Sept. 9, 1999
Negotiating Summit
During the two-day meeting, Ken Cooper
presented an overview of the negotiations process; David Berkley explained the importance
of effective communications; and Dave Krieger gave an overview of how ALPA’s Economic
& Financial Analysis department will be an invaluable resource to our Negotiating
Committee throughout Contract 2000 negotiations.
For those of you who have made noises
about professional negotiators, I want you to know that Ken and the other pro’s at
ALPA are the best there are. Ken has been on the front lines in nose to nose bargaining at
all the major carriers in his 20 plus year career with ALPA, and I’m confident that
he knows all there is to know on the subject of airline negotiations. When and if you get
to meet Ken, as I have, you will realize that trying to hire somebody else to handle this
job would be a complete waste of time. It is clear that we have the best resources there
are to advocate our goals. All that’s needed now is to give our team the horsepower
to back them up, and that horsepower is you.
Vacancy and Reduction Bid
Wilson Center Polling
Family Awareness Social Event
Pilots planning to attend must RSVP by
calling Sandi at the MEC office no later than October 6.
That ‘s the hotline for this week.
The next scheduled hotline update will be Thursday, September 16. Thanks for listening.
- Negotiating Summit
- Vacancy and Reduction bid
- Wilson Center Polling
- Family Awareness Social Event
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MEC Hotline |
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This is MEC Chairman Roger Cox with the MEC
hotline for Thursday, September 9, 1999. Tonight’s topics are:
The Negotiating Committee, along with members of the MEC, SPC, Family Awareness, and
Communications, held a Negotiating Summit Sept. 7 through 8 at the MEC office. ALPA’s
Assistant Director of Representation Ken Cooper, Economic & Financial Analyst Dave
Krieger, and Communications Supervisor David Berkley were the guest speakers.
The latest Vacancy bid will be released tomorrow. We are always pleased to see growth in
our fleet and the related upgrades for our pilots. However, our preliminary review of the
bid revealed that the company did not plan to backfill twelve 737 Captain seats; we
pointed out that this reduction should be clearly stated so that you will bid accordingly.
The company has done so. Please read the text of the bid carefully and review section 24
of your contract before bidding. For the last year we have been asking the company to sit
down with us and add language to clarify what happens when you add to the fleet but
don’t backfill on another aircraft type. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been a
priority. We have also said that we think it is unwise to issue such large bids effective
so far into the future when our fleet plans tend to be uncertain. If we could take smaller
bites and chew thoroughly we wouldn’t get expensive indigestion in the form of
excessive training and retraining. Our thanks go to Scheduling Chairman Fred Eddles and
Negotiating Committee member Doug Dotter for reviewing the preliminary plan and raising
warning signs.
As a reminder, Wilson Center telephone polling will resume this month. When the Wilson
Center calls, remember that the pollster is an official representative of the MEC. The
information you provide will be a direct link between you and the MEC and Negotiating
Committee as we continue preparations for Contract 2000 negotiations. This week we got a
call from one of our alert aviators who was highly insulted that this Wilson center was
invading his privacy and asking nosy questions. You really do need to take the call,
folks, and give us your most thoughtful answers. These questions are scientifically
designed to provide us with clear, unbiased information about what our pilot group is
thinking. Thanks for cooperating.
All members in good standing and their families are invited to our second Family Awareness
get-together on October 13 from 5pm to 9pm, at the Confederate Air Force Hangar at Mesa
Falcon Field. Refreshments will be served, as well as hamburgers, hot dogs, and bratwurst.
Admission is free to all pilots and their families.
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