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I said almost 5 years ago that cooler heads need to prevail and both sides needed to come together and work something out. Unfortunately, too many on your side said Nic or nothing. That left us nowhere to go but USAPA. Funny thing is, you might have had your Nic right now if you had agreed to a 5 year fence. (I know, I know. It was the principle of the matter or integrity, or something). You'd have been making more for the last 5 years, would have still had your union (no USAPA!!!), and you would not have spent 4 million in legal bills to Marty Harper. But there was no compromise. (I know, I know. The Nic was the compromise). Instead you are still trying to fight and hope that you get what you want. Good luck is all that I will say. You are fighting an uphill battle.
Lets just say you get the Nic after a protracted court battle. That means another 3 or 4 years before you get what you're fighting for. That's 3 or 4 more years of PHX stagnation. Meanwhile 99' hires will be upgrading to Captain on the A320 and new hires will be taking A330 F/O slots. Think you'll get the Nic sooner than that? I will wager $1000 that even if (a big if) you win (nic unaltered), it will be 3 more years (march 2016) before you see it. By then it won't matter anymore. I absolutely believe in your rights to sue. I just wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch.
Think APA is on your side? Here are a few samples of posts from C&R (the APA message board)....
Just something to think about.
Actually I remember you saying that "the courts will decide". That is what this "cooler head" is now waiting for. While I don't have a problem with "cooler heads", I do have a problem returning to the table and asking us to negotiate away from an agreed upon process. The Nicolau seniority list is the final product of that process. The company paid both ALPA bodies for that process, and the former collective bargaining agent delivered the list to Doug Parker. Doug Parker accepted the list and sent out a letter stating that it fell within the confines of the merger tenets. The ONLY reason that we have gone without a contract (let alone a second post merger contract like Delta), is that the east pilots pulled away from the joint collective bargaining table at the order of the AAA MEC. The only reason that we are now USAPA is because a small tribe of ALPA-haters put together a new agent with promises that it has yet to keep.
I don't mind paying Marty for his sound legal advise. There again we would be asked to again return to the table and negotiate away from the final and binding award. There was NO LEGAL vehicle tor do this. Then you would have asked for another 5 years, and another 5 years, and another 5 years (sound familiar? NWAL / Republic).
I would make the same argument that you did above: Had you accepted the Nicolau list, we would most certainly be on a second post-merger contract. You would have at least $175,000.00 more in your wallet, more time off, & a better contract for quality of life. Further, we would have been unrestricted in developing and growing this airline and really making decent profit sharing checks (had we all worked together and kept our word). We (the West Class) have been forced to protect ourselves against a larger group. We are keeping our word for the agreed upon process and trying to force you (and any other interested parties) to do the same.
I understand why you feel that you have spent good money to return to work from furlough after the merger took place. The problem that I have is that we (the West Class) are being forced to pay for your side and to protect our side. If this were truly a fair representation, you guys would fund the DOH position just like you are funding the pension investigation (IMHO).
Regarding quotes from APA (and other airline pilots), we could probably pull out snipits one-for-one all day long. The bottom line is that their opinion, Parker's opinion, Kirby's opinion, etc. don't matter. The opinion of the arbitrator(s) matter and the opinion(s) of the judges matter (all of the legal opinions ENTIRELY).
This won't last years. It will be much faster than that. "We" are now the minority. If I was USAPA, I would be A LOT more concerned about protecting ALL US Airways pilots going forward rather than spending all that time & $$ trying to sink the Nic.
