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IBT Keepin' the Brutha Down

Fellow Unrepresented KHA Crewmembers,

Many of you have received threatening recorded messages from the Teamsters (IBT). I received an urgent page from my upset Wife regarding this threatening phone call. As a former Teamster, I will use the following adjectives to describe my feelings about their latest foray into mudslinging: angry, appalled, disgusted, disappointed, shocked, etc. The Teamsters' egregious behavior during the last 2 years in attempting to organize Kitty Hawk AirCargo (KHA) truly shows how desperate they are and to what lengths they will go to force themselves upon us. Before I begin my expose' on my experiences as a Teamster, I would like to explore with you their recent history in attempting to organize our pilot group and why they are so desperate to represent us. Also, I would like to address the many weaknesses and mistakes made by the Teamsters and Local 747. It is a shame that the Teamsters could not have used a little more class with their letter and phone campaign. Basically, Teamsters Local 747 is a gang that has staked out our pilot group as their "turf". Their incessant written and verbal attacks on ALPA and their cries of "raiding" are proof of that. Mr. Treichler, you have opened this can of worms with your mudslinging letters and threatening recordings, so prepare to reap the consequences of the truth. You will have to excuse me if I sound a little upset; I just heard the Teamsters' taped message and read the propaganda, so here goes..

Why are the Teamsters so desperate to represent the pilots of KHA? A little lesson in history might help to explain that. Is it that they can't wait to serve our best interests, or theirs? You be the judge. Let's start back in 1996/1997 after the first Teamster campaign at KHA had failed. Things remained quiet until the Summer of 1998, when an ALPA campaign began at KHA. Despite a vigorous anti-union campaign by the Company, ALPA had well over 50% of the pilot group's election authorization cards by the spring of 1999. Slow, but sure progress. Unfortunately for us, though, outside events would soon cut this ALPA campaign short. In November 1998, the pilots of ATA chose to decertify the Teamsters and write-in ALPA. No one forced the ATA pilots to do this; the Teamsters lost fair and square. The Teamsters then filed protest with the AFL-CIO (After all, why should the ATA pilots have a right to choose whom will represent them anyway?). The AFL-CIO found ALPA guilty of "raiding" and promptly fined them. This sanction has had far reaching consequences on our pilot group and it remains the main reason that we remain unrepresented today. Ironically, the IBT KHI crews began passing out their cards during the KHA ALPA campaign and filed their KHI "power play" Single Carrier petition right in the middle of ALPA's campaign (ALPA's Authorization Cards were good until August 1999). ALPA, having already suffered the wrath of the IBT, dropped the KHA pilots like a hot potato. It is a shame that ALPA did not file a raiding complaint with the AFL-CIO, but I guess that I was not at that meeting. Now, the Gangstaz, I mean the Teamsters, had firmly staked out our pilot group as their "turf". KHA pilots wanted ALPA, but ALPA would not even talk to us because of the IBT. We were screwed. So it was the TEAMSTERS THAT RAIDED KHA FROM ALPA back in 1999, not the other way around. Also, the Teamsters are not above a little extra "raiding" themselves. Last year, and maybe still, the Teamsters attempted to organize the flight attendants of American Airlines right out from under the nose of the APFA, their union (I'll have my Wife fax a copy of the Teamster recruiting letter to The Bark). Even if the APFA is not an AFL-CIO member, this action was wrong if Mr. Treichler was true to his word in his April 20 letter. So don't talk to us about raiding, Mr. Treichler. We could care less about who raids who, as long as the majority of employees gets to decide who will represent them. As far as the majority of the KHA crewmembers are concerned, we and the ATA pilots feel that we are better off without you.

So why the IBT has been so desperate to get the KHA pilots was partially answered in the above paragraph. After the loss of the ATA pilots, Teamsters Local 747 was in complete disarray. Not only had they lost the dues income from the ATA pilots, they also lost the incoming dues from the bankrupt Southern Air Transport and Zantop pilot groups. Faced with these three big losses (ATA was the largest single pilot group and revenue provider to Local 747 and therefore, a devastating loss to the IBT), the pilots of KHA became a potentially valued commodity for the IBT. Granted, SAT and Zantop were not the Teamsters' fault, but the loss of the ATA pilots certainly was. So why did ATA decertify the IBT? Were the ATA pilots wrong to do so? Certainly not, given the second-rate representation they received from the IBT. Just ask an ATA pilot about it. And to give the IBT the benefit of a doubt, ask several. When asked by a group of KHA pilots in the TOL hub about the IBT's loss of the ATA pilot group, Mr. Don Treichler had a plethora of excuses. Rather than taking at least some of the responsibility, he blamed the ATA pilot group, he blamed the ATA Executive Council, and he blamed the former ATA Business Agent (BA) and President of Local 747 (Whom also represented my former pilot group- Read on). With all that blame mongering and finger pointing, I was surprised that Mr. Treichler had not yet been employed by certain airlines management teams by now. All kidding aside, why did the Teamsters let things go so far south with the ATA pilots that they got decertified? Were they out of touch? Are they still? And instead of saying "Hey, lets assess what we did wrong with ATA and make sure that does not happen again", instead the IBT goes after ALPA. Whose best interests did they have in mind then? Now that Local 747 is faced with the possible loss of power and income from the KHI pilots, it is no wonder that they are so desperate to represent us.

Before I go any further, I want to state that the IBT is not all bad. They just seem to be in great disarray and do not seem to really want to commit to representing pilots like they should. My proof? Call them at (800)-747-2313! Currently at the Local 747 offices in IND, there are two people there. Two! And sometimes just ONE!! And last year, due to the tragic loss of their Local President Hank Ward, Mr. Treichler was representing 7 airlines SINGLE HANDEDLY. Doing his best, but certainly overextended. This would be understandable for a short time, but this went on for months. Does that seem like the kind of staffing commensurate with the amount of crewmembers to be represented to you? This lack of staffing becomes apparent when you are calling as a member for assistance, but I'll get to that later. This is due to, in part, that until recently the Local had been under the Trusteeship of Mr. Ray Benning. He controlled every dime going into and out of Local 747 (Read on). I have heard of "lean and mean", but the examples above seem more like penny pinching. On the other hand, calling ALPA connects you to one of their 420 FULL-TIME specialists from all fields of aviation. Maybe instead of insulting ALPA all the time, the Teamsters should attempt to work with and learn from them. And ALPA from the IBT.

Mr. Treichler says ALPA's bankrupt, but people in glass houses should not throw stones. And speaking of stone throwing, what's up with all these angry, negative organizing letters from Mr. Treichler's office? "Six Reasons Not to Vote for ALPA"?? I don't see any AAL, CAL, FEDEX, SWA, or UPS pilot breaking down Local 747's door to get a Teamster pin. And using UPS as an example is comical. The UPS pilots FOUGHT to get away from the Teamsters, with their IPA President, Bob Miller, receiving threats from IBT members. If you don't believe me, ask any senior UPS pilot. On the flip side, it should be called "77,000 Reasons NOT to Vote for The Teamsters"(25,000 Independent plus 52,000 ALPA): Nearly none (except ABEX) of the above list did. Furthermore, I don't see any Local 1224 (ABEX) pilot wanting anything to do with Local 747, either! Nearly every IBT letter speaks disparagingly of ALPA. Conversely, ALPA letters never insulted the Teamsters, though they had a lot of ammunition. ALPA just stood on their record, rather than using threats and coercion through letters and taped messages. And is everyone else as sick and tired as I am of hearing how great things are at World Airways? I realize that this was his Alma Mater, but things are not that great at World lately. With his caustic, abrasive organizing tactics and his misstatement (quoting FAR 90.13?!), I wonder if Mr. Treichler may be a little out of touch with his audience.

Note all the airline references in the Teamster letters: ABEX, World, Executive Jet. What do they all have in common, you ask? None of them are affiliated with Local 747, but you would never get that info from one of their organizing letters. In fact, Local 747 has yet to negotiate an ABEX-style industry standard contract. ALPA, on the other hand, has made great progress in the freight industry with DHL and Polar (Better than World's, considering that it is their first contract). And best of all, ALPA does not stoop to mudslinging, threats, or coercion I'm not saying that ALPA is not without its faults, but at least it is well respected as a class organization.

As a former Teamster I had mixed feelings about writing such a letter, just as I had mixed feelings about my Teamster representation at Grand Aire Express (GAE). We were a small pilot group of varying sizes (between 67 and 96, when I was there). Having been turned down by ALPA because of our size, we were grateful that the IBT chose to represent us. I still am grateful and feel that we did the right thing. And to the Teamsters' credit, GAE has the best (read ONLY) contract in the 135 freight industry today. Quite an achievement in just over two years! Having said that I must unfortunately return to the task of addressing the recent IBT letters. By the time we chose to organize our GAE pilot group, things had gotten pretty bad there. Pilots were faced with pay cuts, days off taken away, vacation canceled, credit cards (important for ad hoc) confiscated, threats from management if directions to violate FAR's were not obeyed, etc. So we were desperate for representation. But we were also concerned about the repercussions of organizing. When Mr. Treichler came to Michigan to speak to our pilot group in late December of 1996, he told us that the IBT would be "banging on the owners' door at 10;00 PM", if the company took action against any of us for organizing activities. If only that had been the case.

Two weeks to the day after losing to the IBT from our election, the company took action. Eleven of our most senior pilots were furloughed completely out of seniority. Out of these 11 pilots, 8 were on the ballot for positions on the Council; An obvious anti-union move. Fortunately, for my family, I had not been heavily involved with the union there until the day that happened But from that point on I became very involved. When we made an emergency call to our Business Agent (BA, who also represented the ATA pilots and who later became Local 747 President), he could not be reached because he was doing something for ATA (who "always came first" because of their size, he told us). We then placed a call to Mr. Treichler, who also could not be reached because he was on vacation to Saudi Arabia (the Haj). Finally, the secretary got ahold of Mr. Ray Benning. I sat there in amazement as I listened to him, along with my company targeted friends, say "that we should not jump to conclusions" and that "they would look into it". We couldn't believe it: what happened to the promise of "banging on the owner's door at 10:00 PM"? At the very least, we felt let down and disappointed. The eleven pilots eventually got their jobs back, but it was not because of any assistance from the IBT. It was only from the solidarity of our pilot group to refuse any extra flying and virtually no favors, that forced GAE Management to rethink their actions. Later, during our negotiating sessions, the IBT sent our BA as the primary negotiator. During the same period of time, ALPA sent top lawyers to negotiate on behalf of the Skyway pilots, a VERY small group (Just a thought). Our BA did have a law degree, though. And from our experience during the UPS strike of 1997 lies my primary example of confusion in the IBT organization. It was two days before the strike and we had heard nothing from the IBT. GAE was the second largest cargo carrier operating out of Louisville, UPS's largest subcontractor, a Teamster pilot group and they had FORGOTTEN about us. After being asked by the UPS pilots if we were going to fly, we finally called the IBT and said "Aren't you forgetting something?". We then got a letter that said we were to honor the picket lines and not fly UPS goods. Two days later, the IBT wrote us a letter saying that we would have to fly since we had no contract. This put our pilot group, along with other subcontractor pilot groups, in a very precarious situation. Through direct negotiations with the IPA (UPS Pilot Union) and members of our Executive Council, subcontractors were allowed to fly up until the last two days of the UPS strike, without fear of being called "SCAB". Note that this was done without any assistance from the Teamsters, whom admittedly, had their hands full then. Finally, our pilots refused to fly only UPS goods during August 15 and 16, 1997. Most other subcontractors followed suit, and the strike ended shortly after. In the Teamsters' defense, they did use their influence with UPS to lean on GAE Management to give several pilots their jobs back after refusing to fly in the early days of the strike. But this was not done on the Local 747 level. This was accomplished because members of our EXCO complained to the IPA that we were not getting any support from the IBT. The IPA then called their contacts at IBT legal in Washignton to get them to lean on our Teamster representatives. Once they got going, though, our pilots had their jobs back with back pay. It is just too bad that we had to go over their heads.

In conclusion, I must re-emphasize that, except for the above examples, MY feelings of the Teamsters were positive until they used the Single Carrier petition as a tool against us. I also am happy that the pilots of my former employer have gotten a contract through the IBT.

And I realize that many positive changes have happened at Local 747 since I was a member. For example, a fellow crewmember and fellow former GAE crewmember met the new Local 747 Vice President and told me how impressed he was with his sincerity and insight. Another example is their new General Counsel Gene Sowell, who comes with a very impressive resume' too.

But all this does not change the fact that there is now bad blood between us (KHA pilots and the IBT). The IBT has used us on more than one occasion, and they have consistently shown that they are not concerned with OUR best interests. Mr. Treichler, we do not belong to you and this pilot group is not your turf. Is four years of our pilots ignoring your letters not enough to show you that we are not buying your sales pitch? Just how long do you propose to limit our choice of whom will represent us? Your attempt to monopolize our pilot group by denying us the union of our choice is PROOF to all KHA pilots that the Teamsters will not work for our best interests. ALPA was here in '98 and '99, when you chose to raid them; They now should have as much right to solicit our group as the IBT, even though they have not and will not. You have proven our management's claim that you are only a big business that will work for your best interests. And if you are successful in forcing ALPA to not represent us, exactly what purpose will accomplish? Don't you think that we will just wait another year (If the organizers have not already been terminated or "disappeared")? Do you think that after such an action by the IBT, that any KHA pilot will ever support a Teamster ever again? You really should think about your actions before messing with peoples lives. Had you and the IBT done a better job with other airlines in the past (UPS, ATA), you could have had this pilot group years ago. And I personally guarantee you that if this group remains unrepresented because of any actions on your behalf (AFL-CIO, for example), I will make it my soul purpose in life to tell every newspaper, radio station, television station, student pilot, private pilot, commercial pilot, instrument pilot, CFI, CFII, MEII, AGI, A&P, MD, DMD, MP, CFO, CEO, AFL-CIO, and anybody else who will listen, how MR. DON TREICHLER, MR. RAY BENNING, IBT LOCAL 747, and the TEAMSTERS AIRLINE DIVISION held my pilot group down for three years for their own selfish purposes. You were SUPPOSED to be the good guys! And I will encourage all my fellow friends and crewmembers to do the same. Aviation is a small community, Mr. Treichler, and your actions do not bode well for the survival of the Teamsters in this segment of the industry. Again, we do not belong to you and if the IBT had a better reputation, we would be Teamsters already. I therefore encourage all my fellow Kitty Hawk AirCargo Crewmembers to ignore the threats and bullying from the Teamsters and vote for the union of their choice. I personally will vote for ALPA because I have seen what they have done recently for pilot groups large and small. Rather than to succumb to the Teamsters' taped threats, I would rather vote for the Amalgamated Association of Chicken Pluckers (Non-AFL-CIO member, of course). At least they did not try to scare us into voting for them. Send in your ballots: ANYBODY EXCEPT THE TEAMSTERS!

Unrepresented because of the IBT,

Unrepresented in FWA