Resolution Course Correction

The Atlanta Council Meeting is one week away (click here for the meeting notice).  We have new Reps taking office March 1st who have pledged to try and improve communication and accessibility.  Having met with them this past week I am encouraged and hopeful about their leadership of our council.  This same possibility exists with new officers at our Detroit and Salt Lake City councils as well.  I think we all wish them well as they embark on new terms in office, I know I do!

My goal in proposing resolutions was to speak to the frustrations and dissatisfaction I experience, hear from copilots I fly with and in listened to in conversations in my previous role on the Communication Committee.  In trying to put those frustrations into doable actions, my overriding goal was to find common ground, take a positive approach and suggest solutions most Delta Pilots would agree with.

Collaboration is rewarding, time consuming, at times messy, and fraught with the possibilities of not reaching agreement.  Collaborators come and go depending on their interests, available time, ability to tolerate frustration, and degree of feeling listened to and included.  With that in mind, I have made some changes to my resolutions.

Communication and Transparency.  I made some minor adjustments here.  No big changes.  Our council officers need guidance on how often the council wants to hear from them.

Pay.  The original resolution was very similar to one passed by Council 44 more than 2 years ago.  Since it was the basis of a resolution at the MEC level, the concern was expressed that it may be ignored as a repeat.  Instead I have written the kind of wording I think pilots would like our LEC and MEC use to confront our management on the circumstances of our harsh contractual cuts, our expression of the intent to restore our losses and the expectations on our union leaders.  A possible second pay resolution is in the works by another C44 member.  It may use some of this wording, may end up as a substitute resolution or may stand alone.  The goal is to collaborate and prevent the meeting from being a two day affair.

Conflict of Interest Resolution.  This resolution has created controversy for numerous reasons.  There are some misstatements of fact in the resolution.  Their are a wide variety of viewpoints among very knowledgeable line pilots, former reps and legal resources.  This one may take time to find more of a consensus.  There are two parts that there is general agreement with pilots have spoken to:

• Having one legal council for all of ALPA does not provide the innovation and airline specific solutions we seek.  We need our own Delta-Pilot-specific lawyers for negotiations. 
• We all want to know who is running for ALPA National President before our MEC supports a candidate.  This relates back to Communication and Transparency, "Tell us before you decide for us."

Since the second bullet point impacts us this fall, I will have a short resolution asking the MEC to only support declared candidates for National so that we can comment to them before they decide who to support.  The Atlanta Council intends to hold more frequent Council Meetings, the discussion of Scope, conflicts and strategy will continue in future meetings and between meetings.  Hopefully this will be true in other councils as well.

There are currently 9 Resolutions on the ATL Agenda.  Here is a link to 1, 2, 3 and a Proxy.  Here's the link to 5-9 and a Proxy.  My attached proxy (revised) is good for any of the 9.  Please find someone who plans to attend to carry it for you.  They can carry up to 3 proxies.

My hope is that this effort initiates more involvement in our Union.  If any of these resolutions speak to you, please take your own "personalized" version to your council meeting.  Our union only listens when they hear the call for better communication loud and clear from through out our membership.