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This is MEC Chairman Roger Cox with the MEC
Hotline update for Thursday, January 13. Tonight’s topics are:
Throughout 1999, we have been asking members of this pilot group to help offset the costs
of MEC business, and the upcoming negotiations, by donating one hour of flight pay credit
to the MEC Flight Pay Loss Fund. It’s a one-time donation per calendar year.
Every time I mention Flight Pay Loss Donation I’m going to mention ALPA PAC. Many of
us are philosophically opposed to Political Action Committees and we’d like them to
go away in this country entirely. Maybe if we’re lucky that will happen someday. In
the meantime, we’ve got one because everybody else has one. Our ALPA leaders have
tried to make the contribution plan as palatable as possible by making political
contributions non partisan, by committee, and based on effective working relationships in
Congress regarding your issues. To me, this contribution is not about whether your money
gets some Congressman’s vote. This is about showing that we as professional pilots
are just as willing to fight the political battles that affect our careers as anyone else.
When the annual ALPA PAC roll comes out this year, I want to see America West’s
numbers way up.
This week the America West Benefits manager mailed out packets to our disabled retired
pilots. Some of you have been waiting as long as 18 months for these to arrive. We deplore
the three months it has taken our company to get to this point. Now it’s time to
enter the home stetch. I urge each of you who are affected to complete the forms and
return them to Benefits promptly – in person, if possible. Please discuss any details with
First Officer John McIlvenna, R&I vice chairman.
Airbus captains are getting vacation cancellation notices this week. So far, new captains
coming out of training are the ones being affected. Ten more senior captains accepted
voluntary cancellations, and four of those did so for cash. Let’s be very clear. The
vast majority of America West pilots believe that vacation cancellations are wrong, even
if they are contractual; and they believe that doing so voluntarily is even more wrong. At
the local council meeting Tuesday night, a local resolution passed requiring publication
of the names of voluntary sellers. That will happen. You can plan on it.
Your MEC met January 11. Minutes are available from Secretary-Treasurer Mike Calabrese. We
had reports from Scheduling, PBS, Grievance, Strategic Preparedness, and contract
negotiations. We were unanimously impressed by the quality and thoroughness of our
contract preparation. We approved First Officers Peter Blandino as Grievance chairman and
Mike Tascielli as Critical Incident Response chairman. Our thanks to Captain Caron Octigan
for her long service in the CIRP chairman’s role.
There’s always a debate about whether to reward the good guys or punish the bad guys.
Frankly, we’ve heard a lot of very vocal sentiment in favor of using the stick within
our own group. As an airline pilot, you’re always confronted by your company, the
FAA, and your union, and you usually get the stick from the first two. I hate to think we
have to use the stick on our own people. However, we have 28 non-members and 12 members in
bad standing. We have a few who ignore the contract, which is a sign of disrespect for
your peers. I urge each of you who are doubters to call one of your officers, resolve your
differences with your peers, and accept the carrot while it is available.
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