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Old 11-16-2011 | 07:26 AM
  #80667  
shoelu
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,207
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From: CA
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Originally Posted by tsquare
Someday.. maybe not next year.. or the year after, or the year after.. or... but someday, something's got to give. You will not be able to hold management (and the shareholders) hostage like you have in the past. They are handcuffed, and that cannot continue. The question is whether you have the balls to strike, and whether that Karma will bite you in the buttinski when/if you do. After your display as of late, I can wager that you won't have much support from the rest of the industry. You might have a problem that you created right in your own backyard. Pass the popcorn.
I try not to comment on Delta threads because I know I only have a small snapshot of what goes on there and very little insight to add about your operation. But, since SWA seems to be such a hot topic of conversation here, and I am a former ALPA member, I sometimes feel the need to clear up blatant misstatements. Tsquare's statements completely display the defeatist strategy of ALPA over the last decade. If our management is in fact handcuffed, then SWAPA alone possesses the keys to those cuffs and we won't give them away without a fight. We still HAVE scope. Management cannot take something from us unless it is given. Management can only alter our scope language with our consent. We will not consent to scope erosion in this section 6 negotiation. I firmly believe our mergers and acquisition scope language will be tightened during this upcoming negotiation, since this is what the membership is clamoring for. That of course is in direct opposition to what Tsquare believes management must have to continue forward profitability. We can hopefully provide more disincentives for growth from outside sources. SWA management is actually on board with growing exclusively through internal means, this is a common goal for management and labor, but they will always look for improvements to their network if available on the open market. Carl is completely correct on this point. SWA wants, and needs complete control of their product and brand. They have no ability to codeshare because our CBA does not allow it and they really don't want it. Another benefit of actually having a sound relationship between management and labor. If some day they eventually have a desire to serve markets smaller than can be effectively served by the equipment currently on property, they will add a smaller fleet type and those aircraft will be flown by SWAPA. Trust me on this. Small jet outsourcing will not happen at SWA. If you want to find a reason that the vast majority of SWAPA pilots are ready to strike for, I guarantee this is it. What makes this statement have some validity, is management wants the same thing. Again, they have a desire to to control the product and need direct ownership of assets to accomplish this. If we do have to someday strike, Tsquare contends we have squandered any industry support. I don't know what he bases those statements on, but they of course are his opinion. Since we are a stand alone union, I guess we really never expected much support from others. We don't codeshare so there is no question of another company flying struck work. We don't outsource to regionals so there is no problem to contend with there. We don't belong to a national union so there is no issue of strike benefits to receive from others. So, I guess all we can expect to receive from Tsquare is ill wishes and his continued hope for our failure. That already seems to be status quo.