We will soon find out whether or not your opinion comports with that of Judge Silver. By the way, you do realize how Judge Silver became the Chief Justice in Arizona don't you? She was the most senior, by DOH, imagine that.

Marty Harper had nothing to do with getting anybody a pay raise, I already have one coming (assuming a POR happens) as called for in the ratified MOU. Did Marty vote for the MOU? Oh, that's right, he doesn't get to vote.


seajay

 

[Zone5]

The most of us don't get crew meals.

Where's the contract that contains the DOH seniority list some think USAPA is going to present to APA?

There are actually TWO contracts and DOH seniority lists that USAPA is going to present to the APA, you know, the only ones we have and have always used!


seajay

 

[Beancounter]

I'm still trying to figure out how USAPA is going to present a DOH list to the APA using the Nicolou list.
You can't rearrange the US list when you present a combined US/AA. List.
Bean

 

[Beancounter]

I should add; what's this idiotic talk that US had no furloughs at the time of the merger? We still do drug testing at US, don't we?

Bean

 

[Claxon]

Not flame bait.

I remember the Pan Am, Eastern days, flew the 727. I've been furloughed, had to start over. Not all of us were "rookies" when we came here. I did not fly for almost 3 years after my company shut down.

By Usapa's logic, I should just ignore those years like it never happened. Still employed but not flying is not longevity.

Are you claiming you flew for Pan Am or Eastern? Your post is misleading if you did not.

 

[traderjake]

Why would USAPA present a single DOH list to APA?

Because it's a merger between USAirways and American; not USAirways, American, and America West.

 

[Walmartgreeter]

There are actually TWO contracts and DOH seniority lists that USAPA is going to present to the APA, you know, the only ones we have and have always used!


seajay

Yep. "Two mints, two mints in ONE!"

This is not rocket science.' It does not matter if we present it in "one big list." All we are obligated to do by our CBA is to present EACH list with its appropriate DOH info. We are three groups merging, with two of them represented by USAPA. USAPA has represented the West Class for over 5 years. Why would that change now? We still have no JCBA East West, yet USAPA is still the bargaining agent.

M/B takes over from there.

Greeter

 

[Beancounter]

Not flame bait.

I remember the Pan Am, Eastern days, flew the 727. I've been furloughed, had to start over. Not all of us were "rookies" when we came here. I did not fly for almost 3 years after my company shut down.

By Usapa's logic, I should just ignore those years like it never happened. Still employed but not flying is not longevity.

I remember those kinds of stories, i flew with two ex-Pan Am guys at the commuter i was at. One thing i really remember, was that they both hated ALPA.

Bean