Originally Posted by
Frank Rizzo
The pilots never got to vote for the first offer. Our MEC turned it down, and rightfully so, it was an insulting slap in the face.
Yup.... it was insulting. To the SW pilots. We'd have still voted for it, because that's what we do, but I'll wager it would've been by far less of a percentage than on the AT side.
Thats the way our system works. The merger committee negotiates autonomously and the MEC either approves the end result or rejects it.
How'd that work out for you?
The seniority loss on our side was much greater than what the lawyers and MEC reasonably expected we would have achieved in arbitration, so it was rejected.
And yet, a completely neutral arbiter 9long after the fact) saw it as overplaying your hand.
This somehow insulted Gary? He knew how our process worked.
He wanted a quick and dirty SLI, which is why the first fofer was so ridiculously in your favor. He knew the SW lemmings would jump off the cliff to vote yes, but was more worried about the militant AT guys. When you rejected it, he was probably ecstatic.
Our only mistake is that we thought we were dealing with honorable people. Clearly we were wrong in that respect.
I'm not gonna even go down that road, because I don't trust any management, including SW.
But.
What part of the PA was not adhered to. You guys dragged your feet before rejecting the first offer. A counter offer was made, and it was accepted, by an overwhelming margin on both sides. If you wanted to go to arbitration, then why would you vote for such a bad deal?
Oh, I know, "threats".... You overplayed the hand you were dealt, and are now paying the consequences. Somehow, that became MY fault.