Your guess is as good as ours, but I've heard that one many times over the last 6 years. Negotiations have been hijacked by the Teamsters (no longer the local 357) and they are keeping us in the dark. Only 4 sections are being negotiated + some LOAs.

1st year FOs already make close to that when you factor in the signing bonus.

For example:

• $22.95 x 75hrs (monthly guarantee) x 12 months = $20,655 (minimum 1st year gross pay)
• Plus signing bonus of $5,000 gets you to $25,655
• Plus per diem of $3,833.72 = $29,488.72 (using my 2013 W2 as an example, and I get less per diem than most)
• $29,488.72/900hours = $32.77 per hour (pre tax)

Example 2 (excludiong per diem and with more typical monthly credit for a 1st year FO):

• $22.95 x 80hrs (typical 1st year FO month) x 12 months = $22,032 (minimum 1st year gross pay)
• Add in $5,000 signing bonus to get you $27,032 for the year, which backs out to $28.16 per hour (assuming avg of 80 hours a month)

This whole signing bonus has to stop! What's next? Signing bonus of $40k that pays out $5k at completion of training, $15k after second year, $10k after 3rd year, and $10k after fourth year?