To all Midwest pilots on this board (Merger fund vote).

[IdRtherBsailing]

Trust your leadership.

I heard a wise man once say, "I trust my union only slightly more than I trust my company."

 

[PCL_128]

I heard a wise man once say, "I trust my union only slightly more than I trust my company."

And that man would be an idiot.

 

[CitationLover]

better yet revise the merger policy and get ALL major unions on board: ALPA, APA, SWAPA, IPA, NPA, Teamsters, etc.

Are we that dumb that we need lawyers (one notch above airline management in the pecking order) to "assist" us?

 

[TWA Dude]

then what is the point of having an official ALPA merger policy if it simply leads to pilots giving money to lawyers and you get the mess you have at Cactus versus Airways?

Whoa, dude, you're mixing non-related things together. First, asking why money is needed when ALPA has a policy is like asking why presidential candidates raise money when it costs nothing (or next to nothing) to get on a ballot. It's just not enough. I'm not putting you down but now is not the time to be asking such questions. It's a simple fact that if you merge with another ALPA carrier you will need funds.

Next, the mess we have with AWA/USA can't be blamed on money or the lawyers. ALPA Policy leads down a road that ends in binding arbitration. Both sides were fairly represented in front of the arbitrator so the fact that one side didn't get what they expected stems from issues intrinsic to them, not ALPA.

perhaps it is time to simply revisit and revise this policy (as it was revisited after the mergers in the mid 80's). a simple mathematical formula based on relative seniority seems the fairest to me (which the arbitrator at AWA/USAirways pretty much did).

I almost agree with you. While relative senority is probably fair for most I just don't like the idea of any fixed integration formula because it fails to account for the vagaries of each merger.

if alpa national is truly shredding documents, then good luck with your lawsuit. i flew with the "head case" quite a bit at eagle and heard every day about the evils of mergers.

Ha, I haven't heard about Head Case in a long while. Thanks for the wishes.

 

[PCL_128]

better yet revise the merger policy and get ALL major unions on board: ALPA, APA, SWAPA, IPA, NPA, Teamsters, etc.

I agree that merger policy should be changed. The problem is that you and I would never agree on how to set a specific merger formula, and every other pilot would have their own idea also. You could never get enough people to agree on a fixed formula. For instance, you argue for ratio-based mergers, but I'm a strong advocate of pure DOH for all mergers. We would never agree on a new policy, so ALPA's current policy of taking each merger separately is probably the only way to go.

Are we that dumb that we need lawyers (one notch above airline management in the pecking order) to "assist" us?

Everyone loves to hate attorneys.....until they need one for themselves.

 

[IdRtherBsailing]

And that man would be an idiot.

Maybe, but a very wise idiot.

 

[CitationLover]

Everyone loves to hate attorneys.....until they need one for themselves.

when you need attorneys is when the hate really starts to grow........

 

[CitationLover]

Maybe, but a very wise idiot.

hey stop talking about me!

 

[pipe]

Food for thought. ALPA did this with the TWA guys. I think it was $450. When the MEC asked national for the use of the money, national would not turn it loose. (We didn't get it back either - yet!)

PIPE