Darren Francisco, Letter of Support
As an Air Canada pilot, I am proud to be part of a group with such a rich history in Canada. Air Canada pilots are a highly specialized and experienced group of professionals who have worked hard to reach a prized place within Canadian Aviation. We come from a broad range of experiences on our journey to an Air Canada career, which for some includes unionized environments while for others, Air Canada Pilot’s Association (ACPA) may be our first experience with organized labour for the pilot profession.
Some of us were here at Air Canada for the pivotal metamorphosis from the Canadian Airline Pilot’s Association (CALPA) to ACPA while others watched intently from off property as this significant shift was carried out. The change Air Canada pilots made from CALPA to ACPA was the right step at the right time. Change was indeed necessary, and our group found their passion and unity invigorated within our newly formed Association.
Over the years, ACPA has gradually evolved from a much-needed grass roots functional upstart with effective results to a disappointing and dysfunctional underperformer repeatedly failing to foster vital principles in representation such as: consistency of message, continuity of purpose and perhaps most fundamentally - unity. Some say ACPA can be fixed. Some believed it would function better with the structural change undertaken post-FOS. I believe that the core reasons leading to an underperforming ACPA are unmovable. We will never achieve the strength and unity we need as an association unto itself – independent of the larger pilot professionals in Canada and the United States. As in the poem by John Donne, it is said: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…”
A great many of us have come from airlines represented by the Air Line Pilots Association and have witnessed the professional representation and depth of experience delivered. Some of us come to Air Canada with a depth of experience in various ALPA positions and have come to witness up close, the extensive resources ALPA offers, vital to our profession both within a bargaining and a representational environment. While in bargaining at an ALPA carrier, I observed the incredible and very competent support in all critical areas from ALPA as well as an infinite strike pay fund via membership assessment. That experience and later being appointed to critical committees in the ALPA International system made clear to me that it mattered not which side of the border one came from while working in pilot representation.
In recent weeks, a group of Air Canada pilots reached out to me regarding a refreshing and welcome initiative. This group came from a variety of backgrounds with a depth of experience in pilot representation both within ACPA and ALPA. I was introduced to their vision for moving forward to a unified future for Air Canada pilots and was asked if I would be interested in engaging with them and joining their initiative in striving to get our representation back on an unwavering and positive footing.
Pilots for Change
The Pilots for Change message soundly resonated with my view respecting the change that is necessary for Air Canada Pilots to move to a better future for our profession with greater unity both within our property and within the pilot movement at large. Pilots for Change believe in driving toward completion of a structured merger agreement to achieve membership in ALPA International as well as a return to the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA). Emphatically, so do I.
My background within ALPA includes:
Negotiating Committee work through a couple of Agreements and a number of MOUs, MOAs and LOUs;
MEC Vice Chair;
MEC Chair;
ALPA Canada Board Secretary Treasurer;
Credentials Committee Chair for ALPA BOD and Executive Board;
Joint Canada/US ALPA Security Committee during the critical immediate post 9-11 period, and;
IFALPA representative with the Canadian delegation.
My experience within ACPA is comprised of:
Negotiations Working Group member in the immediate aftermath of TA-1. We were tasked with analyzing what had gone wrong with that round of bargaining including extensive interviews of all key participants and preparing a confidential report to the MEC regarding the existing landscape and steps forward;
Negotiating Committee Chair for the post TA-1 bargaining period ultimately ending in our fateful conclusion within Final Offer Selection (FOS).
The need for change is once again evident. We need to move toward the strength, oversight and professional community provided in broader representation.
ACPA was a pivotal and vital idea at one time but no longer achieves the fundamentals of our professional common interests. I have witnessed up close and personal our representational shortcomings respecting continuity of message and unity of purpose. I do believe the men and women representing us in ACPA leadership roles work hard and certainly have our best interests at heart, however they do not have at their disposal the extensive ‘toolbox’, resources and oversight that are part and parcel of ALPA representation.
I wholeheartedly support the Pilots for Change platform and believe it will move us positively forward. As a group, we need to choose leaders who share a strong, functional and unified vision for our future.
I ask you to carefully consider this opportunity for positive change. If any of my message resonates with you, please when you have a moment, explore the Pilots for Change platform at pilotsforchange.ca and join me in voting for candidates that share this vision.
Darren Francisco