Chapter 1: You Can’t Argue With Lies of Omission
This week’s episode of Organize at All Costs, aka Eno Eno Ruof, aka 911, El Presidente enchants us with a vision of unity and an almost misty appeal to our heart-strings in the face of oppression from the monolithic company.
An all-out high-dollar media blitz results in near zero media coverage. Why? Maybe because it was timed to gin up the pilots and try and trick people into calling in sick, fatigued, and write up airplanes that aren’t really broken right in the middle of the peak season. Maybe consideration was not given to the fact that central Ohio is #1 out of the top 12 US metro areas in POVERTY, and the news does not give a goose crap about a media campaign built around a retirement program in a community where pilots are the 1% and work for the 1%. DER!
But don’t worry, Lupee managed to hire a professional photographer and make 45 pilots look like 80, even without the support of the Flight Attendants, and with the support of…... drum roll please……3 or 4 dispatchers and 10 or 11 mechanics. Actual observations put the total strength at 65 sustained for 25 minutes – a far cry from 80 pilots. So when you subtract all the IBT reps, pilot union staff, union paid pilots (e-board, stewards, certain committee members), how many pilots remain? When you further subtract the 15 (out of 45) pilots in recurrent that were intimidated into coming down for 30 minutes, how many pilots remain? When you subtract the Lazy Bears that want to protect their non-flying call in fatigued and sick and let someone else do the work habits, how many REAL pilots remained?
So if I wanted to attract attention I would have marched in the sunlight on the corner of Stelzer and Easton Way – where the traffic is. Instead, the ragged band of disorganized picketers sauntered around in the shade – almost hidden from traffic. Who noticed? Why were most of them wearing sunglasses? Embarrassed, maybe? Afraid Lupee would cut you off from your stipend? Kick you off the committee? Make you, gasp, fly???
There are just a few holes in the 911, as usual. Ask your friends in IT and facilities that were right there. They will even tell you that the event ended 40 minutes ahead of schedule. The joke at Easton is that they had to leave early…for a union break. I am sure glad my dues paid for that, and when I learned that the end-of-year sales surge is being slowed by the competition using the AIN article to sell fear of union strife as a reason to not fly the goose… well, my heart swells with pride. I can’t wait for these aces to picket in Omaha and at the Bridgeway grand opening, maybe even add more billboards or a banner tow. Maybe when real negotiating begins the bank account can be so close to zero that we have to layoff employees at the union office.
It just gets better. The 911 waxes on about how Lupee has 20 years of experience in these maters. Is that why the next section of the Watchtower invites all of us to consider filing stacks of grievances related to the 401(k)? Ginning up more fear and harm, knowing with 20 years of experience that all those filings will be converted to a single class-action and wasting everyone’s time? He has already promised to join with his IBT brothers (sisters are busy negotiating for real) and file an actual lawsuit. All of this (redundant) administrative activity requested in the "Day Of Issues" Section? Really? Day Of who? The union? 20 years of experience means we know what we are doing.
Real purpose? Create 100-200 grievances on a single issue so he can clearly and accurately tell the press that “grievances have skyrocketed” and the union has “multiple grievances” with the goose. So never mind how the company collaborated in LMRC and the Dispute Resolution Working Group to cut the arbitration docket by 2/3 just days before the picket.
It is all so clear to me now why the company should sit down and listen to these fine representatives. In fact, when was the last time the company asked for subcontracting relief? I had not heard that since, say, March. Hmmm. At the time it did not even sound like relief. It sounded like a request to send in reps to discuss options. Who spun that up into a poison pill: ["Er, 1.5c3 = EJM" or "Shut down EJM ans send 110 airplanes into the low-cost charter market and take away MORE business though direct competition. Eureka! Genius!]? Seems like the organizers are telling us what to think again. Just like they are telling dispatchers to not sweat the lack of pay raises and profit sharing this year – they’ll get full retro. Anyone out there EVER get full retro? Believe that and you can believe I have unlimited golden eggs for you. Is anyone taking the bait who say, hasn't called in fatigued more than 15 times this year or has some personal beef with individual managers or some unfinished business complex?
Have fun choking me to death with fabricated strife. Fear always unifies. Just be careful, unified, educated, and unafraid pilots don’t care where they “Get their pound.” It just might be out of you.
HONK!
QSG
