Originally Posted by
Gearjerk
I think we're talking past each other now.
I am not saying you would be "professional" or "unprofessional" by following the contract to the letter.
I am saying, if you choose to go "above and beyond" now, but after six months of C2015 negotiations, choose not to do the same exact thing, because you're
upset at the company for
taking too long in negotiations, then the
poor intent - in my mind - leads to an act of unprofessionalism.
P.S. Some people prefer to term it as leverage. Old NWA called it, "meet B.O.B."
I have to agree with Purple in one of his points. The above and beyond is something that bean counters have no way to a monetary value on so it doesn't exist in their world. You are talking about a job action, B.O.B. (block or better for those that don't know), I, and I believe Purple, are talking about the extra stuff that makes the daily operation go sooo much smoother than it should in reality.
I will give you an example from my own experience. I was on Express, our 737 operation in MCO, crew scheduling knew that if they called me I could/would be to the airport in 20 minutes because I lived in Orlando. They would call all the time to see if I could get there quickly in order to do FCF's to get an airplane back into service. They knew that I would park in the hyatt parking lot, on my own dime, and be there faster than anyone other than someone sitting at the airport. I did this because I thought that Delta would always take care of me. I had heard the stories about the Delta family. Then came force majeur, furlough, bankruptcy and continually backward negotiations. It was made very apparent that ultimately you are just a number to the bean counters, because they can put a monetary value on a furlough. Heck they even knew the exact amount of days a pilot had to be out in order for it to be cost effective.
So long story short, after 3 years of furlough they lost that drive in me to go way beyond. I fly my trips, I still get stroller for moms in the jetway (not because it helps Delta but because it's the right thing to do), I hand out wings to kids and invite them to see the cockpit (this is one of my favorite things about the job).
The funny thing is that for the pilots not getting furloughed the time that the furloughees were on the street were some of the best years of money making and they have a very different slant on Delta and that time period. Those lucky enough to stay on property had C2K rates for 3 years and the ability, if they chose to do so, to greenslip much more which many took advantage of at the time.