Originally Posted by
Alan Shore
Would that be the world in which we get what we deserve, or what's right, or what we used to get, for no reason other than our boss can afford it or that he recently gave himself a big raise?
No. Not for only that reason. We need to give management reasons to restore our compensation rather than give them reasons why they don't need to.
Originally Posted by
Alan Shore
Agreed. And this brings us back to our original and eternal disagreement.
As strongly as we feel about the value of our profession, that value is set by the market, i.e., what someone is willing to pay us for our services and what we are willing to accept to perform them. Clearly, we want to maximize that value to the greatest extent possible, at least to the buying power we had prior to LOA 46, and management would like to minimize that value to the greatest extent possible, or at least minimize its growth.
What I was talking about is the best strategy for us to employ to maximize our value. There are any number of strategies that have been employed by us and other pilot groups, all of whom are in a similar predicament as us. To date, the strategies employed by our reps have resulted in the biggest gains overall, but we're obviously not there yet.
Is there another strategy that might be employed in the coming negotiation that will have more dramatic results? That is the question, and I do not believe that any of us has a clear cut answer to it. You have your opinion, others disagree, and neither of you has any monopoly on the correctness of your opinion, nor any right to declare the other as being misguided or dumb or deliberately working against our collective best interests.
No "clear cut answers." It hasn't been tried in our particular situation. The others who have tried restoration have done so in a very different environment from the one in which we find ourselves today. Like it or not, we have been and are in a leadership position within our profession. And the leadership we've provided to date clearly indicates an acceptance of a significantly reduced value for our profession. We've set a low bar.
Going forward, it's going to take something substantially different from the kind of counterproductive crap we've been getting from Moak and company for the past 10 years and especially lately. I don't pretend to have all the answers but it starts with a different strategy than proactive appeasement. Actually, strike that, it STARTS with setting an appropriate objective. Then the strategy can be developed. We haven't even successfully accomplished step #1 yet.
And don't forget... I'm all for having a good, mutually respectful relationship with management. That's the way things are supposed to work in a healthy company. I think maybe where you and I disagree is on the description of mutual respect. In my definition, one party isn't taking extreme advantage of the other just because they can.