Originally Posted by
tsquare
I prefer to not be in that position to prove that I am a badass.
Two things wrong with that sentence. First, not ever wanting to be "in that position" is saying you'll always be fine with whatever management is willing to give. That's fine if you believe that, but then there's no point in sending union dues in to ANY union. Second, you don't vote to strike to prove your a badass. None of your predecessors ever did it for that reason. They did it so people like you who weren't even born yet would be able to enjoy a fullfilling and lucrative career like they did. Although your sentence was short, it was amazingly candy-assed.
Originally Posted by
tsquare
So let's suppose you are right, and to a degree I actually agree with you that the NMB WOULD at some point in time release us. How bad would things have gotten to have reached that point?
They would have gotten bad. It's one of the reasons you have a union. You have it for a balance of power. Managements have to add this to the equation when deciding how much money and benefits to withhold from the people who create the revenue.
Originally Posted by
tsquare
Yup. DAL is printing money right now, and yup.. we deserve more of it. The unfortunate fact is that there is no other airline out there that has made any significant leaps over us in this process. UniCal didn't. AAMRQ certainly didn't. SWA? in negotiations, and probably won't either. So how can you rationalize that we would be released in what most would consider a timely fashion?
Because the company's success is the single major factor NMB uses in determing whether a union's demands are "reasonable" or not. NMB has no issue whatsoever with a union attempting to lead the industry if their company has the possibility of paying it. You can't attempt to lead the industry by a huge margin, but you can certainly ask to lead it. DALPA is not doing that. Instead, DALPA is using incoherent reasons to remove SWA, FDX, UPS and our direct foreign competitors from the comparison equations in order to claim we're leading the industry.
The NMB would completely back an attempt by Delta pilots to lead the industry by a modest margin in pay and work rules. There is no question about that given our work and concessions to bring Delta where it is financially. But DALPA isn't even attempting that. DALPA is actually agreeing with Anderson who states he only wants to pay "industry standards."
Originally Posted by
tsquare
Or more to the point, how are the doughnut boys gonna sell to the membership that they can get us released quickly to "force" the company to pony up a LOT more money?
No union would sell a "quick release to force the company to pony up". DPA has never said any such thing. You and the ALPA apologists use this kind of hyperbole (that only you are saying), then trying to put that very hyperbole in the mouths of DPA...even though DPA has never even intimated such a thing.
Originally Posted by
tsquare
I know you don't believe in the time value of money, but I do, and Warren Buffet does, and I respect his money prowess a hell of a lot more than yours or certainly Tim Caplinger's. I'll take a little now, a little more next year rather than a little more than that in 5 years. YMMV.
My mileage does vary. You're willing to take a little at a time, even though bankruptcy laws allow a management team to take a HUGE CHUNK all in one bite. That's a recipe for never recovering.
This has nothing to do with Warren Buffett or anyone else's claim of knowing the "time value of money." This is about allowing folks like you an excuse to somehow hold your head up high while cowering to whatever management is already willing to give. ALPA provides you that methodology to pretend you have courage. As long as you'll always be happy getting half taken away, then recovering it all slowly over the lifetime of a career, you'll never understand what others like me believe in.
Carl