Colgan's anti Alpa Campaign

12 FO's on reserve on the 30th and they will NOT let me out of it. even though i have called and offered to pick up EVERY open pairing all month. Volunteered to fly the canada trip for repaint on days off... and still, they won't give me one day off? or let me off of hot reserve 1.5 hrs early on last day of pairing to get home?

Just a heads up, having ALPA on property won't necessarily fix any of that. If you can get wording in your contract that protects you of that, then sure, you'll have a leg to stand on, but in some senses, a contract requires more rigidity in the operations. In your example, unless you have clear wording in your contract about required coverage on a given day, it is very likely that you still wouldn't be able to drop a day just because there are 12 reserves. Likewise, unless there is wording in the contract about early release on the last day, you WON'T get it. In fact, it becomes much easier for scheduling to denying because instead of having to justify to you why they don't feel like doing it, all they have to say is "that's not what your contract says". At my property, the words are "adiquate staffing" which is completly up to the scheduler. I tried to swap reserve days around and despite there being 9 people on reserve (for a base with only 38 lines) they denied it for operational coverage. The other part of that is that we can't (normally) even see how many people are on reserve on a given day because that's not in our contract. We do have an early release clause for our last day of reserve where if they haven't assigned us something by 5pm they have to release us.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a BIG ALPA supporter, but it is NOT a cure all for everything that's wrong with a pilot group's operation. I think the OC is doing an excellent job of NOT selling it that way either, but some people (not you nessicarily, I just quoted you because it made it easier for me to make my point) need to manage their excpectations a bit more.
 
I just don't even understand their side of the argument. It was written pretty poorly. In one of the last sentences it talks about how no additional aircraft will be flown by Colgan pilots. That's because you won't be a Colgan pilot, you'll be a Pinnacle pilot...do they think anyone believes this crap?

After reading 1% of what goes on at Colgan I just can't understand why 1) people would actually vote against a union and 2) why people WOULDN'T vote at ALL for a union.
 
So um. . .has anyone reported this yet?

Looks clear to me that the company is hindering an employee groups ability to organize.
 
Man, I want to take this apart line by line...thanks mach, for putting in a format where I can.

My initial thought...management scare tactic pure and simple. Accusing PCL pilots of whipsawing YOU when its your MANAGEMENT doing the whipsawing. So, let's have a look, shall we?

"The Pinnacle pilots want your flying.

Really, how many jet pilots do you think are chomping at the bit to check out on the mighty SAAB?

Since Pinnacle Airlines Corp. acquired Colgan Air, Inc., ALPA and its member pilots at Pinnacle Airlines, Inc., another subsidiary of our corporate parent, Pinnacle Airlines Corp., have been tirelessly working to get you integrated into ALPA’s pilot membership at Pinnacle Airlines, Inc.

I love the use of half truths. Its not PCL who is working tirelessly, its ALPA National and the guys on YOUR seniority list. Why? Because ALPA wants to be the representing agent for ALL airline pilots. Granted, you could make the argument that we are just looking for you dues. But, as an ALPA pilot, I'm passionate about getting all pilots under the ALPA umbrella. Does that mean Alaska pilots want your flying? Not hardly.

They tried to get you to vote for ALPA last year and you said “No.” They have used the grievance and arbitration process in their contract with Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. to try and force Pinnacle Airlines Corp. to restrict what Colgan can do.

I could be wrong, but I think the PCL pilots are more interested in scope language for general reasons than to limit Colgan flying.

And now they are back again to try and get you to voluntarily give up the independence you now enjoy.

What's your independence worth? Your flight attendents get paid for No Meal Breaks and Security Checks. Are you? That's just a couple of the "bennies" in their contract. You don't have one, so you don't get them.

What is the grand design of ALPA’s Pinnacle pilots? Take a look at the “Parent Agreement” they have proposed in the negotiations with Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. Under the Parent Agreement, ALPA states it is trying to negotiate “job security and work preservation provisions” in connection with its bargaining for a new CBA at Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. The Parent
Agreement would require our corporate parent, like Pinnacle Airlines, Inc., to be bound by the job security and scope provisions of the Pinnacle pilot’s ALPA contract.

Which, by the way is WAY more than you have now.

What does this mean for you? The Parent Agreement would effectively impose the “Pinnacle Pilots’ Seniority List” on you, the Colgan pilots, and integrate Colgan with Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. into a “single transportation system.” In other words, in the world according to the
Pinnacle Pilots and ALPA, Colgan’s new equipment will be flown by pilots on a combined Colgan-Pinnacle pilot’s seniority list.

This is by far the biggest lie in this whole thing. Take a look at AAA/AWA and DAL/NWA if you want to know how seniority list mergers take place. These guys want you to think you're going to get stapled to the bottom of the PCL list and their F/Os are going to come over and take your Capt. seats.

This couldn't be further from the truth. If you are ALPA then your lists will be merged using the ALPA merger/fragmentation policy. Period, end of story. And if you're fair about the whole thing you get a NWA/DAL scenario. A pretty easy transition and a ratioed list.

Do you really want that? Don’t take our word for it, ask ALPA for the language yourself.

Go ahead, look at the merger/fragmentation policy. Then ask yourself who is going to make more headway in a merged/ratioed list. The junior pilots usually do slightly better. And any upgrades have to be awarded by a system seniority bid. Look at it this way. How much chance do YOU have of getting any jet time at Colgan?

And how many PCL jet Captains do you think are just chomping at the bit to take an EWR Q bid or a IAH Saab bid? Get real, boys, this is simply a scare tactic.

If there was an integrated seniority list, who would win bids on your flying, you, or more senior Pinnacle pilots? If you were on an integrated seniority list, who would be better protected in a layoff, you or more senior Pinnacle pilots? Why do you think the Pinnacle pilots have
worked so hard to get you to be ALPA members?

The unspoken threat here is that PCL will staple you to the bottom. It ain't happening, guys. For one thing the law has changed. ALPA merger/frag policy is the rule of law now in ALPA/ALPA mergers. And even if you remain non-Union, the Allegheny-Mohawk LPPs apply BY LAW.


They certainly wouldn’t be pulling out all the stops if they didn’t think it was better for them. Right now, they see you as potential
competitors. They want to eliminate the competition and create more opportunities for themselves.

Of course it will be better for them. It will be better for you as well. What gets eliminated is the ability of the Corporation to whipsaw the two pilot groups against each other. This quote is a prime example of how they do it. They threaten PCL pilots with your non-Union pay/benefits package. And they threaten you with PCL pilots bidding your jobs while YOu get furloughed. Neither will happen if you both have ALPA contracts and ideally if you have the SAME ALPA contract.

The scope proposal also limits Colgan to the aircraft that we have now by tail number with no additional aircraft to be flown by Colgan pilots. What would this do to Colgan First Officer opportunities to upgrade?
Look to your own self-interest. What is better for you and Colgan?

Well, they almost told the truth. What's better for Colgan? A bunch of pilots who are too afraid to stand up for themselves, unionize and get the contract they deserve. That way they can jerk you around as much and as long as they want.

Remember, if you want to vote “No” to ALPA, don’t vote!?

Or, "just stay home, pull the covers over your head and everything will go away."

If this letter doesn't show you Colgan's true colors and piss you off enough to vote ALPA, I weep for you guys. You'll be just another airline where an employee group made up mostly of women has more balls than the pilots.

And that sucks. I know, I work for one.
 
Our "buddy" was in the crew room today at around 1:30. He had a small ring of pilots around him as he preached the gospel on how the end is near with a yes vote. I wanted to stay and fight the good fight but I had a commute to make so I just threw up in my mouth a little and walked out.

Buddy has a LONG history of having a pilot groups best interest in mind. I know a few CJC CAs though that saw this and printed it out so they can show everyone "I TOLD YOU IT WAS TRUE!".......cough ORF.
 
Our "buddy" was in the crew room today at around 1:30. He had a small ring of pilots around him as he preached the gospel on how the end is near with a yes vote. I wanted to stay and fight the good fight but I had a commute to make so I just threw up in my mouth a little and walked out.

Buddy has a LONG history of having a pilot groups best interest in mind. I know a few CJC CAs though that saw this and printed it out so they can show everyone "I TOLD YOU IT WAS TRUE!".......cough ORF.

Ugh. Guess where I'm based...I'm so glad I'm off the next three days.
 
hmmm so captian sparrow had this printed out preaching in the crew room? not even a little surprised. he preached this all to me on a three day trip. and had a huge problem with me wearing my lanyard.
 
no...he did not have it printed out. That was a hypothetical situation or a glimpse into the future whatever you would like to call it. I do not want to start any rumors, I am just predicting the future.
 
I am not familiar with Union voting procedures, but wouldn't the last line actually help the drive to get ALPA into Colgan? A no vote would be a full vote where just not voting is 50/50. Unless not voting is considered a no vote, I see this as trying to keep the no voters from actually voting thus giving ALPA an edge. Noting that it isn't signed, could it actually not be from management?
 
Not voting is considered a No vote.

Unfortunately.

It was also one of the contributing factors regarding the outcome of last year's attempt to organize.

Either way, making an effort to hinder or discourage people from voting for or against organizing is grounds for a lawsuit.

Individuals have been charged with an unfair labor practice for significantly lesser offenses.
 
Not voting is considered a No vote.

Unfortunately.

It was also one of the contributing factors regarding the outcome of last year's attempt to organize.

Either way, making an effort to hinder or discourage people from voting for or against organizing is grounds for a lawsuit.

Individuals have been charged with an unfair labor practice for significantly lesser offenses.

Probably why it isn't signed.


Anyway, thanks for the info!
 
Yup - of which I agree.

I'm sure ALPA legal, the Colgan OC, and other parties are working very hard to make sure no party infriges on an employee's right to vote yes or no.

Bottom line, this type of behavior and "ghost" releasing of information on a company letterhead should not be occuring and is no acceptable in any way.
 
Hopefully the desperation showed by CJC is an indication of how screwed they are.

Wishing the ALPA guys all the best.

EDIT: should put in there I mean CJC management. not the pilots
 
It is an anonymous memo but it came DIRECTLY from the president of the company. I have not seen the D.B memo.
 
I'd like to share my experience with CJC during the first run to the election.

<--- this guy :hiya:, called up Chuckles Colgan (pres.) regularly pre-vote and always got a phone call back from him the same day even if it was past business hours.

The moment the vote failed he never returned a single phone call (from any of us to my knowledge) and there was 0 information coming to us. Of course, it is possible he found out I voted yes for ALPA but I doubt it.
 
That's illegal per the NLRB in SO many ways it's not even funny. Like VERY large fines illegal. Interesting to see how this plays out.

Now of course, here's where the very interesting part comes in. Because it's NOT signed in a legal sense it is possible the company (at least the holding company) could plead that they didn't actually put it out and it came from one (or several) disgruntled employees. Granted the fact that it was sent from a corporate email address doesn't help that argument too much.

However, recent case law (the UAL sick out) would say that it is the group leadership's (in the actual case the UAL MEC but in this case PCL Management) responsibility to prevent "illegal" activities from occuring.

Honestly, I read through the letter a few times, and I can't find anything that is a clear violation of law. It's obviously a violation of ethics and morality, but that's not a problem, since Buddy has neither. The letter is very similar to letters we reviewed in other organizing drives, and Legal always determined that we didn't have a legal leg to stand on with a lawsuit. The best you can do is just to fight back with letters of your own.
 
Honestly, I read through the letter a few times, and I can't find anything that is a clear violation of law. It's obviously a violation of ethics and morality, but that's not a problem, since Buddy has neither. The letter is very similar to letters we reviewed in other organizing drives, and Legal always determined that we didn't have a legal leg to stand on with a lawsuit. The best you can do is just to fight back with letters of your own.

Only we aren't allowed to post our own letters on the company website.... funny how that works.
 
So um. . .has anyone reported this yet?

Looks clear to me that the company is hindering an employee groups ability to organize.

Yes, I sent it to our ALPA attorney running our organizing campaign around 0830 this AM. There will be a response....by tomorrow.

On a side note, I debated our need for representation with Harry Mitchell (VP of Ops) today for approx. 1.5 hours. There were several of us present during this. He was saying how badly the PCL pilot wanted to snuff our growth and prevent all FO's from upgrading for the next several years. Furthermore, he rambled on about how he wants us to put everyone else out of business. I countered w/ the fact that all regional airlines are in this fight together and how we need to stop the FFD whipsaw and start to work collectively towards an end goal.

Also, I queried him about the FA's union. The FA's were given a union, albeit a weak one, instead of the AFA. I asked why mgmt had just given the FA's the USW all the while, they fought us to the end for representation.......he brushed my question off, having never answered it.

I ask Harry about many issues at hand......his basic response was that PCL pilots wanted to stop our growth and prevent us from working together. I then mentioned that I've been working with Scott Erickson (PCL MEC Chairman) over the past few days and we never once had a discussion about PCL pilots trying to stifle growth at CJC or PCL pilots wanting to steal our flying. He had nothing to counter.

I could go on and on about different topics covered during this forum....but I have an early show tomorrow (as per a previous thread).

Suffice it to say, we (as a pilot group) need to stay informed and not allow ourselves to fall victim to the misinformation being spread by mgmt like last year. Vote for your future, VOTE ALPA!


[SIZE="6"]www.alpa.org/colgan[/SIZE]



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Thanks for playing CJC mgmt........too little, too late! We are a unified pilot group and we will see you in negotiations in the near future. :)
 
Hope you guys pull it out this time.. 4 votes last time?

I've been at an airline with no union..
I've been at an airline with a union..

Is ALPA the Godsend for all issues? Nope..
Is ALPA the Prego of Unions? Nope..

As being previously working for a non-union airline to a union airline.. it's awesome to be able to tell the company to pack it in because of a contract..

Ohh sorry.. LOA 03-05 says "bite me.."
 
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