ALPA President Capt. Tim Canoll (R) presents a check for $2 million to Capt. Hoon Lee (L), chairman of ALPA’s Hawaiian Airlines Master Executive Council. Hawaiian pilots will use the grant from ALPA’s Major Contingency Fund to prepare for a strike if contract negotiations break down and the federal government permits a strike or lockout.

HERNDON, Va. – Pilots at Hawaiian Airlines will receive $2 million from their international union to help them prepare for a strike if one becomes necessary in their struggle to negotiate a fair contract.

The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l. (ALPA) Executive Board unanimously approved today an initial $2 million grant from its Major Contingency Fund (MCF). The MCF is a $44 million “war chest” that provides ALPA pilot groups with the necessary resources to respond to threats to their jobs and to the piloting profession.

The grant announcement came two days after Hawaiian pilots voted by a 99 percent margin to authorize their leaders to call a strike if negotiations break down and the federal government allows a strike or management lockout.

Capt. Hoon Lee, chairman of ALPA’s Hawaiian group, said the money will be used to pay rent and supplies for a future strike center, as well as fund pilot communications, family awareness programs, and other strike-related preparations.  

“This grant should put Hawaiian management on notice that ALPA rejects their attempts to maximize profit on the backs of their employees,” Lee said.  “We would rather have a new contract than a strike, but the pilots at Hawaiian demand a market-rate agreement, including profit sharing and pay retroactive to our contract amendable date last year.”

Hawaiian’s current pilot contract was ratified in 2010 and became amendable in September 2015. The pilots have been in direct negotiations for about a year and entered federal mediation in January. Currently, no mediation sessions are scheduled after June of this year.