Originally Posted by
jetstar1
I have read over and over the many concerns of pilots concerning our TA.
My feelings now is that this TA does not even come close to offering what we are worth. It is my opinion that the MEC should not have sent this to the membership for ratification, or maybe they want all of us to speak collectively. Perhaps that is premature to make this statement without having read it first, but the amount of controversy created by this TA is overwhelming.
If we vote this TA down and go back to negotiations, that is fine with me. What is everyone afraid of? We could wait for as long as it takes to get the contract we deserve, or live the rest of our careers under a contract we don't deserve. It may be difficult to wait longer for a better contract, but FedEx would be waiting right there with us. Ask yourself what you would prefer.
The mere fact that we didn't get an improvement in the A plan should be a no vote for everyone. The way I see it, the company has terminated the A plan by doing this. In 8 years when this cycle starts again, many pilots will see the erosion of value in our A plan. It will be much easier to give in to a modified B plan. Many new pilots that will be hired in that time frame won't be vested and probably won't care about giving up the A plan. We all need to think very hard of the unintended consequences of this contract.
The 10% raise the first year is great right? Why is the first year so high? It is quite simple, divide it by the years we have waited for a contract and it equals the rest of the pay raises going forward.
Signing bonus, what a windfall of cash. Not really. Our average BLG according to the contract is 74 hours a month. Does the proposed amount of your signing bonus equal the amount lost? I keep hearing everyone saying that we gave the company an interest free loan. We did not do that at all. We actually paid interest to them if we accept that amount in signing bonuses.
I keep hearing about this 6 week bid month. You have got to be kidding me. Can anyone give me just one example how this is good for us? I just don't see it.
Sleep room in lieu of hotel room for turns. This actually made me laugh. How long do you think it would take the company to change turn times? The fox already had the keys to the chicken coop, now we are just leaving the door open.
I can go on and on. I am not saying anything that most of you have not already said. I guess I just don't get it. We have been told for so long what we are worth and it does not look like we got what we deserve.
Now I challenge all of you to stand together and do the right thing!
Jetstar, you obviously do not know how this process works. Your statement, "the TA does not even come close to offering what we are worth", leads me to believe that. We do not get what we are worth, we get what we negotiate and it takes two to negotiate. You also have to keep in mind that we have a mediator who doesn't really care what we are worth. He's looking to get an agreement and when he thinks that an agreement is doable, that's what he pushes. If we turned down this TA, most likely we will be done until early next year. Make no mistake, the company will get through peak. It may be ugly and we may lose customers, but they will get through peak. I've been here long enough to witness overestimating our leverage more then once.
Don't take what I said above as an endorsement of the TA, I'll have to take a look at it before I make my decision. I'm really unhappy about retirement. Take my statement above as a reality check. There will be consequences if we turn down this TA. The decision has to be an unemotional one. You need to decide what's best for you and your family. Read some of Albie's posts on here. He presents a very level headed view on the TA.