Originally Posted by
9kpilot
First of all, I wasn't attacking anyone, unlike you. I am not hiding behind a forum, if you would prefer you can tell me who you are and I would be glad to say the same thing in person.
Not sure if your comment was directed at me or bakesou, but I apologize if you felt that I was attacking you personally. The only thing I want to attack is people's flawed logic. This is what you said originally:
Originally Posted by
9kpilot
It looks like they copied our current manual and made it a ta. If we won't get a raise, might as well not have a contract and union dues!
And here's what you replied with:
Originally Posted by
9kpilot
Yes I agree some of the work rules have been improved
So even you agree they didn't do anything close to copying our current manual and making it a TA. In my first response to you, one of the main points I wanted to make was that, despite the weak section 3 (which I agree is a huge downside), there is a LOT more to be gained from this TA. The argument that a year 1 pilot's raise is equal to his union dues, therefore the TA is useless, is absolutely ridiculous and juvenile.
Originally Posted by
9kpilot
If you dont think that is reason enough for them to vote no, maybe you should try a $3/hr pay cut.
I live in the Boston area, where the cost of living is higher than just about anywhere in the Caribbean, and I've been on a 35 min line all winter, so I know exactly what that feels like. It's awful. But don't get me wrong, I understand why a Caribbean pilot will vote no. I don't expect them to do otherwise. I just want them to make an informed decision. Most of the crap flying around down there, even on the company frequency, has been ridiculous and uninformed. Here are some examples from this forum:
Originally Posted by
9kpilot
It looks like they copied our current manual and made it a ta. If we won't get a raise, might as well not have a contract and union dues!
Originally Posted by
captover05
After nearly two years of negotiating, the IBT has successfully negotiated a contract in which 1/3 of the pilot group will take a 10 to 20 percent pay cut. Something is seriously wrong here. We were much better off without the IBT.
This is my favorite:
Originally Posted by
cubbies4life
The contract may look good from an outside point of view but we already have better work rules currently without a union. Also, our pay increase will only cover the cost of the union. If we vote this contract in, we will be getting worse work rules for the same pay. Can't see how anyone will vote yes.
Anyways, moving on...
Originally Posted by
9kpilot
Btw the .25% 401 match is laughable at best. I'm not sure if you have ever worked anywhere else, but that is well below par.
I agree the 401k match is weak. I wanted a 100% match up to 3% or something like that. One of the other reasons I might vote no. There are a lot of older pilots here who are going to work here until they retire, and they are going to need a strong 401k in order to do that. The 1:4 match isn't going to help at all.
Originally Posted by
9kpilot
Next winter there will be the issue of forcing junior pilots to the Caribbean because no one will be able to afford to live there seasonally.
Thank you for making this point. For the most part, I think pilots would still be able to live there comfortably, at least in the PR bases, but this new TA will most likely make the Caribbean go junior and some of the bases, in their high season, will be very difficult to live in, so it's a double whammy. I seriously doubt that if we vote this TA down that we will be able to bump the payscale up that much (although it's obviously worth a shot), but one of the better ideas that I've heard up here was to have special additional moving allowances on top of the regular allowance for the islands that are the most expensive.
The main thing that frustrates me is that so many pilots at Cape Air put zero effort and, most importantly, input into these negotiations, and then got all upset when they didn't get their way. Do you know how many Caribbean pilots got involved with the negotiations? ZERO! If some of them did, maybe section three might have turned out differently. So make this your wake up call. If the TA gets voted down, help the union come up with realistic ways to make it, and most importantly section 3, better!