Originally Posted by
Dakota
...For contract ratification, we need to see enhancements to our “A” Plan and get an increase in company contributions to our “B” Plan. In the end, management will need to see your resolve to protect and improve our retirement plans...
^^^This!
I was glad to see, through the week, through the range of the seniority spectrum, that there are a lot of unhappy people with this TA, not only on APC. Even guys I talked with who attended the roadshow were feeling the hard sell and positive spin on everything related to the TA, while nothing negative was addressed in a meaningful way. I would have been there had I not been on a layover, but I also 'heard' that the roadshow folks were not accommodating in any way to our Block 1 Rep. He was not invited to participate, and they turned up the music at the end of the event, when he tried to present his views in the back of the room.
We need to stop talking about letting go of the A-plan for new hires. Just because of the company's stall tactics, and 'lines in the sand' repeated over and over and over by the NC, does not mean they are actual fact. We need to stick to our openers, an improved A-plan, an improved B-plan, and improved work rules, and the raises in the TA are fine, but they need to include a 'me too' clause as some of the legacies have (AA? and DL?). Otherwise, our TA pay raises will be eclipsed within the first 2 years of the CBA, having to wait 4 more years to begin negotiations, that, as history has shown us, will likely be dragged out for 2-4 additional years.
We are in a time of record profits, strongest cash position ever, TNT acquisition, undermanned, becoming the 4th or 5th choice for many potential new hires, we have been optimized (and me a lot less than guys here for more than 10+ years), we are more efficient with less pilots, flying more legs, with shorter layovers, and we will take on the additional costs in our medical insurance, but, we need to not just keep, but IMPROVE both A and B plans. That was in our openers how many years ago? When the economy/profits/hiring-manning environment were not nearly in our favor as they are now. No apologies for demanding to keep what we have worked for, what we stated in our opening negotiations. How can we cave in as a group, on the most important issues, and still throw in so many company 'gained efficiencies' to boot?