Originally Posted by BendoverJyri

I am brand new to these forums and only joined because I heard that this is where this petition nonsense is finding its legs.

I will not sign this petition for a number of reasons. To begin with, no recent pilot contract or TA provides 100% retro -- including the recent deals at UPS and SWA-- if that term is understood to mean that the upfront pay increase is applied to all hours worked back to the amendable date. Second, I expect our NC to prioritize its objectives based on the two comprehensive polls we have done of the membership. If we have an agreement which going forward meets our objectives on pay, pension, and working conditions I am not interested in holding it up to achieve something that no other pilot group has managed to achieve. And the idea that the NMB would ever release us if that was the only issue remaining strikes me as unlikely bordering on absurd.

But, I also will not sign it because I object to the way its sponsor operates and I question his motives. That is not an unfair argument ad hominem but a 100% valid reason to criticize the petition. Unlike most pilots he has refused to support the Negotiating Committee by wearing a green lanyard. When we picketed the Spirit Board meeting in IAH he made a point of openly cozying up to Jyri. This is a guy who makes all sorts of demands of the union while he undermines it by sucking up to management. That is the opposite of pilot solidarity and is a formula for years in mediation while management plays both ends against the middle.

Final note, if you think you can equate SWA or DL spooling up new NCs to our ability to do so you are deluding yourself. Both of their new committees are comprised of former negotiators with years of experience negotiating at those properties. Who are we going to get? Nelson, Sytsema, DeGrenier, Pyel? Oh wait, Makima is available...