Originally Posted by
FixTheMess
Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you asked "what should we do?" I guess you meant what would I do . . . Well, I voted against a new contract, which continued the "B" scale that we already have. IMO the contract was still concessionary. What we gave up, in no way shape or form made up for what little we got out of the new agreement. This was a strong shout to management that we will take whatever they give us, and do whatever they want, just to survive. If the 78% were on board with this, then they should be on board with begging to fly jets for "B" scale wages.
I also thought there was some sort of alliance between all US Airways express carriers? I am very much in support of that. However, why does PSA have a TA, with no other US Express carrier having any information about it? That doesn't sound like much of an alliance. Considering PSA's past practice of how they do business, our MEC should be beating down their MEC's door to get to the bottom of what is going on. Otherwise, like I said, if our MEC is content with sitting back with popcorn and watching the movie, our pilot group should get ready to BOHICA. We've seen this movie before, and know what the ending is.
I think voting our MEC out of office would be a good start. They failed us with our current contract, and they are failing us now. Unfortunately, 78% of the pilot group failed us also. I definitely do not sugar-coat this $@#! sandwich that is Piedmont to pilots interested in coming here. It is a disservice to them, and to our pilot group to tell them "oh, its not that bad." Our management should be lying awake at night, mind racing, desperately trying to think of how to staff this place. But 78% of us make it easy for them.
What would I do? If your a cliffs notes sort of guy,
1. I voted down the pathetic contract we have
2. I have voiced my opinions to my fellow coworkers, my MEC, and my reps. With regard to the MEC, its always been on a deaf ear.
3. I make sure I tell prospective new hires exactly how it is at Piedmont, not sugar coat it, which makes finding new suckers easier for management.
4. I support an alliance with open communication between all US Airways Express carriers. True, I can't do anything more than voice my support, or vote my MEC out, which brings me to probably the most beneficial action I'm prepared to take
5. Vote to remove our MEC from office. I'm not saying everyone needs to go necessarily, but its time to cut the fat from the hog. Or, in this case, the ticks from the rat.
We are an extremely weak pilot union, and until we start becoming extremely confrontational, we're going to continue to get walked all over, by management, and by our competitors. Our contract negotiation was the time to do this, and we blew it. Now, we continue to blow it, and watch everyone pass us by. For the upper 1/3 of the seniority list who are going to retire in the next 3-5 years, this strategy might work, but for the other 2/3 of the list . . . we're screwed.