AWAPPA UPDATE
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
Fellow America West pilots,
The America West pilots often wonder when many East pilots, and in particular USAPA's self-appointed leadership, might finally realize (if ever) and accept certain facts about our current situation:
1) The company has placed a price tag on USAPA's proposed seniority list that the East pilots will never be willing to pay. As we've stated previously, despite the fact that the company many not publicly comment on their position in regards to the Nicolau Award, we wholeheartedly believe that the company will not accept USAPA's list unless USAPA indemnifies the company from litigation from the West and provides the company significant concessions (which of course would mostly come from the West contract).
2) USAPA will never achieve anything meaningful without the support of the America West pilots. Strength in numbers is a core union value that USAPA will never achieve so long as it views the West as a "disgruntled minority", and attempts to pursue their fantasy seniority list.
3) The court system will likely not agree with any of Lee Seham's legal assertions, nor have they so far. Yet, despite Seham's continued courtroom fumbling, Seham's firm was paid over $180,000 in just the first two months that USAPA was on property (source:
While it might be entertaining for many of us to sit back and watch USAPA continuously run head first into brick walls, we must take a step back from our own situation and ensure that we are not engaging in that same behavior. Meaning, it is of no value for our group to ignore certain realities of our situation if we ever intend to achieve our goals. To move forward, we must accept the following facts:
USAPA is our legally elected bargaining agent. We extensively explored all avenues to prevent the legal election of USAPA, however the fact remains that we were outnumbered in the vote (which is merely a circumstance rather than a virtue). However, along with the right that USAPA has to bargain on our behalf, comes numerous legal and ethical obligations.
USAPA has the right to collect dues and fees from America West pilots. Despite that fact that it was well within the company's right to require USAPA to renegotiate the union security clauses for both East and West contracts, the company chose permit USAPA to merely "inherit" that language. Although we are disappointed by the company's decision, it was not entirely improper, as both USAPA and the company similarly inherited the requirement to use the accepted Nicolau Award in the combined contract. Therefore, so long as certain rules are followed, USAPA does have the right to collect dues and fees from America West pilots.
Those are certainly unpleasant facts. However, as we mentioned, those benefits for USAPA come with strings attached in the form of laws, contracts, and ethical obligations that must be satisfied. The pilot group is already in court as a result of the breach of some of those obligations, may soon be in front of an arbitrator as a result of the breach of another. Also, legal options are currently being researched to correct other wrongdoings by USAPA. We are confident that all of these efforts on behalf of the AWA pilots will ultimately be successful.
We founded AWAPPA with the purpose of protecting the legal interests of America West pilots, and in particular, with the goal of defending the Nicolau Award. As we mentioned in a previous update, the Nicolau Award has become more of a backburner issue for us (AWAPPA) now that the company is disinterested in any sort of joint contract and because we are already in the court system over issues related to the Award. Despite the Nicolau Award being a backburner issue for us, we do stand ready at any moment to seek the immediate intervention of the legal system should the award be threatened. Therefore, our focus over the past several months has primarily membership and agency shop issues, and as you've seen, USAPA's flagrant disregard of labor laws and even their own Constitution has required us to take action.
In light of the recent changes to USAPA's Constitution, we are currently constructing an update that contains options and recommendations available to you in regards to USAPA membership and Section 29. We hope that you recognize that sometimes the most prudent advice does not win popularity contests, and that no matter what path each America West pilot chooses, we are all on the same side and in pursuit of the same goals.
History has repeatedly shown that little single-issue independent unions such as USAPA always fail, and particularly when they're represented by Lee Seham. Consider the following examples from recent history:
United Airlines Aircraft Mechanics - AMFA, a former client of Seham, displaced the IAM a few years ago. It failed miserably; United promptly subcontracted a huge number of mechanics' jobs with the result that thousands of United mechanics are on furlough. A recent NMB representation election recently replaced AMFA with the Teamsters.
Northwest Airlines Aircraft Mechanics - The independent union Seham represented displaced the IAM and later went on strike. The strike was a complete failure. All of the strikers were permanently replaced, mostly by subcontractors, and the actual mechanic class and craft that the independent union would in theory represent (if it actually had the support of the scabs, which it does not) would be a fraction of the original workforce.
Northwest Airlines Flight Attendants - Seham represented an independent flight attendant union which won a representation election against the Teamsters. Apparently the flight attendants concluded that this so-called union was unable to represent their interests, because after only a few years of representation it was ousted in an NMB election and the AFA now represents the Northwest flight attendants.
Continental Flight Attendants - USAPA's lawyer (through his actual paying client, a company called the McCormack Advisory Group) helped form an independent union for flight attendants in an effort to displace the IAM as the Continental flight attendant's union. The IAM sued the independent union, its officers, and McCormack for misappropriating IAM membership lists. McCormack consented to a judgment against it and paid damages to the IAM. The independent union and its officers ultimately settled with the IAM and those officers are now suing McCormack who is represented by USAPA's law firm. In other words, USAPA's lawyer's client in that case (McCormak) is being sued by the independent union that same lawyer helped start.
While our plight against USAPA may not be as quick and harm-free as we may like, be confident that so long as we remain unified against our common enemy, history clearly shows what will come of USAPA if it remains on its current path.
We urge you to stay tuned for our next update.
In solidarity, AWAPPA
