For ACPA Pilots

[Guest neo]

Dear colleagues,

My opinion is that our union has mis-managed this crisis in the most appalling way possible. Your future has been squandered without even a serious attempt at a negotiated outcome. Instead, through willfull blindness and obstinacy, our union has left you with no leverage whatsoever and the creditors' guns to your head.

An inevitable outcome, you say? Hogwash. AA's pilots, despite a labor relation's history with management more acrimonious than our own, acted in a businesslike manner and negotiated their future. Ours will be imposed. It's a take it, or leave both-it-and-your-job proposition now, boys and girls.

Please do not suggest that our 11th hour and 59th minute discussions on the eve of CCAA filing in anyway addresses our failure to act during the almost two months preceeding. On February 6th Mr. Milton pleaded with us to act "FAST"- his emphasis, not mine- but our union leaders chose to ignore that plea. I wonder if they'll get their butts in gear now that it's a judge setting the timetable?

I understand there's still members of our union that believe that this was the way to go, that we'll dodge the bullet, that it won't be so bad. They sound for all the world like that knight in the Monty Python movie, the one that has had every limb severed from his body but still jabbers at his opponent, "Is that all you've got? Come back 'ere, I'm not finished with you!"

I draw your attention to this abysmal failure for one reason only. In the event that we have a future as a collective entity, which is still very much in doubt, I hope that we will all reflect on how our union has handled this issue. I say this because to my mind all the warning signs of this kind of breakdown in how our union conducts its business has been apparent for some time.

How is it, dear colleagues, that constitutionally you must vote on whether ACPA can own it's own offices, but your MEC will decide on it's own to take our pilots into a bankruptcy situation? Does that not strike you, as it does me, as a systemic problem?

Your future- not just the size of your pay packet or your working conditions or your grievance, but your very livelihood- has been decided by a few individuals who gave you not one opportunity to democratically voice your opinion. In contrast to the votes that you have been given, on trivial matters pertaining to arcane constitutional issues and the like, you were asked not once to vote on the most profound change that any of us is likely to experience in our employment. Your union dug in its heels and did virtually nothing until it was far, far too late. All that, without once asking you for your vote.

I can only hope, in a small way I'm afraid, that the future will bring a new way of doing business in our union as well as with our employer.

Richard Roskell

[Guest WA777]

RR....you make some good points.....too little too late and a failure to understand what CCAA means.....We should have been in the LEAD... the HELL with what the other unions were going to do....Can we hope for as good a deal as UAL and AA now have or is it too late for even that??

[ChicoChico]

Neo,
Even though this is uncharted ground for AC it is something that had to be done.

I disagreed with you before and I disagree now.

You heap the blame on your union like you aren't a member. There's plenty of blame to spread around and its easy to hit any of the targets.

Whether the CCAA negotiation succeed remains to be seen. I have no doubt that our boys will do their best under the circumstances.

There are other examples of airlines succeeding under creditor protection and I think we will as well.

Well there's one thing we agree on..its too bad! But that's life ain't it.

Cheers Chico

[Guest neo]

I'm not interested in spreading blame around to others; I've avoided it like the plague. Acknowledging and annunciating the responsibility for shortcomings in my own union is another matter entirely.

Richard Roskell