Originally Posted by
JetBlast77
Trust me i wish it was that easy. We have determined (through a lot of gruling research) that flightline in its current form will not protect the current QOL of our pilot group as a whole. The goal of this joint contract is to ensure QOL and compensation at the very least stays the same but hopefully improves for both pilot groups. Just as you feel our line bidding would be a concession for you, we have proven flightline would be for us. The reason we are pushing Smartpref is because it is our belief that if your group gives us a chance, we can negotiate the most interactive, user friendly PBS system in the industry. It will truly be one of a kind, and one that other pilot groups will certainly take a good hard look at for their next contracts. We would NEVER ask you guys to agree to anything without first negotiating work rules for it and seeing them in action. Ill admit, if you look at smartpref without work rules it is awful. But if you look at what it will be with our current rules plus a few more, it is really something special.
Unfortunately what everyone is not discussing is that the company has offered a contract and it is an across the board cut in QOL, so they are NOT trying to maintain current status, all they want are cuts. And that was before the Pinnacle fiasco. it is only going to get worse for us.THIS is what is holding up the contract, NOT this mess with bidding.
We ALL want a good bidding system, but from our EXPERIENCE, anything with globablization is NOT good for the pilot group, only the company. No amount of work rules can change that. With what the company has already offered there is no way you can expect to negotiate the work rules you think you would need to make SmartPref acceptable. All you have to do to see how it turns out is look at Continental's pbs with globalization and it will end worse than that. We need to stop acting like children with this bidding snafu and see that the house is burning around us.