Originally Posted by
Carl Spackler
I think this is exactly right. Given what we've seen with the Dickson memo and 117 negotiations, our MEC chairman should be writing a letter similar to this:
"...all indications are that C2015 negotiations are going to be very tough given our desires for an industry leading contract in all areas, and management's desire to keep us at an industry average. Therefore we must begin the preparations for an option we hope we won't have to use - a strike. If a strike is ultimately called for by our members, it's imperative that all our families are prepared for a pay interruption. With deadlocked negotiations possibly taking two years and another year before they begin, we all have about three years to begin saving for our family's emergency fund. We recommend a minimum of 9 months living expenses be saved. Hopefully management will be reasonable and see the value of having the best pilots in the industry, but we must be prepared if they're not..."
The fact that this is not happening right now, leads me to believe DALPA has no intention of pursuing our ultimate weapon. No matter what.
It's a good thing you're not the MEC Chairman, because I'd doubt the MEC Chairman's sanity for writing something so stupid, and out of order. Donatelli is rather well versed with strike preparations, and I think he probably has a much better sense of the pilot group than you do, partly because his communication style isn't "transmit-only". I'm pretty sure he knows when to pull certain levers. You don't stand up the group for no reason, and you don't stand them up prematurely, with nothing to do. When you do act, it's because management is legitimately stonewalling us, and pilot sentiment supports it, demands it really. At that point, the nervous Nellies are motivated to join, and the group moves in lockstep.
Your message already presupposes a failure to negotiate. I don't think we're going to get what we need early, or without a fight, but I think our leverage goes well beyond a strike. There is a lot of value in Delta being able to continue to sell the image of good labor relations. Your nonsensical approach would shatter that possibility, drop the value of an uninterrupted smooth operation to zero, and leave us both in defensive positions, for the long-term. It's the equivalent of going to marital counseling with your divorce lawyer.
I guess I wouldn't mind your premature ejaculation on this topic so much if you didn't take the gratuitous swipe of "no matter what", that same stupid label you used before to paint all South pilots as unwilling to strike. At any rate, when it comes to formulating a strategy for using the strike, I'll trust Donatelli to send the right letter at the right time.