Independent Association of Continental Pilots

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Independent Association of Continental Pilots (IACP) was a bargaining agent (union) certified by the National Mediation Board (NMB) on July 12, 1993. The IACP represented the pilots of Continental and Continental Express Airlines and was initially headquartered in Denver, Colorado near Stapleton International Airport.

The pilots of Continental Airlines had been represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) until 1985 when they lost representational status due to a card signing campaign. The pilots of Continental Airlines were not represented by any collectively recognized body until a contentious representational election was conducted by the NMB between the IACP & ALPA. The IACP was victorious by a wide 68% margin where more than 92% of the eligible voters participated, the highest participation ever recorded by the NMB. That same NMB representational election allowed the IACP to be the first union to represent the Continental Express pilots.

The IACP met with moderate initial success by securing the first contract for the Continental pilots in more than ten years, and the very first contract for the Continental Express pilots. Both contracts were signed in 1995. In 1999 the IACP regained a major foothold in the bargaining arena with a new contract which vastly improved the pay & benefits of the Continental pilots & followed shortly with a new contract for the Continental Express pilots.

The IACP came into existence thanks primarily to the efforts of Continental captain René Minjares. Capt. Minjares' tenacity and the devotion of a cadre of Continental and Continental Express pilots successfully organized the new union. Capt. Minjares was the first president of the IACP.

A third organizational effort by ALPA (headed by the then current IACP president captain Pat Burke) was finally successful and the Continental and Continental Express pilots elected to be represented by ALPA, at which time the IACP ceased to exist.