OPEIU Local 102 (Ft. Rucker) supports AMC pilots

I have just finished reading the latest issue of the PHPA magazine, Autorotate and I must say it makes me proud to reflect and take stock in the progress of our industry. This advancement has been the collective result of each individual OPEIU Local Union coupled with the projection of the same beliefs and values outside our own domains, drawing the helicopter pilot community towards that elusive goal of a unified voice.

OPEIU Local 102 has realized tremendous growth over the past three years. Our organization now has Flt Rep’s in all flights. The monthly meeting attendance has grown. Union bulletin boards grace the work place and we now have a real newsletter, Commo Check, usually containing six pages of up to date information. Our Grievance Committee along with great legal assistance from Pat Nakamura, esquire, and OPEIU General Council Mel Schartzwald have leveled the playing field to where our arguments are considered with respect. Our new contract was the best ever negotiated by this organization and is one of the best if not the best labor contract negotiated in the United States in the past two years. In a changing economic climate where the airline industry is sliding the opposite way with pay cuts and other concessions only serves to magnify what we have accomplished.

Progress such as this is never without growing pains. Many welcome the change a few do not. Change can be uncertain. Change can be unsettling and sometimes alarming. Change without purpose fits these definitions but change with purpose is called growth and that is where we are headed. The growth of each Local within OPEIU will collectively determine the direction of our national organization and ultimately redefine who and what our own Local represents. The change and growth within ALPA did not occur over night but was an evolutionary process. I would expect the growth of Local 102 and the PHPA to follow a similar path, not over night but through a process guided by many individuals dedicated to the purpose of making things better for the pilots of the helicopter industry.

You now have the opportunity to make effectual and constructive changes that will benefit all pilots at Air Methods. We strongly encourage you to vote yes for union representation with the OPEIU. The pilots at Air Logistics, PHI and here at Ft. Rucker, have obviously benefited from being unionized. We believe that you will do the same. We look forward to working with you to ensure that all helicopter and fixed-winged pilots at Air Methods receive the compensation and respect deserving of a professional EMS pilot.

Sincerely,
Steve Rush
President OPEIU Local 102