U Turn Summing It UpU Turn has already received some nasty comments over our last two articles. We figured we might, but we are committed to putting out the truth. Readers will make their own decisions. Regarding Wye River, our own MEC was split. CJ Szmal and Mike Bendett were committed to no compromise. John McIlvenna and Mitch Vasin began to see the light that without a compromise, ALPA was going to lose and along with them, the NIC might also go. CJ Szmal always professed to be that “ALPA Guy,” hard-core ALPA supporter. But when it came to Wye River, he rejected the ALPA advice and took Mike Bendett along with him on the ride. It’s easy to connect the dots: no Wye River “mutual solution” meant no Length of Service (LOS) list, no cram-down single contract, no more ALPA on property and no 400 pilots below Dave O’Dell before the furloughs. So, CJ and Mike Bendett, elected Reps who had the clout and the votes, stood tall in the saddle. No “mutual solution” at Wye River. Congratulate them when you see them. Especially all of you who face a long-term furlough. Giving credit where credit is due, McIlvenna and Vasin finally saw the light. They were willing to compromise and find a mutual solution at Wye River. Jeff Freund knew the NIC wasn’t as in stone as the MEC had been saying for the previous eight months. He knew that last summer when he defended the West MEC in that absurd East MEC lawsuit. He had to have reminded the West MEC contingent that at Wye River. But what we have now and why we are where we are today might boil down to nothing more than an old-fashioned communications problem. If Jeff Freund really didn’t believe that the NIC was in stone (refer to the last U-Turn and read what is pasted below), either he didn’t communicate that to our own MEC, or if he did, our own MEC refused to communicate that to the rank and file. With ALPA gone, we’d all like to give our former MEC officers a pat on the back for hanging tough and fighting the good fight the 11 months between the NIC and De-Cert. But the entire grounds on which we believed the NIC was untouchable may have been based on a myth and reinforced by our own MEC’s failure to communicate the realities ahead. Ask yourself this question: when did you know that our own Merger Attorney, Jeff Freund, said the NIC was nothing but a “proposed pilot seniority list… but which (like a union bargaining position in any matter) the Company is not required to accept…”? Probably when you read it in the U-Turn. Your MEC kept that from you. They let the rhetoric spin out of control, when all along, John McIlvenna knew the truth. If he didn’t know, as the lead defendant in the lawsuit, he should have. And this is the guy you want to follow down the road to defeat USAPA? If it is, keep donating money to AWAPPA. But just remember this is the same guy who couldn’t level with you and tell you the truth: The NIC, like any other part of contract negotiations, was not set in stone; it did “not establish any enforceable seniority rights in a collective bargaining agreement with the Company” Simply put, the NIC was negotiable. Your ALPA knew it, your MEC knew it, but your own MEC refused to tell you that. U-Turn BigJetCity.com |
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