Hundreds Attend United Family Unity Rally in California
June 12, 2008--Hundreds of pilots, flight attendants, machinists and members of other unions gathered on June 12 in Woodland Hills, Calif., for the United Family Unity Rally. The United pilots, employees and their family members gathered in a park across the street from where United Airlines was holding its annual shareholders meeting. This year, United moved the meeting to the West Coast for reasons unknown.
"As we witness the various factions of our airline converge on Woodland Hills today, it’s apparent which individuals have the pure interest of United Airlines’ long-term success at heart," said MEC Chairman Captain Steve Wallach, in a video address to the crowd. "It’s certainly not Glenn Tilton and senior executives, who will just pull the ripcords on their golden parachutes as soon as they’ve taken enough from United’s coffers. It’s not the institutional shareholders who only care about making a quick dollar at the expense of the company. Look at the pilot or fellow employee standing next to you. Look at the family members who have joined you today in Warner Park. Think of the pilots who today are flying the line and couldn’t join you today. Think of the 55,000 employees who make this airline fly day in and day out, and have devoted years of sweat equity to this airline. These are the individuals who really have the interests of United Airlines at heart."
MEC Communications plans to produce a DVD of June 12's Unity rally. We will provide details of its release in the coming weeks.
Sampling
of Media Coverage of Rally
Los Angeles Times
KTLA TV (Los Angeles)
Associated Press
Short video report of rally on FastClips:
http://www.fastclips.com/videos/fu5kk9P2RRT6
5 Questions With ...
... MEC Family Awareness Committee Chairman Capt. Shawn Murray
March 13, 2008--The UAL-MEC Communications Committee wants you to know who represents you on the various MEC Committees and how they work for you. To that end, we continue our ongoing video series 5 Questions With ... . The series consists of streaming video interviews with various Committee Chairs and Members. In the videos, we attempt to answer the questions most line pilots have. 5 Questions With ... will be a regular feature and we encourage you to monitor your email inbox and www.UnitedPilotUnity.org for future reports.
Today, we introduce MEC Family Awareness Committee Chairman Captain Shawn Murray. Simply click on one of the links below to access 5 Questions With ... MEC Family Awareness Committee Chairman Captain Shawn Murray.
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Family Awareness Coordinators Meet In Chicago
February 20, 2008--Nearly 40 United pilot Family Awareness regional chairmen and area coordinators met in Chicago this week for a two-day training seminar. The pilots, who were joined by their brethren from Continental and American Airlines, left Chicago ready to put online the vast family network designed to keep pilot families plugged in to ALPA's mission and in tune with the decisions your union makes that impact each member of a pilot's family.
"It is important to understand that unity does not start and end at the cockpit door or on the doorstep of ALPA," said MEC Chairman Captain Steve Wallach during his address to the group on Tuesday. "Unity resides in the living rooms and kitchen tables of each and every United pilot. The lost wages and pilfered pensions resulting from United’s bankruptcy didn’t just happen to the pilots and our fellow employees. The Company took away our families’ security. The Company took away many of our children’s college funds. And, for many, the Company took away our sense of pride in our airline. But one thing the Company could not take away is the resolve that defines a United pilot and his or her respective family.
"ALPA’s Family Awareness Program has deep roots at United. Dating as far back as the strike of 1985, your United MEC has always put family first. More than 20 years after that benchmark event, our philosophy and approach remains the same. We can’t lose sight of the fact that everything we do, every decision your union makes, involves and impacts our families."
"Our mission is unifying the pilot group behind a common goal," added Captain Shawn Murray, UAL-MEC's Family Awareness Chairman. "And that goal is to negotiate a contact agreeable to the pilots. To do this, we will need the solidarity of all our pilots and their families. Family Awareness is the communications network that is reaching out to all our pilots and their families."
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