I'd like to summarize the discussion as I've seen it in this and other threads only because I like hearing myself talk
Pro: The rumored value of the offer is sufficient for me to accept a continuation of the current contract as the value of the offer exceeds the value of any improvements I anticipate.
Con: We, ALPA-UAL, have leverage of which we are not taking full advantage. We should tell the company no and force an early entrance into Section 6 negotiations and further force the company to offer a pay raise AND major improvements in QOL issues such as reserve. The corporation is in such dire need of relief on a few key issues that they will agree to this quickly. Clearly we didn't try hard enough and are rushing.
For the cons I have a few questions:
Question 1 - Of those individuals who seem so certain that we have unused leverage, how many of you have tried to communicate privately with any of the members of the negotiating committee Phil, Jeff, Brad, or Greg?
ahh . . . crickets
Question 2: Of those who say we are selling out cheap, how many of you have put pencil to paper and calculated actual dollar values of the offer including the future value of that money and including your 16% B-Fund money AND laid that alongside what YOU expect would improve in full Section 6 negotiations THEN weighed the two?
ahh . . . again crickets . . .
Question 3 How many contracts does the average pilot get to vote on in a typical career?
Question 4 - What is the average time to negotiate a new contract for an ALPA carrier?
Lastly Question 5 - Has anyone calculated the value of the back pay junior L-UAL pilots will get as a consequence of repairing the LOA 25 injustice?
ahh . . . yes . . . I see . . . crickets
Pilot work rules have vastly improved over the decades. Yes some years pilots go backwards and some years they go forwards in terms of QOL. This raise is NOT backwards and corrects a major injustice that was known as LOA 25. True we all can find items in our current contract we'd like to see improved, but what price do you place on those improvements?
Let's do a quick "back of the envelope" analysis that others can refine or correct as I'm sure I'm missing some facts and details, but just so we can have a general idea of the "price" we are being offered to live with the QOL as it is . . .
let's take a middle seniority bloke who is a 777 FO
2016 payrate $184.59
2015 payrate $179.21
Net $5.38 or 3%
Assuming the rumor of 16% is based on 2015 rates then we have:
AIP payrate $207.88
2016 payrate $184.59
Net $23.29
so $23.29 x 85 hours x 36 months = $71,267
and $71,267 x .16 B-Fund =$11,402
so . . . .
Drum roll please . . .
The company is offering me $82,000 to extend my current contract 3 years AND they will make the folks harmed by LOA 25 whole AND they promise during that period I will never get paid less than Delta pilots.
Umm . . . really . . .
I'm sorry James et al. This seems silly.
My wife is a senior executive at a major corporation. We have friends that are CFOs and even CEOs. In general we socialize with folks in upper management or banking. (Not saying I like these people; just stating facts) I can assure you they would read this thread and the pilot bravado and laugh. There is a simple element folks who talk about using leverage are forgetting. To you the pilot this is real and meaningful money. To a corporate CEO this is a tiny fraction of their longterm forecast. In their eyes offering to settle quickly and give you a raise without asking much in return is already infinitely generous. They have zero incentive to offer more; the corporation is earning billions as is and yes they'd like to earn a little more, but their NOT going to offer the pilots the moon for what is to them a mere incremental return on equity. Changes in pilot QOL cost the company forever forward and are not taken lightly. It's fun to talk about leverage and being tough and improving QOL, but negotiations are NEVER quick or easy. This pay raise could be a rare opportunity for pilots to experience "quick and easy" just once in their career that is IF the rumors are true.