Strike Prep Committee Update
"May you live in interesting times" -- an ancient Chinese curse. It doesn't sound like much of a curse until you consider the interesting times that US Airways pilots are living in. We are enduring an unprecedented level of stress right now. For many of us, bankruptcy, foreclosure, divorce and even suicide are now a part of the vocabulary of being a pilot at US Airways. Life sure has changed. The blatant and vicious attacks on our profession will likely continue until we, the pilots, stand up to corporate tyranny.
We all know that we are the finest, most experienced and skilled pilots in the industry. Why on Earth should we be willing to accept anything less than industry-standard wages and working conditions? Are Southwest pilots better than us? How about AirTran, and the countless other carriers that make significantly more money and are treated with much greater respect and working conditions? Friends, it is time for us to make a concise and powerful statement that we will no longer tolerate unfair working conditions at our airline.
What should you do? There are many things that we must focus on as we move forward. First and foremost is the safety culture. With our pilots experiencing extreme levels of stress, we must make every effort to keep ourselves out of the red. We won't bore you with repeating the excellent advice from our outstanding USAPA safety team, other than to stress again that the life and death decisions we make each and every day must be taken with all deliberate consideration. We must MEET OR EXCEED the safety standards of the FOM and FARs in every single decision that we make.
We must present ourselves to the public as true professionals. We all know that many of our passengers choose to think that we are overpaid and have nothing to complain about, but we all know differently.
Team Tempe is gloating that our customer complaints are down, and they think that our level of service is just fine. We pilots are the eyes and the ears of our company, and we know differently.
As we move ahead, we are planning public media picketing events. The next one will take place in PHL on May 25. There will be training available at the airport Marriott conference room. The first training opportunity will be on May 24th at 18:00, and the next one will be at 08:30 on the day of the day of our picket -- May 25. The onsite briefing is scheduled for 10:30. Please show up a little earlier than that. The location of the picket orbit will be on the sidewalk outside the international ticket counter. We will march to that location at 10:45, and we expect to picket from 11:15 until 13:15. Pilots are encouraged to appear in full uniform -- fabric coats and hats. We know, you all hate your hats, but please remember it makes a better impression when all the pilots are in full uniform. Our media spokesmen and union officers will be there to speak with the media as we make a powerful statement to Team Tempe that the US Airways pilots have HAD ENOUGH.
A storm approaches, my friends.
Fraternally,
Rick Odato & Steve Smyser
Co-Chairmen of your USAPA Strike Prep Committee
In service to the professional pilots of US Airways