Originally Posted by
Herkflyr
This is the problem with being a negotiator. You can't please all the constituents at once. Try convincing a 777A how "important" it is that a senior (and occasionally junior) FO should routinely expect to stay home and get paid for not working. Hint, you won't get far.
Conversely, try to convince a mid level 88 FO who was furloughed for 5 years how important it is to get even more vacation weeks for the senior widebody captains with 25+ years seniority!
Somewhere between all that they still have to negotiate a TA that will pass MEC muster and THEN the membership.
I don't envy the job.
Very well said!
Originally Posted by
Scoop
Very good post. I was flying with a guy a few years back and he relayed a conversation he had on his previous trip with a FO.
The Captain was complaining about something that had to do with the commuter policy and he was hoping we could improve conditions for commuters on C2012.
The FO responded that he lived in base and didn't think it was fair that negotiating capital should be squandered on something that only benefits a minority of pilots, albeit quite a few.
Without missing a beat the Captain responded "Well then why should any Captain above 737 sacrifice negotiating capital on small jet scope?"
He said you could virtually see the light bulb illuminate above the guys head in the cockpit. We must safeguard all aspects of our contract for all Pilots.
Bottom line folks: Everything we currently have in the contract has already been bought and paid for. We would be fools to concede anything with Profit sharing going through the roof.
And to those who say "Yeah, but who knows what will happen to PS in 5 years." Why would I care about what happens in 5 or 10 years when we are basically talking about a 3 year deal?
Scoop
Agreed, well 99% anyway.
When referring to profit sharing, please make sure that you are not confusing the term
concession with
exchange. Whether the pilot group wants more/less/same profitsharing (we can only ASS-u-me since none of use have seen the survey and polling data),
it is only a concession if we remain uncompensated for any alteration.
I, and I presume that you too, will evaluate any proposed alterations to the plan using strictly the math. Every dollar moved to another section of the contract must be accounted for before the remaining amounts can be measured for net gain to the pilot group. Most of us have a minimum this increase must be, regardless where the increases are made. QOL must be evaluated also. I'm not enthused about a PS change just for the sake of changing, but will entertain the concept if my other standards are met first.
The Reps/NC/MEC are pushing very hard and I do not believe we will see any TA unless they believe it is suitable. We, the line pilots, are the final arbiter of this process. I will vote accordingly and I presume all of the pilots on APC will also. Thus far there has been no indication that they have rushed this process. Working at an increased pace and rushing are distinctly different. I believe the pace has been intense, but not rushed. We will know it was rushed when/if we see a result that is substandard. Until then it is merely fear-mongering.