I've got time this morning, so I'll field these concerns
That may be the case, but I have not met any.
I haven't met Stephen Hawking, but that doesn't mean I discount his opinion.
Does it mean nothing to you that US Air recently decertified Alpa?
If you look a little deeper into the USA/AWA issue, it's a little more complicated. The US Air guys dumped ALPA b/c they didn't like the result of what the arbitrator said. Multiple times, the US Air union leadership told the arbitrator "Date of hire or nothing." The arbitrator said he couldn't do that but was open to other suggestions, of which they provided none. The award came out, and the US Air pilots weren't happy with it. They had to place their anger somewhere, and themselves was not a viable option for them. So, they placed it at ALPA. The REAL issue was the local leadership. If they had worked with the arbitrator and with their new co-workers at AWA, then a possible solution could have been extended that both pilot groups could live with. Instead, they fostered an "Us vs Them" mentality which has only gotten worse. People love to bring up US Air/AWA when they talk about decertifing ALPA, but no one talks about how things are going much better between Delta and NWA, both of which are ALPA carriers.
That we are dealing with the same issue as us air with conflict of interest?
Actually, it's only a conflict of interest if your local leadership puts PINNACLE'S well being over their own pilots. Most of the people that say it's a conflict of interest issue don't understand how ALPA works. Like Gonzo said, they put a lot of power in the hands of the local MECs, and that would work FOR you guys in this instance. Talk to Sherpa about seniority list integration in the event of a merger. He's done a lot of research into it, and he's got good answers on the issue and how it would work under labor groups represented by different unions or the same union under the RLA. You'd actually fair BETTER with ALPA since if we merged, you'd be less than 30% of the merged pilot group. The RLA has tricky language when it comes to that.
Yes, all things equal Alpa might be okay, but given the circumstances (with pinnacle having alpa) the decision is easy for me.
Pinnacle ALPA and Colgan ALPA would be totally separate. If the two were merged (which management wants to avoid at all costs anyway), then we'd have to work together the same way Delta and NWA are working right now if we were both ALPA. The conflict of interest argument is normally put forth by people that don't understand the inner workings of ALPA. ALPA doesn't favor one group over the other unless the local leadership of one group makes that decision. If any of them ever did, it's time for a recall vote on that elected position. How many Pinnacle pilots have you talked to about the issue to find out what Pinnacle ALPA's stance on the situation is? I think you might be surprised.
Plus, the RLA is a LOT different than the NLRA. A majority of the Teamsters work under the NLRA, so that's what they're geared towards. On the RLA side, you've got Horizon, Go Jets and Republic (and most of the Republic guys I talk to aren't too thrilled with what they're getting for their money). That's a very, very small section of the Teamsters, so odds are they don't devote a lot of time to researching the RLA. ALPA, on the other hand, knows it backwards and forwards since that's ALL they operate under. I'd much rather have an ALPA lawyer that knows the legal frame work than a Teamsters lawyer that read up on it on the plane flight to my hearing.
It's ultimately your decision to make, but make an informed one. Research the topics and make the decision yourself. Don't just go off what you hear in a crew room.
I'm a little slow at times....and this seems to be one of 'em. Little help, please.
