Release #04.ALA3
December 7, 2004
 

Alaska Airlines ALPA Pilots to Conduct Unity/Negotiations Rally on December 14

SEATAC – Pilots at Alaska Airlines, as represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), will be holding a unity/negotiations rally in SeaTac on the evening of Tuesday, December 14, 2004 at the SeaTac Marriott Hotel.  ALPA President Duane Woerth and Master Executive Council (MEC) Chairman Mark Bryant are scheduled speakers. 

The rally is being held on the eve of the final night of contract negotiations with Alaska Management to demonstrate the pilot group's unity and support for the MEC and Negotiating Committee.  For almost sixteen months, pilot and management negotiators have been in near constant negotiations over the Alaska Airlines pilots’ collective bargaining agreement.  The final round of scheduled negotiations began in Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday, December 6, 2004.  If no negotiated settlement is reached by December 15, both sides will prepare for an interest arbitration that will determine the next contract. 

"This is a crucial time for every Alaska Airlines pilot,” said Captain Mark Bryant, chairman of the Alaska Airlines MEC.  “This rally will allow our pilots to come together as a unified group and demonstrate our support for our negotiators as they enter into the final days of talks with Alaska Management.” 

Capt. Bryant continued, “The ALPA Negotiating Team has been tasked to focus on a single target-- to reach a mutually beneficial negotiated agreement that contributes to an Alaska Airlines specific strategy for Alaska Airlines’ continued future success.  It is also imperative that this agreement must also protect and even promote our professional pilot members’ safety, efficiency, productivity, pay, benefits and working conditions.” 

Alaska Airlines pilots' unity rally will be held as follows: 

Tuesday, December 14, 2004
6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
SeaTac Marriott Hotel – Washington Ballroom
3201 South 176th Street - SeaTac, WA

*Media interviews may be arranged prior to the rally 

If the current round of negotiations fail to reach an agreement that can be ratified by the pilot group, each side may present five single specific contractual items, plus wage rates, to an arbitration board for resolution.  Unless the parties decide mutually to do otherwise, the arbitration board’s decision will amend the company’s current collective bargaining agreement with the pilots, with the new contract’s duration beginning in May 2005 and ending in May 2007.

ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilot union, representing 64,000 airline pilots at 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. ALPA’s website is www.alpa.org

# # # 

ALPA Contacts: Tara Darrow, 206-498-8943 (cell)

First Officer Tony Salmon, 206-660-8650 (cell)