Seggy
Well-Known Member
Came today in the email...
Great news about organizing!
The AOA Canada Pilots are the Cathy Pacific Pilots based in YVR. I am also glad the Frontier Pilots are looking to come over as well.
January 23, 2016
Fellow ALPA members,
During 2015 ALPA achieved new or extended agreements at Canadian North, CommutAir, FedEx Express, Jazz, KF Aerospace, Sun Country, and Trans States. We’re still in the first month of 2016, and already we’ve seen positive results thanks to the hard work of ALPA MECs and their negotiating teams. With so much going on, I’d like to provide a brief update on some of our negotiations and related activities. While much work remains at many ALPA pilot groups, recently these groups have made strides in securing improvements in areas such as pay, benefits, career advancement, and job security.
We learned Friday morning that the United pilots overwhelmingly approved a two-year extension to their collective bargaining agreement with United Continental Holdings Inc. This agreement provides for significant pay increases and extends the amendable date of the United Pilot Agreement to January 31, 2019.
United MEC chairman Capt. Jay Heppner said it best in his public statement that this agreement "recognizes the professionalism and contributions our pilots make each day to the success of United Airlines."
Congratulations to the many who contributed to this outcome.
The Bearskin pilots are voting on a tentative agreement (TA) reached last week for a new five-year collective agreement. The agreement includes annual pay increases and improves nontaxable benefits while providing the company additional flexibility in some work rules. Voting on the agreement closes January 28.
In our efforts to reach a fair contract, at times we must deploy tactics rarely used. That is the situation at Air Transat, where TSC pilots have endured months of slow, unsuccessful, and at times regressive bargaining by a management that refuses to recognize that the TSC pilots are lagging behind the rest of the industry. Last week, the pilots began voting on a strike ballot that authorizes their MEC to pursue self-help should their bargaining efforts fail. We look forward to a strong demonstration of solidarity and support for the MEC and its Negotiating Committee. The vote closes on February 1.
In other negotiations-related news, the Endeavor Air pilots are now enjoying the work rules contained in LOA 71, or the Mutual Benefit Agreement. This LOA provides increased open-time percentages and improvements to premium pay, vacation pay, deadheading provisions, and other benefits. This management team heard ALPA’s arguments about a pay shortage driving pilots away from fee-for-departure jobs, and the agreement also includes increased pay rates for first-year pilots, a contractual bonus for pilots hired after January 1 of this year, and retention bonus improvements for all pilots.
Last week, we saw measurable progress for the ASA and ExpressJet pilots. With the National Mediation Board’s (NMB) assistance, the pilot negotiators resolved many outstanding issues with management on their Modified Transition and Process Agreement and their respective contract-extension LOAs. The Negotiating Committees spent this week finalizing their separate contract extensions with management, which provide quality-of-life and economic improvements for both pilot groups along with a process for resuming joint collective bargaining agreement negotiations in the future. Each MEC will meet next week to review their respective agreements.
Last year, the Air Wisconsin, Delta, and Mesa pilots rejected tentative agreements, and their MECs have been working to refocus and renew their bargaining efforts. Both the Mesa and Air Wisconsin pilots currently are evaluating their situations and preparing for the resumption of negotiations. The Delta pilots have completed their internal work, including conducting a pilot survey, and have returned to the bargaining table with a new, comprehensive proposal to management. Their talks continue next week.
And our two newest ALPA groups, JetBlue and Virgin America, are thoroughly engaged in the bargaining process. The JetBlue pilots have made good strides toward securing their first ALPA contract, concluding most of the administrative sections of their agreement and focusing on the operational sections. At Virgin, we sent our Notice to Bargain on the heels of NMB-facilitated negotiations training just a few weeks ago. First sessions are scheduled for the first week in February and, in true Virgin America fashion, I believe they will exceed expectations and come out of that week with several TAs.
In addition to all the activity detailed above, your Association is also very busy supporting ongoing contract negotiations at Air Transport International, First Air, Hawaiian, and Spirit, while also preparing for contract openers later this year at Island Air, Jazz, and Wasaya. All of this adds up to a very busy year of bargaining for ALPA. Our professional resources are second to none in this industry and will be fully deployed to meet these challenges.
Finally, as we continue to pour our efforts and resources into building better contracts that lead to the quality of life all of our members deserve, we remain focused on ALPA’s vision to represent all airline pilots in the United States and Canada.
To that end, I’m happy to announce that this week by a vote of 9–0, the Frontier Airline Pilots Association (FAPA) Board of Directors approved a resolution supporting the ALPA/FAPA merger agreement. This is an important step in the path toward a possible merger of the two unions. ALPA’s Executive Council will consider the agreement next week.
Similarly, the Aircrew Officers Association of Canada (AOA Canada) pilot leaders are busy educating their members about the benefits of merging with ALPA. While that process is still in its early stages, we look forward to welcoming the FAPA, AOA Canada, and hopefully many more pilot groups into ALPA, as building our collective voice makes the piloting profession that much stronger.
For a comprehensive overview of all ALPA’s pilot groups, please read the latest issue of Air Line Pilot magazine, which includes an update from each of our 30 pilot groups representing the 52,000 pilots of your union.
Together—united as pilot groups and as a union—we can and will be successful. Whether it is seeing positive results at the negotiating table or raising a collective voice on Capitol and Parliament Hill, for 85 years ALPA has been a positive force for change and progress in our industry.
Tim Canoll
Great news about organizing!
The AOA Canada Pilots are the Cathy Pacific Pilots based in YVR. I am also glad the Frontier Pilots are looking to come over as well.
