A Message from Chairman Elect John Barton
John F. Barton Jr.
Widebody Captain at Major International Airline (retired nov 2022) / Political Labor Activist #JohnBarton-F16
By Captain John Barton, Council 57 Chairman Elect
United Airlines Pilots - commentary on the current negotiations and Agreement in Principle
All United Airlines pilots:
ALPA leadership seems to want to put a muzzle on all discussion concerning the upcoming AIP, but this is a very bad way to do business. It is not irresponsible to begin the important discussion about an agreement before the full details are out. Why? Because too many times in our past, the Master Chairman has manipulated the system and the timelines, putting the pilots in a time crunch which then only produces "buyers' remorse" in the future over a less than optimal agreement.
While the details in full are not out yet , we all know that there are many things we can still discuss cautiously, giving food for thought to ideas and considerations that may not be covered when this agreement comes out.
The simple fact here ladies and gentlemen is that if we get this wrong, the extension is too long for an imperfect agreement that doesn't offer enough improvements to our contract.
Some thoughts regarding the AIP (Agreement in Principle)
We have been told by the Master Chairman that he is seeking a contract extension and has agreed in principle with the company on the framework for one. A majority of the MEC voted not to make the details available to us, but we know from experience that the devil will reside in the details. Enough information has been circulated however, for me to make some comments about it as well as what we know about our current contract. The foundation for my comments and observations comes from years of experience in these kinds of affairs, to include fighting hard to get the current contract accomplished in the worst negotiating environment possible.
The company is offering the pilots money, there is no doubt. We must ask ourselves why? Although we do not have the definite numbers available yet, we do know that our current contract has two 3% raises yet to come (1 Jan 2016, and 1 Jan 2017). We will need to judge whatever we are being offered against the 6.1% (compounded) that we already have coming to us with no extension to our amendable date. The opening of contract negotiations is slated to begin in a few short months and the stated goal of the Master Chairman is to delay that by two years.
Some voices are saying that if you don't take this now, it will be off the table and it will take two or more years to negotiate a full contract. I do not agree with either of those comments and I am using past experience to form my opinion on that. You will likely hear this theme repeated if the MEC leadership gears up for a “sell-job” of a Tentative Agreement.
It’s also my opinion that a two year extension is simply too long, and certainly so for the kind of money which is rumored to be a part of this deal. This is the main reason why members should have cause for concern, and pause to consider any deal very carefully.
Questions for the membership:
- Why is the company so eager to get you to sign an agreement that extends us three years past January 2016, when they have never approached us like this in the past 20 years?
- If the UAL MEC does not support Captain Heppner for Master Chairman, and he has stated that he is not running, then why the rush? Are we not a mere few weeks from electing a new Master Chairman?
- Does our leverage today – FRMS and the MOU 22 replacement LOA – just disappear after the Holidays, or is the Company rushing to get this deal done with this Master Chairman?
- If there are wants/needs of the company on the table, why wouldn’t we simply negotiate a solution to those needs in exchange for fixing the furloughee issues and bringing our pay rates up to industry-leading where they belong without the contract extension?
Many of us feel that a new Master Chairman with a comprehensive plan and the full support of the MEC should have little problem obtaining not only a short term deal with no extension, but also a Section 6 negotiation process.
However, if this extension gets agreed to, we will wait until 2019 to even begin negotiations and no one can predict what the economic environment will be at that time, but we do know that it is a good environment at this time. You must ask yourself – if there are no raises scheduled after Jan 2018 in a proposed deal, how many years do you want to go with absolutely no improvements to your wages as well as your contract and quality of life items?
Senior pilots: How would you feel about an annuity retirement benefit being added to our contract? This is something that smart people on the MEC are discussing and brainstorming today, but how many of us will retire over the next five years and what will the negotiating environment be in five years? Will we have sufficient leverage to achieve this needed fundamental improvement to our careers if the economy is in a down cycle?
Furloughed pilots: Making you whole in any agreement going forward is standing MEC policy so there is no need to sell your vote on any deal for a single-issue item. Everyone agrees your issues are a priority, but you must consider that the improvements gained in a new contract will be lost for years if an extension is undertaken. If you are going to be made whole, can you not wait a short time for a more comprehensive package that also improves your quality of life right in the middle of your career?
Everyone: How do you feel about a trip trading system that is non-existent or a reserve system that does little except to make sure you know how to drive back and forth from the airport every day? How do you feel about the pairings, duty rigs, dead heading and reassignment rules? How do you feel about our health care costs and a sick leave accrual rate that takes 5 months to recover from one missed trip? Can pass travel be improved? The list goes on and on and you must ask yourself, is the money being offered enough to waive off improvements in these areas for another half decade? Almost certainly not.
Final thoughts
The airlines have banded together over the last 15 years and showed no restraint or mercy in their “time of need.” Not once has the company ever listened to requests for improvements to our contracts and simply granted them without extracting something in return…which we have always been willing to give. Now that we find ourselves in unprecedented prosperity for the airlines, why should we rush to be bought off with wages that are still not up to what we agreed to in the years prior to bankruptcy? An era which also included full retirements and contracts that had yet to be gutted? If 13% and the furlough items are what will be floated, could we not get that for solving the company’s FAR 117 and FRMS issues alone while still keeping our current amendable date? A strong Master Chairman surely could because the issues the company is dealing with are real and will not be going away. It’s a bona fide problem for them, and it should be an opportunity for us.
You will hear people stating that I am making promises here, but this is flatly untrue. No one, including myself, can make any promises. What I am saying is that any deal that we agree to should be more comprehensive. Or at least offer us a deal with no extension. The agreement, as we are hearing rumored, is simply too long and pushes us into a period of extreme uncertainty. If the membership does pass this agreement, remember ... there will likely be no improvements to anything for a minimum of three years when negotiations would begin in 2019 for a new contract. The risk/reward/value equation is the main problem that I am seeing with this agreement as rumored.
I do not take office until March of 2016, and will therefore not be voting on this agreement as a sitting MEC member. I hope that collectively the membership votes on the macro look at this deal, and not myopically. It is time for us to restore this industry to the place it should rightfully inhabit, and taking the short term view has never helped us in that regard.
Concerning Oil - click on article to expand:
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Click here: Oil recovery by 2017? Not likely-—commentary
Thank you for your time,
Captain John Barton,
Chairman Elect ALPA C57
Captain at International Airline
8 年Dear Council 11 Members, I’m just home from the 2 day MEC Meeting which was specifically called to consider the Tentative Agreement you now have in front of you. There was quite a bit of debate on this issue and the MEC ultimately voted to “accept” the TA. You deserve to know how your reps voted on this TA, and therefore we will both be delivering you individual updates to offer you our opinions and action taken on your behalf at the meeting. As some of you know, I was never in favor of a strategy to extend our UPA for another 2 years opposed to a Section 6 negotiations which would provide improvements in many areas of the contract, not just the few you see now. However, this is where we ended up. The MEC was eventually presented with a letter from the Company (the McKeen Letter – attached) which proffered specific guarantees and certain limited items to be discussed and negotiated. Based on this information, your MEC gave specific direction (written and verbal) to the Negotiating Committee and the Master Chairman; and we passed a resolution which cemented this direction and authorized negotiating the improvements discussed (attached). Had this direction been followed, I would have been compelled to “accept” the TA for your review and ratification; but as you can see, it wasn’t followed or complied with by our Negotiating Committee and our Master Chairman. Therefore, I voted the following: ? NO to accepting the TA ? YES to Membership Ratification ? NO to MEC Endorsement Your Negotiating Committee and Master Chairman were under strict marching orders to “walk away” if the deal wasn’t there. The Company guaranteed a “firm order of NSNB jets” with this extension but then reneged on that specific promise – the Negotiating Committee should have walked away, but they didn’t. “If no tentative agreement regarding a contract extension is reached by Friday, November 20, 2015, then no further negotiations on extending the UPA will take place prior to the normal Section 6 negotiations, which may begin as early as May 2016” – we didn’t have a Tentative Agreement until December 15th. The Company proffered, and the Negotiating Committee was directed to gain “Reserve assignment process improvements” – they failed. “Should any items outside the list above (“c”) be brought up by the Company, the Negotiating Committee shall report back to the MEC for further direction.” A serious unfortunate situation occurred during negotiations when the Company purposefully clouded these negotiations with relief they wanted which violated the terms of agreement (confidential) – the Negotiating Committee failed to “report back to the MEC for further direction.” In fact, the MEC would never have known about this had we not forced a Special Meeting for November 30th and requested to see the “pass letters.” You elected us to “represent” you at the MEC. I take this privilege seriously and will give you 100% as long as I am your status rep. We received many emails and phone calls trying to convince us to “just send it out for membership ratification.” Since we don’t operate in a pure democracy, but more of a Republic, it’s important for the MEC to act accordingly due to the pertinent information we may have and the direction we have given as the governing body of the members. I believe this process works and I believe it worked (as it should) for the situation we find ourselves in presently. However, I have passionately advocated for this information to be provided to you throughout this process and ultimately there was not enough support to make this happen. You now have this Tentative Agreement in front of you for your review and ratification. Voting will open soon and I will be available to help answer any questions you may have. The 7 MEC Members who voted to not accept the TA are working on a “Con” statement and it should be out in a few days. I’ve also attached a message from the DAL MEC to their Pilots regarding a Section 6 negotiations they have entered with their management. This message was “scheduled” to go out to their members at the conclusion of our meeting today (not a coincidence). The opening letter to their management is comprehensive and comes just a short time after they voted down an extension deal. DAL has recently ordered E-190’s and set the bench mark in the major airline industry which reverses the outsourcing of our jobs. I look forward to seeing you at our Grog Night on the 14th and our Local Council Meeting on the 15th. The only announced candidate for Master Chairman, Captain Todd Insler, will be a guest speaker at this upcoming meeting as well. I would suggest that there is a significant confluence of events taking place very quickly which deserves your utmost attention. I thank you all for your attention, engagement, support and advocacy. Fraternally, Andy Collins Chairman, Council 11
Captain at International Airline
8 年COUNCIL 12 NOTAM Dear fellow Council 12 pilots, This morning, the MEC voted to accept and endorse the Contract Extension Tentative Agreement. The vote was not unanimous. The MEC subsequently voted to send the TA to you for membership ratification. This vote was unanimous. There will be more about the ratification process in subsequent MEC communications. Your Council 12 officers, along with other MEC members, voted against accepting and endorsing the TA. We believe that a contract extension is a strategic failure. To forgo Section 6 negotiations in this current environment, economically and with the company, is a mistake. If this TA is ratified, we will live under the current UPA for at least 4 to 6 more years. In addition, this TA falls short of the company’s initial proffer. It falls short of MEC direction. It also falls short of the direction that you have provided through tens of thousands of PDR’s and recent MEC surveys. The MEC will be sending out a pro-con statement soon and you will then have the opportunity to make your own decision. Fraternally and in Unity, Eric J. Popper Carlos J. Rodriguez John Briggs
Widebody Captain at Major International Airline (retired nov 2022) / Political Labor Activist #JohnBarton-F16
8 年Robert, No one is saying we will wait two years to get a contract. The sun is shining and we have leverage currently. The furloughs will get their retro in any agreement going forward. If this goes out for a vote, my next article will detail exactly the numbers, and they aren't pretty. The goal I have is to make the pilots happy with their careers and the proper compensation for their skill set. Heppner is selling us all short. But to be clear, despite me being senior and could take the money and simply bank it away for four years - I recognize as a true leader that the pilots will regret this agreement as proposed. It is too long. If we go into 2020 negotiations, the average pay will be 3.5% per year on this agreement - that is the reason UAL management wants this deal. Yes, we get money mostly upfront but by 2018, with a year to go in the contract, if rumor is correct (leaked by current MEC), then 2% is the last raise with nothing in 2019 when it becomes amendable. Buyers remorse will set in with NO IMPROVEMENTS to anything else in contract for four to five years. If this TA goes out fior a vote and fails, the newly elected MASTER CHAIRMAN will go right into management in March pushing a fully comprehensive contract which will far exceed the expectations of this "thirty pieces of silver" when it should be 100. No promises just higher expectations! Lastly, this is a debate, call me anytime to talk. There is no need to speculate inaccurate posturing about me and my dissertation. Nor to say I have "no idea" or you have "no confidence" ... Those arguments are low brow and do not stimulate discussion in an intelligent manner. You are better than that. Give the pilots here salient reasons for your approach. That way we will all come to a reasoned decision on how to vote on this TA should it ratify at the MEC this week. I can promise this ... It has been standing direction for the negotiating committee and the MEC to fix the LOA25 with concern to longevity pay, and it will be done. I end with this ... In 2012, with a plan, we secured a contract in eight months that was and had not gone anywhere in two years. You only need a plan. The new master chairman coming, if what I've been hearing is true about their election, is "all in" with creating a plan with the MEC to return us all to the proper place in status we should have as aviators. Patience! Delta and SW had it, we need to now, and we will band together as an industry to protect AMERICAN jobs and bolster the safe secure skies that we professionally maintain at a commensurate salary and benefit package... Like it should be fir pilots! Best, JB
787 First Officer and Instructor at United Airlines
8 年John - this is the best written piece I have read yet about the TA. I have to tell you that it has caused me to seriously think about how I might vote (assuming, of course, that I get the opportunity to do so). Thank you.
Airline Captain | Author | Blogger | Speaker | Media Spokesperson
8 年Thank you John for the information.