Originally Posted by
Jack Bauer
I'm afraid you might be right
That said, in recent years they have definitely found success going after senior guys (less than 10 years left). Then ALPA sells it with catch phrases like "time value of money". A forward thinking union would not go along with this but alas they seem ok trading a minor money grab for scope sales. No long term strategy for the good of all pilots hurts the entire profession forever as David Behncke rolls over in his grave.
For the record the exact same sales job is going on over at Alaska Air Group right now. "Hurry guys take the money...this wont last long...we will worry about tightening scope next contract". It boggles the mind with all the carnage of outsourced flying and what appears to be ripening for more outsourced large RJ flying at Alaska (which could translate into outsourced Delta flying because the union will allow whatever Alaska was doing at Delta in the event of a Delta merger...the precedent has already been established). Still scratching my head how/why a few guys at the top of national and heading these ALPA MEC's continue to make the same mistakes and refuse to implement a long term strategy that would reverse a trend that continues to poison this career.
It appears to me that ALPA national hurries these negotiations for no other reason to restrict the amount of capital used in negotiations (the longer you spend in negotiations the larger the capital outlay). Negotiations are a expense/liability the end game is to increase revenue (union dues and minimizing the expense/liabilities increases profit margin... and alpa sure could use a increase in the coffers) Our union is run like a big business always trying to find ways to cut expense and increase revenue. Like it or not, ALPA is a big business and we at Delta are not getting our value from our investment dues. Does anybody know how much we provide Delta in dues vs. our direct benefit received? I would like to find the answer if anyone knows.
I was at American Eagle just after ALPA pushed for the 16 year contract with a no strike clause. Who the hell pushes that for their union constituents? At that point in 1999 I realized that it was a benefit to ALPA to continue charging you members 1.95% while limiting future costs. Every 4 years all eagle pilots received from ALPA was a limited list of 5 items that they would like improvements on. Of course with the no strike clause management really never negotiated with a sense of urgency, they held all the cards.