Well what's your opinion on this......
PHL and DCA Help AOL Take Aim At DOH
Fellow Pilots,
If the title of this letter got your attention it should! You likely recall the ill fated trip made to PHX by USAPA Executive Vice President Gary Hummel and Secretary Treasurer Rob Streble - a trip that was purportedly the product of factional alliance building. You may also recall the commiseration between some of the PHL representatives and the PHX representatives that preceded that trip. What these events have in common is Mike Cleary and those who are staunchly determined to do anything that they can to cause him political harm at any cost.
It isn’t any great mystery why the PHX reps want to disrupt Cleary and those who support him. It is becoming increasingly clear that the courts are not going to help them stop DOH given USAPA’s handling of the matter thus far. So they are focusing their attack on the people primarily responsible for those efforts so they will cease. By themselves the PHX reps can do little to achieve their goals in this area, however if they are able to cajole the support of at least three east reps then they can have their way. Conveniently for them there are strong political activists with deep rooted disdain for Cleary (and therefore for our goals) who are happy to lend a hand just for the chance to unseat the President or at the very least cripple him politically - all of this with an obtuse disregard for the potentially disastrous consequences it would have for our seniority battle and our fight for a fair contract - names like Dave Ciabattoni and Woody Manear come quickly to mind.
If you are wondering why on earth any east rep would dance with the devil and risk our primary objectives of DOH and an industry standard contract then you are not alone. Suffice it to say that the political opposition as mentioned above has an unusually large amount of influence with some board members and are using them to advance their goal of controlling the agenda of the union despite their inability to do so through open involvement in the process. The PHX reps are understandably more than happy to oblige because what the leadership is doing now has us winning and they desperately want it to stop. Leonidas is certainly enjoying the infighting and would be happy to see us saddled with a known high crime property and the attendant Tort liability.
These efforts have been afoot for some time and have been apparent for all to see on occasion. The most recent example, however, comes packaged in sheep’s clothing to be sure.You have to be paying very close attention indeed to see it for what it is. When Dave Ciabattoni was in office, he began an effort to move the USAPA headquarters into a larger facility to accommodate growth. In his search he became singularly focused on a property immediately adjacent to the Best Western Sterling on Woodlawn in CLT. Executive Vice President Gary Hummel, in what cannot be a coincidence has latched on to the very same property with rabid vigor.
Now you must be wondering what possible connection there can be between the USAPA office selection and politics. Well, Gary Hummel with the help of Rob Streble and the DCA and PHL reps, have turned this issue into a political football and they are hell bent to use it to ambush Mike Cleary.
The search for a new office has been narrowed down to two choices, the Woodlawn location and one near the Hyatt Place on Tyvola called Lake Point. Hummel has been bore sighted on the Woodlawn and has done everything up to and including deliberately hiding facts about the shocking safety issues there from the BPR. The Woodlawn facility is in a state of desperate disrepair with prolific water damage throughout the interior, a fact that is sure to cause the likelihood of dangerous mold at a minimum, and it is in the very middle of an area rife with violent crime. Last year alone there were more than 170 crimes committed within 1000 feet including rape, prostitution, assault with a deadly weapon and numerous other drug related crimes.
Hummel has given two incredibly in depth presentations to the BPR, at least one of which included tediously detailed crime statistics, and there was no mention whatsoever of the alarming rate of crime at Woodlawn. Even more startling is the fact that the alternative property near the Hyatt Place had only 7 crimes over the same period - that’s right more than 170 at Woodlawn and only 7 near the Hyatt and absolutely no mention by Hummel of this fact. He has deliberately hidden vitally important information from the BPR because he is determined to choose the Woodlawn location in the face of reasonable business practice and common sense. It should be noted that only one BPR member in favor of the Woodlawn has seen these facilities in person, the rest are going on Hummel’s word.
Hummel’s response to these facts? You might want to sit down for this one... he asserts that the crime rate, which he does not refute, is not a problem because the majority of these crimes occur after midnight - this is not a joke. Unbelievable!
There was a telephonic BPR meeting on Friday during which a number of people weighed in on the matter - the USAPA staff, general counsel, and our buyers broker realtor himself all made the case that the Woodlawn location was a non-starter by nearly every measure. The crime alone would not only place the USAPA staff and volunteers in harm’s way but would place the Association and the BPR members themselves in a position of serious liability. Yet they appear to be bent on proceeding just the same. How can this be?
It appears that there has been some big league lobbying going on between some of the reps and various outside political activists. In fact, the night before the BPR meeting select BPR members participated in a private conference call - to strategize? to build alliances? to formulate a plan to take aim at Cleary? Who knows but it reeks of old ALPA style behind closed doors power politics – get your majority before the meeting and make it happen at any cost. It places the goals of a DOH list and an industry standard contract at serious risk as it seeks to impede the effectiveness of the very man shepherding those endeavors.
The manner in which they intend to do so is the irony of ironies - Hummel et al, by selecting a property that fails to meet even the most basic of safety standards and which by the way is a mere $25,000 annual difference in cost compared to the alternative choice, and by deliberately hiding salient facts from the BPR has forced Cleary to intervene - his responsibility as president mandates it. Additionally Hummel’s obscenely obstinate disregard for decency and due diligence has forced the president to assert himself in a vigorous fashion that is emblematic of the criticisms the political opposition loves to throw at him.
So they force him to take a commanding stance on the situation and then plan to crucify him for it. It is shocking to say the least that these representatives are allowing themselves to be so blindly led by those who would have us fail in our principal goals but they are doing so nonetheless. Therefore the responsibility for bringing a halt to these foolhardy actions unfortunately rests with you, the line pilot.
The BPR meeting reconvenes tomorrow, Tuesday January 25 at 1700 - do not waste one minute. Call everyone you know, send this letter to every US Airways pilot on in your email address book. Pick up your phone and call your reps, call all of the reps and convince them that you will not allow them to play games with your seniority or your contract, send them emails to the same effect. Do not put this off; they need to hear from you before the meeting.
Captain Rich Peters
CLT AB
Their contact information is listed below.
officers@usairlinepilots.org
bpr@usairlinepilots.org
CLT
Bill McKee - Chairman
980-875-7644
ext. 4534
bmckee@usairlinepilots.org
Steve Crimi - Vice Chairman
980-875-7645
ext. 4533
scrimi@usairlinepilots.org
Dewitt Ingram-Vice Chairman
704-497-7246
ext. 4535
dingram@usairlinepilots.org
Send an email to the CLT representatives at
CLT@usairlinepilots.org
DCA
Joseph Stein - Chairman
704-264-6235
ext.4536
jstein@usairlinepilots.org
Pete Dugstad - Vice Chairman
980-226-0018
ext. 4556
pdugstad@usairlinepilots.org
Send an email to the DCA representatives at
DCA@usairlinepilots.org
PHL
Doug Burke - Chairman
980-875-7643 or
724-413-0738
ext. 4540
dburke@usairlinepilots.org
Roger Henriksson - Vice Chairman
704-458-5602
ext. 4541
rhenriksson@usairlinepilots.org
John DuBarry - Vice Chairman
980-875-7641
ext. 4542
jdubarry@usairlinepilots.org
Send an email to the PHL representatives at
PHL@usairlinepilots.org