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...
I keep going back and re-reading this petition, and I have a lot of problems with it. Some of my concerns are relatively minor, like the wording that says the MEC "will not accept nor ratify any new agreement". Its not that I believe our union overlords are going to deny the membership the right to ratify the TA, it just seems to suggest that the author either cobbled this thing together in a hurry or didn't take the time to familiarize him or herself with the process. Maybe I am splitting hairs, but c'est la vie.
My biggest concern about this petition is that it appears to me that its intent is to lock the MEC/NC into what may be an untenable negotiating position. It seems to be demanding "don't send us a TA to vote on unless it includes 100% retro pay to 08/01/15. Regardless of what the rest of the agreement looks like." This is a corner I would rather we did not paint ourselves into. Also, this petition demands everything of the union, nothing from the company. With the hope that down line it will provide a financial disincentive for the company to continue to drag feet. I think its possible that it could have the opposite effect in the end game. Do we really believe that a mediator is going to release us into self help because we have decided that any thing less than 100% retro in unsat, regardless of the rest of the package? I have my doubts.....
By the way, if this Hanna guy is not the author of this petition, I would certainly like to know who is. My experience has been whenever someone shoves a petition under your nose to sign for an ostensibly good cause, it helps to read the fine print and know who is actually sponsoring it. "Sign this petition to stop the slaughter of puppies and kittens!" Then you read on to page two and it has a provision for a $1000 per household tax and a 3 round magazine limit for your Glock, brought to you by the National Coalition to Confiscate All Firearms Now. (This was an intentional exaggeration to make a point, also known as hyperbole.)
Sorry, but I find this petition to be extremely flawed. I want a great contract sooner rather than later, and I am willing to strike to get it, but I cannot in good conscience sign a petition that comes across to me as a no confidence vote to our union leadership.