EWR737FO

"As I find myself wanting this to be completed, I also see the negatives in this being "rushed" together in two weeks."

From your comments I get the feeling you are a novice when it comes to these kinds of negotiations for your pay and benefits. If I am wrong about the novice part I apologize. But the reason I write this is because the time has run out and given more time the contract will never be completed. There has to be a deadline.

Now as far as your concerns about what we might or might not accomplish in this contract, given the deadline, it really doesn't matter at this point. I can assure you should we go to a strike you will not be happy with the contract we achieve post strike. It's the nature of the beast.

As Roger Hall said to me the week before the 1985 strike, "If the Company wants a two-tiered pay scale then they will have to pay for it."

You see a strike is not about getting what "we" want it is about making the Company pay for what they want. It simply comes down to this, should we strike it will cost UAL Holdings Billions$$$, all of which they could have saved if they had settled prior. You know what they are fully aware of this risk and that is why they keep draggin the negotiations out.

In 1985 the two-tiered pay scale cost UAL over $1.2 billion directly because of the strike and much more over the years of repair and lost good will with the customers and pilots.

In the summer of "love" (2000) the Company failed to come to a timely contract after guaranteeing in the ESOP a seamless contract. While no strike occurred UAL lost both dollars and good will with the customers, not to mention the fact that today's contract struggles point directly back to the previous management's poor decisions in 2000.

This is about economics, pure and simple, how much are they willing to risk by not getting a contract? Will you get all you want? Not a chance, but a healthy pay raise, improved work conditions, "signing bonus" and restrictive RJ rules, yes!