Originally Posted by
Zoomie
I agree with the original poster regarding our EWR reps words concerning the pace of negotiations. I hate every word of it. I also despise JP saying almost the same thing to the press about a month ago. Here's some of the problem. UAL pilots won't ever control who the CAL MEC chairman or who the CAL reps are...
Let me reiterate, the UAL side with its recent actions have just made it harder, not easier, to replace anyone the UAL side might not like on the CAL side.
Anyone ever heard the old Aesop's fable regarding "The wind and the sun"? While not a perfect analogy, I think you'll get my point. The more the UAL group tries to affect the leadership of the CAL group, the less likely anything will happen to the CAL leadership.
Even the reps that I'm pretty sure don't agree with JP on most issues, support him when it comes to having the UAL MEC dictate who will lead the CAL group. That's reality here. The more the UAL MEC pushes to have the CAL chairman removed, the less likely its going to happen.
How did that whole "Glenn's gotta go" campaign work out?
It's human nature and psychology here. If you want someone gone and you know they're bad for the company/union you can't force them out when you work for the other side. You have to convince the other side (CAL side) that the person is bad for them. Explaining to CAL pilots that the person who got them profit sharing is the bad guy is not going to be a successful campaign.
You bring up some very interesting and valid points. There is a lot of politics and ego involved on both sides. More than I'm sure both pilot groups desire.
I'm wondering myself why JH chose to make the announcement he did without the prior cooperation of the CAL MEC. I'm purely speculating here, but I wonder if the part of the magenta line that I quoted is the reason. Despite management promises for a quick contract, we are 2 years in with not a single major section agreed to. This is wholly unacceptable. I don't know what has been going on behind the scenes, but with JP's continued public proffering that things are going well, and the EWR reps astonishment at how great management is being regarding the work rules that they promised over a year ago, it might be that continued efforts to draw the line in the sand with management have been repeatedly rebuffed by JP and the CAL MEC. At some point, JH has to produce for the UAL pilots, as that is his job. 2 years with nothing of substance to show for it is a long time. When does it become so long that we can't wait any longer without doing SOMETHING? For me it was about a year ago.
I'm truly saddened and dismayed that this has played out the way it has. But for me the time has come to act. As I've said before, I would get behind any leader from either side that wants to send the message to the world that enough is enough. Tomorrow will be a new era one way or another. Hope we can all find a way to work together in the future. Both MEC's and MC have been entirely inflexible in this regard for far too long