US Airline Pilots Association

USAPA

US Airline Pilots Association
Founded	2007
Members	legally represents approx 5200 USAirways pilots, including many non-members, dues protesters.
Website	http://www.usairlinepilots.org/

The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) is the collective bargaining agent for US Airways pilots. The US Airline Pilots Association replaced the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) in a representational election and is an "in-house union" with only the interests of the US Airways pilots as its focus. Pilots of the formerly bankrupt carrier that had been acquired by and merged with America West Airlines agreed to binding seniority arbitration, but protested the results of that ALPA seniority arbitration panel's award. The East pilots contended that the award was unfair and did not follow ALPA's own policy. Although the East pilots could show no evidence of any ALPA policy violation, ALPA reviewed the process and found no policy violations. ALPA's recalcitrance in this matter and the extremely poor representation they gave to USAir/US Airways pilots over the last twenty years led to the formation of USAPA as a means to oust ALPA as the collective bargaining agent. (Note: there was no ALPA recalcitrance and certainly no poor ALPA representation; in fact, at one time, ALPA negotiated the highest paying contract in the industry for the east pilots. It was only when things didn't go their way in a legally BINDING arbitration, that the east pilots decided to use their considerable numbers to throw out their union in exchange for a union whose sole purpose is to try to negate the arbitrated decision.) The election for a collective bargaining agent, authorized and administered by the National Mediation Board (NMB), concluded on April 17, 2008 with the USAPA prevailing by a margin wide enough for the NMB to refuse any further challenges. USAPA became the NMB-certified bargaining agent for all US Airways pilots effective April 18, 2008.

Member Pilot Group

• US Airways (east pilots)
• US Airways (west pilots)

While USAPA claims to represent the 5200 pilots, East and West, as of May 2008 not a single West pilot has joined the union. Outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, the West pilots were left without their ALPA union representation after East pilots strong-armed the vote in their favor. A new protective coalition of West pilots, called AWAPPA (America West Pilots Protective Association) was created in order to defend the West pilots from the wildcat raid by USAPA on the legitimate and legally binding arbitrated seniority award, as well as the incumbent East and West union, ALPA.

See also

• Union busting
• Stockholm Syndrome
• Skene's gland

External links

• Official site
• TheStreet.com article about the association
• CNNMoney article about the association