August 20, 1998

  August 20, 1998

ALPA, Intl

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Reserve and Relief Assignment Grievances
ALPA and America West met this week with federal mediators to seek a mediated resolution
to a number of longstanding grievances relating to reserve and relief assignments.
Although little progress was made on reserve issues, we emerged with an agreement in the
relief arena. Beginning not later than the start of Bid Period 145, pairings will be
assigned to relief pilots on standby duty before being assigned to reserve pilots in the
same standby category. The agreement recognizes that relief lineholders should reach
minimum bid period guarantee as expeditiously as possible. The language will be
distributed to pilot boxes shortly.

Upcoming Arbitrations
There’s additional news on the contract enforcement front. An important arbitration
hearing, postponed last March, will be held next week on August 25 and 26. The arbitrator
will hear several important benefits cases, including the denial of pass travel benefits
to pilots on various leaves of absence and the denial of longevity accrual, seniority
protection and paid health insurance benefits to pilots on long-term disability or
workers’ compensation. These are key cases, and the arbitrator’s decision could have an
impact on other long-standing benefits disputes. The hearings will be held at the Tempe
Mission Palms Hotel in downtown Tempe on Tuesday and Wednesday, commencing at
approximately 0900. Interested pilots are welcome to attend.

Non-Rev Travel Restriction Grievance Filed
In a letter to all employees dated August 19, Mark Gurney, Vice President of Airport
Customer Services, advises that in the event of a strike by pilots at Northwest Airlines
on or after August 29th, no non-rev travel will be allowed to and from MSP, DTW, SEA, LAX
and BOS for the first five days of the strike. The MEC filed a grievance on the policy
this morning, citing Section 26.Q of the contract. Note that
the company’s proposed restrictions do not extend to jumpseat travel.

PBS
The MEC, the Negotiating and PBS Committees, and our Pilot2Pilot volunteers have been
listening to your concerns about the proposed PBS agreement. In response to your request
for additional information, a four-page discussion was distributed
to pilot boxes late this afternoon. More information will be distributed next week.

In addition, more road shows are also on the schedule. On
Friday the 21st a presentation will be made at the Doubletree Hotel, 320 N44th St,
beginning at 10:00 a.m. A presentation will also be made at our local council meeting on
August 24th, starting at 1:00 p.m. at the Doubletree.

We understand that aspects of the agreement are
controversial. Because this vote is so important, we are taking the time to ensure that no
pilot should feel rushed to make a decision. Ratification ballots will not be distributed
until the end of August. Please take the time to look over the written material and attend
a road show. Feel free to ask the hard questions. Regardless of how you vote, we ask only
that your vote be based on a thorough analysis and genuine understanding of the proposal.

The next scheduled hotline will be Thursday, August 27th.
Stay focused, fly safe, fly the contract and thanks for listening.