TonyC

I must confess, I'm more than a bit surprised there is any question, much less controversy about where we stand in the labor/management food chain. I didn't intend to start a debate -- I thought it was intuitively obvious.

Management did not hire me because of an advanced degree, or because of previous managerial experience. They hired me because I can fly their airplane. When I was hired, they also hired pilots without undergraduate degrees, and they even hired pilots who didn't have their ATP certificate. If they were looking for anything beyond the skill to fly their airplanes, I would say it was a proclivity to complete a mission at all costs, even if it meant personal sacrifice (i.e., forget the rules, just move the freight).

Today, the stated goal of the shrink-driven hiring protocol is to hire a pilot who will successfully complete training. Former managers, pilots with Masters and Doctorate degree, former Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, and astronauts are all placed on the same hourly scale with the lowly CRJ pilots. (CRJ guys -- please take that as sarcasm, and not an insult. I know you've worked just as hard or harder to get here.)

If someone identifies himself as more special than a blue collar worker, I suggest he ask his immediate supervisor for the raise he deserves, as an individual. He should bring it up at his next performance review, and he should ask for a raise commensurate with the high ratings he has scored by moving the freight under the most adverse conditions. He should count his BZ's like he counted Air Medals on his military officer performance reports -- more points should trigger bigger bonuses and bigger raises. He shouldn't forget to tell his supervisor how he has acted as the problem solver when the ramp agent thought freight might have to be left behind, but he found a way to get it to the sort on time, or how he waived duty limitations so he could fly that last leg, tired and ragged though he was, back to base and his own bed. He should suggest that he be bumped ahead of his lower-performing peers senior to him because he's more special, and he deserves better treatment.

Not only does The Company consider us to be hourly workers, they would like to classify us as part-time laborers. None of us has the ability to individually negotiate our own pay or benefits. We have a skill, and we are paid by the hour to employ that skill. Our intelligence, training, and mission-oriented attitudes do not change the fact that we are, and will be dealt with as blue collar workers.

It's up to us to recognize that fact, and to act with the unity, determination, and resolve required to successfully negotiate the contract we have earned.






.