Originally Posted by
Bigflya
Captains will vote that one away in a heartbeat. Their tired of their FO's making a lot more than them for less work. I see your angle on better trips but still effects less than 50% of the pilots. I've had s few of those and do not want to see them go away. The savings from that in regards to manning and GS's will help fund whatever raises we get.
Maybe, and that is the problem. It is very easy for management to pick us apart, and it will require very strong leadership from DALPA to counter this.
The "What are you willing to give up for that" mentality will allow management to successfully eliminate many of our QOL items if they don't very clearly affect a majority of our Pilots.
For example, if the company wants CDOs - they put it on their wish list add a value to it and let the divisiveness begin. Many guys figure they are senior enough to avoid them and so it is accepted by the majority.
Vacation. We lost one or two weeks over the years for one reason or another - this only affects the senior most Pilots so a lot of guys are not very motivated to get it back if it costs something else. QOL item gone forever.
Sick Leave. Easy, frame it as an issue that will only affect "sick leave abusers." I doubt any one considers themselves a sick leave abuser so despite the dire warnings of some foresighted Pilots the Pilot group as a whole signs off on a more restrictive sick leave policy.
Scope. Senior Captains are not directly impacted by small jet scope - should they not care about that?
Should Pilots who live in base be willing to give up commuting policy for a few more $$$?
Do you see what I am saying?
The company can frame many QOL issues as those that only affect a small group of Pilots, thus making it a lot easier to get concessions through. The union can and should be much more effective at preventing this than the Pilot group as a whole.
Over a few supposed "up contracts" we end up "selling" a lot of our QOL issues. Eventually we are all flying 85-90 hours a month and wondering how this happened.
One final point. Many items that do not affect individuals at a point in time will certainly affect them over the course of a 30+ year career.
Plenty of guys live in base and don't think they will ever commute but who knows. Young guys will at some time injure themselves and need disability etc.
We cannot allow management to pick us apart and get us to sell individual QOL items.
We must defend every single QOL item as if our very quality of life depends on it.
Scoop