Lipout,
I have a couple of comments. The first is that each link in this chain has its purpose. The company is trying to negotiate the best deal for them and it is usually based on dollars and future company growth with a safety foundation. The union is trying to negotiate the best deal for us and it is usually based on dollars and future family/financial growth for us, but also on quality of life and safety. Their job is to get us the best contract the company is willing to offer. After they feel they have the best the company will offer, not the best offer they want, then they hand it over to us. It is then our job to either say, "this is sufficient, or this is not acceptable to us." We are now in the last phase, and it is our responsibility to vote. I voted no for that reason. This LOA is not acceptable for reasons I have posted before. Mainly, STV and not having a yearly renewable LOA until we incorporate in a contract. Still, I voted no and the other members should do the same if this is unacceptable.
On another note, if you feel the union is out of touch with us or that they did not negotiate hard enough to get the best the company will offer, then we need to work to replace some of the the union officials at voting time. Better yet, run yourself.
Finally, and I am guilty of this, we need to send our issues to our block reps. I see the power this forum has in regards to communication, so I know ALPA and the company will read my words here. It is sad that we don't have our own system like this, but this is effective as seen by the LOA side letter. Still, we need to send these issues to our union leaders to use the official process in place of getting things changed. Also, they need to solicit more from us to see what is acceptable.