Our campaign websites will be coming down sometime in the couple of weeks but before they do, we wanted to take a few moments to thank you all. It doesn’t matter whether you voted for us or not—we are glad you participated in the process. As you probably read recently, we had 39% of our eligible EWR voters turn out. Not stunning, granted, but it gives us a foundation upon which to build the unity required as we move closer to actually engaging management in the battle for Contract ’08.
We know you all thought you were done with ballots for a while but we ask for your vote one more time; this one is to determine who will be the Chairman of our Local Council. Traditionally, this position has gone to the Captain representative—and it should this time as well. Please go back to BallotPoint and cast your vote for Jayson Baron as our Local Council Chairman. This ballot closes December 10th.
Since the election results were announced we have conferred with each other on a daily basis. We remain fully committed to our campaign goals of education, excitement, and involvement that will lead to the changes that must take place. Our conferences have focused on the strategies we will be developing to ensure we provide the effective and dynamic leadership you all voted for. We pledge that:
· We will do our best to craft an effective campaign to educate our pilots. We are far behind the industry in virtually every area of our contract—and many pilots don’t know it.
· We will use this educational effort to fire the imaginations of our pilots, not only to see the possibilities for our futures, but to create the excitement to join the battle to come.
· We will use our newly-
The one constant in these plans is YOU, the pilot. In the past, the union may not have seemed responsive to you and you may have tuned it out. It’s now time to turn the radio back on and crank it up. A lot of new information will be coming your way—and along with that information will come many new opportunities to get involved. Not only will your voices be heard, your actions will be seen and felt as well. Your opportunity to shape Contract ’08 is here; DO NOT WASTE THIS CHANCE!
Although we do not take office until March 2009, we urge you to seek us out, ask
questions, and prepare to get involved. We do not plan to use our first couple of
MEC meetings to “spool up”; we intend to hit the ground running from Day One. We
have an ambitious agenda and we will not waste a single moment of the time we are
allotted to bring it to fruition. After our websites come down, so will our temporary
e-
CA Jayson Baron: JBaron7256@aol.com 610-
FO Tara Cook: Tara.Cook@alpa.org 610-
CA Kaye Riggs: Scribe@RanchoPerro.com 830-
We ran for union office because things needed to change. All right, we’re here. We did our part. Are you ready to do yours?
In Unity,
CA Jayson Baron
FO Tara Cook
CA Kaye Riggs
“Jeff Nason realizes that a man is known by the company he keeps… and acts accordingly.”
If this statement is true, and it is, then our opponents are in trouble. It’s bad
enough that every time they open their mouths their own feet appear there; it’s worse
when the hatchet men they have come to rely upon for their baseless personal attacks
on us provide nothing but, well, baseless personal attacks. It had become bad enough,
and this was before their latest round of political slime-
We are not interested in slinging anything except the truth, and we will remain focused on what we intend to do once we take office.
We fully intend to:
· Open an LC 170 office near the airport with complementary transportation;
· Create an effective communications program to include frequent blastmails, a code-
· Visit the crew rooms at least monthly and be available to all pilots at other times as much as is humanly possible;
· Create an educational campaign to clearly show every pilot just how far behind
every other airline we are in every area of our contract as one of the first steps
to building the unity we lack today. This campaign will include a short-
· Create a whole host of Local Council committees staffed with the volunteers who were previously shut out of the process. We have many, many talented and dedicated pilots in EWR; we intend to use them.
We will also carry the fight to the company in the following areas:
· We will keep the “A” Fund intact.
· We will ensure that no pilot will be without medical insurance no matter how new they are to Continental Airlines.
· We will continue the fight for Seniority Block Representation.
· We will fight to end the “B” scale for our pilots with two to six years of service.
· We will fight to eliminate probation as we know it today.
Some of these issues can be addressed as soon as we take office. Some must be addressed
in the context of a full, industry-
This article from Bloomberg News dated November 5th indicates that we may have the
first airline labor-
Every one of us has sacrificed to keep Continental Airlines flying, and every one of us will share in the gains we will fight to bring home. We pledge to represent all pilots equally, whether you have twenty days, twenty months, or twenty years on the property.
If you voted for our opponents, you have voted for the status quo and managed expectations; we, every one of us, is worth more than that. It’s not too late to change your vote: Vote Baron/Cook/Riggs TODAY!
Balloting is still open and will close on Monday, November 10th, at 10:00 EST. To
cast a vote for Jayson Baron, Tara Cook and Kaye Riggs, you may do so by phone or
through Ballot Point online. Both methods require your Voter ID and PIN. To vote
by phone, dial 1-
Thank you all for your help and participation.
Captain Jayson Baron / JaysonBaron.info
First Officer Tara Cook / TaraCook.info
Captain Kaye Riggs / KayeRiggs.info
October 20, 2008
Baron/Cook/Riggs – The Balloting is Open!
Fellow Newark pilots,
Voting is now open for the election of the Local Executive Council for the Newark pilot base. The pilots from our largest base will decide which candidates will serve as we negotiate our next contract and face a changing industry and a challenging economy. We deserve professional, competent and aggressive representation as we fight to get the industry leading contract we all deserve. The choice is clear: Jayson Baron, Tara Cook and Kaye Riggs!
While the opposition ticket has spent the past weeks engaged in rumor mongering,
opining about non-
We know that this pilot group is ready to fight for our future and for the well-
Balloting is now open and will close on November 10th at 1000 EST. To cast a
vote for Jayson Baron, Tara Cook and Kaye Riggs, you may do so by phone or through
Ballot Point online. Both methods require your Voter ID and PIN. To vote by phone,
dial 1-
Thank you for your vote to return our union where it belongs: to the pilots!
CA Jayson Baron www.JaysonBaron.info
FO Tara Cook www.TaraCook.info
CA Kaye Riggs www.KayeRiggs.info
October 1, 2008
Baron/Cook/Riggs -
To all Newark-
· At the Local Council 170 meeting this past Monday, September 29th, nomination balloting
was conducted for our Local Executive Council for the three-
· During the course of the nominating process, Kaye Riggs has emerged as the candidate for Secretary/Treasurer whose views and fighting spirit is most aligned with the Baron/Cook vision for our Local Council for the next three years. We are pleased to announce our endorsement of Kaye Riggs for Secretary/Treasurer and look forward to working with him throughout the election cycle and beyond.
· We want to thank everyone who participated in the nomination ballot process. Regardless
of your viewpoint, the pilots can only benefit when good candidates step up and volunteer
to serve. We want to especially thank the many pilots who took the time to vote in
what is, arguably, one of the most important elections since the Continental pilots
re-
· Now that the Baron/Cook/Riggs team has cleared the first hurdle, we again ask for your vote in the representational election. Since Ballot Point is a relatively new procedure, detailed instructions are available at www.CALALPA.org by navigating to My ALPA/Elections. If you have any difficulty getting your Voter ID or PIN numbers, please call any one of us for help or check out our websites for balloting procedure updates.
Monday, September 22, 2008
By now you should have received an LEC 170 nomination ballot from ALPA for the terms
of office starting on March 1, 2009.
As Continental pilots, we find ourselves at
a critical juncture. If we want a viable contract with major increases in pay, retirement,
insurance benefits, quality of life, and scope language, we need a drastic change
in our current direction.
The road map to change starts with electing EWR representatives
who have the integrity, intelligence, dedication, drive, stamina, and ability to
force a major change in the direction of the Continental Master Executive Council
(MEC). The team to make this change is Jayson Baron (CA Representative) and Tara
Cook (First Officer Representative.)
One of the areas most in need of change is communications.
Timely, reliable, truthful, and consistent communications are the back-
The key to effective communication is accessibility. To that end, we would
like to borrow an idea from the Delta Council 44. They have a separate Local Council
office in Atlanta and we would like to do the same. Although our budget may be small,
we believe that we can afford to have a small office in EWR, a place for council
volunteers to come work, send faxes, and store materials. A substantial portion of
our annual LC budget will be returned to ALPA National this year. In effect, we are
losing this money because we haven’t spent it. What better way to serve our constituents
than to provide a place for them to come to volunteer and get involved.
In closing,
we would like to once again state our commitment to our constituents and our five
basic goals for Con tract ’08. We assure you that WE SUPPORT ALL EWR PILOTS NO MATTER
WHERE THEY RESIDE ON THE SENIORITY LIST!
*We will fight to preserve the frozen "A"
Plan lump sum.
*We will fight to significantly enhance the retirement for all Continental
pilots
*We will fight to substantially increase the pay and improve the work rules
of all Continental Pilots
*We will fight to eliminate the "B" scale years two through
six
*We will fight to ensure medical insurance for every Continental pilot from day
one.
Please remember to return your Nomination Ballot to be received by September
29, 2008 or plan to personally deliver it to the LC meeting on the 29th at 11:00am
at the EWR Marriott. Replacement ballots can be requested by calling 1-
Sincerely,
Jayson Baron & Tara Cook
www.taracook.info
Monday, September 8, 2008
Fellow Local Council (LC) 170 brothers and sisters, my name is Jayson Baron. I am
a B-
My union mentor is the infamous Rick Dubinsky. Rick was Strike Chairman for United
Airlines’ (UAL) Master Executive Council (MEC) during their union's 1985 strike.
He was also the UAL MEC Chairman during their mega-
Today, we need someone in our union who espouses the Rick Dubinsky vision of contract negotiation style as opposed to the miserably failing “partnership” style approach which brought us Contract ’02. Unfortunately, Continental management is not our partner. They are our negotiating adversary, and it is time we realized this. Management’s actions since the “Partnership Accord” was enacted have clearly demonstrated that they view us as subservient adversaries rather than partners. I do not listen to management’s rhetoric, but rather I watch what they do. Their actions clearly indicate that we are not partners. It is time we approach management in a style similar to the way they approach us. Regrettably, the “Partnership Accord” is a failure. Management does not live up to it in either terms or spirit. Eliminating the “Partnership Accord” is one of my highest priorities.
Our union is currently in Section Six negotiations under the Railway Labor Act (RLA).
We deserve a contract with very significant improvements in every section. Unfortunately,
under the RLA, you don't get what you "deserve." You get what you negotiate. What
we negotiate is determined solely by our collective leverage. With a few exceptions,
our collective leverage under the RLA is the direct result of our union’s ability
to effectuate a credible strike threat. It is my sincere belief that the only way
we will be successful in our Contract ‘08 campaign is through an old-
You deserve to be represented at the MEC level by representatives who understand, respect, and live by the ALPA triangle. You, the line pilot, are at the top of the triangle. You elect your Local Executive Council Representatives to represent you. Your LEC representatives work directly on your behalf as you direct them to carry out your will. You, through your representatives, decide the direction of important committees like the Negotiating Committee and the SPSC Committee.
Further, you deserve a representational structure that truly represents the demographics of the Continental pilot group. Seniority Block Representation is the only way that the EWR pilots will get the voting power commensurate with the size of our base. The implementation of SBR is also one of my top priorities.
I fully understand that, if elected, I cannot do it alone. I have the opportunity
to partner with a running mate for the EWR LC 170 First Officer Representative position
who shares my vision and my commitment to the EWR pilots. First Officer Tara Cook
is an amazing, tough lady. Tara is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy
and a Naval Aviator with more than 250 carrier landings under her belt. She is a
furloughed American Airlines pilot who was indoctrinated into airline unions by one
of the strongest pilot unions in the business today, the Allied Pilot’s Association
(APA). Tara and I share many of the same trade unionist core values, and we have
worked very well side-
These are challenging times for the pilots of our airline. By the time you read
this blast mail, 148 of our union brothers and sisters will have become the first
casualties of the war that is Contract ‘08. Additional pilots have no system bid
positions. They will be literally living day-
To my furloughed brothers and sisters, you have my promise as a line pilot and, if
elected, as a representative that I will not pick up open time and will administer
positive, constructive education to the pilot group regarding the rules of engagement
and how to conduct ourselves while our furloughed brethren remain needlessly out
of work. If elected as EWR CA Representative, I will fight hard to bring you back
from furlough as soon as possible to an industry leading contract-
Have you had enough yet? If so, it is time for a significant change from the same
old way of doing business. You CAN vote for this change. I, along with Tara Cook,
humbly and respectfully ask for your nomination. You will soon receive nomination
ballots from ALPA. Please fill in BARON for Captain Representative, and COOK for
First Officer Representative; follow the other enclosed instructions; and mail your
nomination ballot to be received before September 29, 2008. You may also choose
to hand-
Fraternally,
Captain Jayson Baron
Local Council 170
ALPA #0748103