Originally Posted by
BenderRodriguez
Do you seriously believe that we, or any labor group will ever get everything and give nothing? Call it concession if you want, but that is an emotional word that has certain connotations. Compromise is perhaps less so, and certainly means something of the same thing, but if you are going to vote no for anything that you see as a compromise/concession then you will be better off not to even read any TA and just vote no. Save yourself the angst and heart stress.
Bender we are highly skilled, highly specialized trade union workers. There is no cardinal rule out there that says every time you negotiate a pay raise you have to give something up. Your typical office worker gets a pay raise, but doesn't have to haggle with their boss in terms of lets say, having to work more hours, give up vacation or sick time, etc cwithout the ability to do something about it. They just get a pay raise. If the company starts pulling some of their benefits (since they are non union), they leave the company for a better company with better pay and benefits.
We, as you know, can't do that without starting at the bottom somewhere else. This is why we are so heavily vested in our job protections. Our scope. Our work rules. Our sick and health care. Our vacation. Our hours of service. It all matters more than just the pay raise itself.
If they offered us a contract extension with cost of living and inflation adjustments, it would be a drop in the bucket to the company. And even then, a contract extension isn't even a great thing considering were ALREADY operating under a CONCESSIONARY CONTRACT. But sadly that would be better than what were being offered right now.