Originally Posted by
Timbo
Ok, let's play this out. DPA somehow motivates 100% of the Delta Pilots to go it alone in the next 3 months (or before openers). It's a pipe dream, I know, but just pretend for discussion.
What's the next step?
DPA walks into negotiations and throws down; "I want full restoration to C2K rates, adjusted for inflation, and we want 5% per year going forward, and we want...(insert list of about 100 other things here).
OK, so Richard picks up the phone and makes a call;
"Hello, NMB? We have these guys here who want to double our operating costs...No, it's not the APA, it's the DPA!"
NMB on other end of phone to the President of the ATA, our own King Ricard,
"Tell them we'll get right back to them...in about 5 years."
OK, then what?
I'm no DALPA cheerleader, I've voted against most of the concessionary T/A's they have brought us, but I've also volunteered (fo'free, no trip drops!) to help out on a lot of committees over the years. The single most frustrating thing for me to deal with is all the other appathetic pilots who can't find the time to stay informed or get involved. The Silent Majority, and the next most frustrating thing is, the RLA.
How is any new bargaining agent going to change those two things?
I know you were trying to make a point by painting restoration demands "and 100 other things" as ridiculous. Lets not frame an argument of "SWA plus" that just might sound reasonable to the NMB as proposed by the DPA.
Let's make it sound like no matter what DPA COULD do it will always be absurd. If that portrayal of the DPA doesn't taint them enough then lets start the "DPA is actually a secret society set up to overturn the seniority list" rumor all over again.
For the record, most of the ALPA loyalists here will find every reason in the book to discredit the SWA plus concept all the while offering no better negotiating strategy to obtain substantial gains. You will be hard pressed to find a Delta pilot who actually fly's the line say he wouldn't take SWAPA's domestic work rules (in their entirety including W2 building pay and average days at home per month) over what we have now at Delta. Rather, let's discount the SWA plus concept as it was spawned by those evil DPA aligned revolutionists. Bah!