THE OTHER GUYS
John F. Barton Jr.
Widebody Captain at Major International Airline (retired nov 2022) / Political Labor Activist #JohnBarton-F16
Dear ALPA Board of Directors Members and all members of ALPA,
Today I’m announcing my intention to seek the office of ALPA President. This election will take place at the ALPA BOD meeting in October and the national officers who are elected will serve a four-year term. I’ve been involved in union work for ALPA for thirty years. I’ve been elected to multiple representational positions and MEC committees to include much work done in the legislative arena. If experience is the name of the game, I have it. Those of us who have been around for a while understand that experience is in fact vital to serving in this position, but my campaign will be focused on the “type of experience” that you should be looking for in your next President.
I’ve seen the handy work of many of our national Presidents over the years to include Hank Duffy (DAL), Randy Babbitt (EAL), Duane Woerth (NWA), John Prater (CAL), Lee Moak (DAL), Tim Canoll (DAL) and Joe DePete (FDX). What these people have in common is they have all overseen the fleecing of the major airline piloting profession and they’ve all stood by and watched the destruction of the profession while doing nothing. Worse, some of them have helped the corporations in their efforts to strategically dismantle our careers. But most importantly, they all have their expensive portraits hanging in the national office as if they were the successful leaders they imagine themselves to be. As we move through this campaign, I’ll simply refer to these people as “The Other Guys.”?
The list of failures is almost too lengthy to contemplate over the last thirty years, but we will be addressing some of these for historical purposes to give perspective and to imagine what could have been. Most importantly, we need to imagine what can-be with proper union leadership. The Other Guys have done plenty to help managements divide and conquer our pilots/airlines, and there will be more of these self-ingratiated narcissists to pop their heads up during this Presidential campaign to be sure.
For example, one standout who comes to mind is the previous UAL MEC Chairman, Todd Insler. If history is to follow the footsteps of The Other Guys, then this guy is your future. Captain Insler spent six years at the helm of the United MEC during the most profitable time of the airline industry and delivered nothing but a Covid concession. This unfortunate “deal” with management forced all other union carriers to follow suit – can you say thank you to the federal government bailout? This guy sure likes to talk about himself, but one thing he hates discussing is the life-time achievement award he wrangled for himself from management. Since the UAL MEC Chairman sits on the company Board of Directors, his chummy relationship with the higherups produced a never-before-seen benefit: he secured lifetime, positive space, first[1]class travel for himself and his family – it’s all in the United Airlines 2019 Proxy statement. According to Captain Insler, you should be thanking him for all that he’s accomplished. Knowing this guy, he’s probably made a down payment on his future ALPA portrait.
About this time of year at United, we receive the “Remembering the United Strike of 1985” email:
Today marks the 37th anniversary of the United Airlines pilot Strike of 1985. For 29 days, United pilots stood unified in defiance of notorious United CEO Dick Ferris. The solidarity and sacrifices of those United pilots helped protect the careers of future generations.
As I reflect on my thirty-year ALPA tenure, I’ve always found this to be a bit ironic. The Other Guys love to hail the strike of ’85 but the complete failure of our national union to standup for the Continental Pilots in ’83 or the Eastern Airlines Pilots in ’89 seems to get brushed under the rug. We should all hail the strike of ’85 and those United Pilots who were left to their own resolve to stand up for labor and win against a Frank Lorenzo disciple. But we also need to recognize the complete failure of our national union to codify these mistakes through changed policy and strong union leadership. Instead of strengthening our resolve, The Other Guys blew these opportunities and we devolved into what we have today which is an “association” that collects millions of your hard-earned dollars just to take a hands-off approach to almost everything except, of course, to make sure PAC money gets handed out to the “right” politicians.
Instead of leveraging the power of a national union in ’83, The Other Guys (Hank Duffy) hung the CAL pilots out to dry for two years with almost nothing to return to. Consequently, management and their SCABS won the day. If that wasn’t bad enough, Duane Woerth welcomed all these SCABS back into ALPA with open arms sixteen years later. Fast forward to the UAL/CAL merger and you get 800 SCABS who ended up being senior to every pilot hired after 1985. Not a bad career progression for being a Frank Lorenzo SCAB.?
领英推荐
Our union’s founder and President from 1931-1951, David Behncke, may have been the last, best solution to gain significant ground in aviation safety, aviation law and bargaining rights for Pilots, all which were critical to the advancement of our careers in the early days. Fast forward to today and the phrase “Schedule With Safety” that we’ve known for our entire flying career is no longer in ALPA’s vocabulary since they are fearful it could be construed as industrial action.?
I look forward to becoming your next ALPA President, and I look forward to debating these issues with all those who propose to seek this office in October. If elected, I promise to bring the full force of your national union to strengthen all aspects of our careers moving forward.
My full article on the Strike of 1985:
Please contribute:?https://gofund.me/c5e2507a
Captain John Barton
17 years old and I remember taking pictures of the scabs as they boarded the bus at the Cherry Creek to head out to Stapleton. The rank and file stayed true. It was their leadership who let them down.
Regional Jet Pilot / Flight Safety Advocate / Endlessly Curious about Human Factors
2 年From 2016... Celebrating 85 Years: Saluting (Captain and ALPA Founder David L. Behncke): “a Man Who Spoke for Pilots When They Needed a Voice” By John Perkinson, Staff Writer Air Line Pilot Magazine "[A] special May 1953 issue of The Air Line Pilot dedicated to this industry pioneer observed, “David L. Behncke lived the kind of life that is given to few of us. He spent most of it in service to others, pursuing a noble cause unselfishly and devotedly.” In the late 1920s, cockpit instrumentation was rudimentary at best. Pilots earned as little as $150 a month with no hope of a raise, and there were no hourly flying limitations or any regular vacation time. Pilot pushing was the norm, and aviators could be fired on a whim. [B]ehncke had a remarkable career as ALPA’s first president, but it was his vision for the Association that represents his true legacy. [I]n addition to lobbying for the establishment of laws to set minimum rates of pay and maximum hours of flying, Behncke also advocated for an independent air safety board. He made the case that no single agency should serve as judge, jury, prosecutor, and defendant all at the same time when investigating accidents and other irregularities..." https://bit.ly/3MxOGr9