Be interesting to see if anything comes of this. Think it's the first time someone from the ALPA has written directly the DHS about E3's.
Fellow Spirit ALPA Pilots,Today, ALPA President Joe DePete and I sent a joint letter (attached) to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas addressing the misuse of E-3 visas. The MEC is concerned that Spirit is seeking to misuse this "specialty occupation" visa designation to artificially suppress pilot compensation and displace qualified U.S. workers.
The MEC has spoken to management time and again about our concerns over attrition and offered solutions - namely opening Section 6 negotiations early to improve our pay rates and work rules to allow Spirit to attract and retain qualified U.S. pilots.
The Company has chosen not to pursue contract improvements through bargaining at this time, but instead is investing its time on a recruiting trip to Australia in July, with the intention of filling open pilot positions through the E-3 visa program.
Over the past several years, some U.S. airlines have attempted to use this E-3 visa scheme to avoid market pressure to improve wages and working conditions, exploit labor standards, and undermine collective bargaining. The SPA MEC and the full weight of ALPA National stand firmly against this anti-labor scheme.
In our letter to Secretary Mayorkas, we asked him to adopt past agency decisions as precedent establishing that airline pilot jobs are not a "specialty occupation" and coordinate with the Department of State to ensure that E-3 reviewers apply that precedent consistently.
We will continue to watch this issue closely and advocate not only for the jobs of all Spirit pilots but for all U.S. pilot jobs.
In Unity,
Captain Ryan P. Muller
SPA MEC Chairman