Originally Posted by
Herkflyr
You are missing one crucial point. Had we not given up some PS last contract, then our pay raises would have been less. TAANSTAAFL--There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
All of our future contractual pay raises--for any contract--begin from a higher base wage due to the PS/pay rate trade. You will reap the benefit for years and years. You will also get higher DC contributions based on a higher base pay rate, rather than having to wait until Feb to get the PS payout.
That doesn't warrant a yes vote (other items were objectionable) but to say we only got the benefit for one contract I do not believe is correct.
The whole point is we should be able to better AA pay rates without touching profit sharing. Say we do exactly that and then we monetize 5% profit sharing. We now have a 5% premium on straight pay rates plus the left over PS. Fast forward to next contract cycle, AA betters our pay rates by a percentage point or two then we re-enter negotiations. We should be able to maintain the 5+ percent advantage we had because of the PS swap from the contract before or we have just lost the advantage of keeping it separate.
I see your point but I think keeping them separate will lead to more money in our pockets in the long run. The caveat to this is we HAVE to be able to negotiate rates similar to AA without touching PS.
I've been beating this drum for a while now.
Denny