Originally Posted by
chuck416
Hi FTB,
Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you are WAAAAY off base. At the MEM road-show last week, T.O. (or one of the other guys) indicated that it was something in the 6K range of guys who'd responded to date. If that's the best we get in the way of survey returns, man, are we ever going to get @#!$%-slapped on C2012. You'll have a hard time ever finding a guy who would admit to NOT filling out the survey. If 7K pilots is all we get interested in the process, I don't even want to contemplate what our next contract will look like.
Chuck
I wouldn't worry too much about the survey return numbers.
Historically, the Delta pilot group has a very significant level of "under participation". We have a huge "silent contingent". Whether it is surveys or LEC elections.
Its not that they are dumb, they definitely are not, but they just have other things they concentrate on in life. (side businesses, recreation, family, whatever) They prefer not to waste brain cells on any ALPA/Contract type issues. They actively avoid becoming too informed.
You don't necessarily want those guys filling out the surveys.
This is
not to say they are somehow anti-labor or pro-management. They will be at our side if the union ever calls for a job action. But they will also not agitate independently, they don't attend meetings, and they especially won't spend any time analyzing our work rules or studying the contract comparison. They vote however the MEC recommends.
That's how our TAs always pass 60-40. If it gets past the MEC, it gets ratified.