Originally Posted by Smokey23

SWA guy, here. Having just finally come out of four years of mgmt stiff-arming us for a new contract, it pains me to see that you guys also have some died-in-the-wool, anti-union types working against your collective best interests. For us, the union guidance during our negotiations was to wear a dark tie (preferably black!) and the union tie tack. I'm sure most of you who have any time in this business know what a love-affair many of our pilots had with the flag ties since Sept 11th....and I was one of 'em! Sadly, we have our share of A319's ilk on property and it was the same sort of mamby-pamby rationalizing from these guys how they couldn't possibly give up their flag ties: "Passengers love 'em!" "I'm a vet and it's a show of support for them!" and so on.... All are true statements, but NONE are an adequate excuse for not complying with your union's temporary request to provide a visible sign of solidarity until such time as a new contract is ratified. And just like A319, this crowd also parroted the same line that "nobody notices your tie/lanyard/bag tag, etc..." HOG WASH!!!!! Your management wants nothing more than to believe your union does not speak for you....and if enough of your pilots are so misguided/apathetic/afraid or JUST PLAIN ANTI-UNION that they cannot even take the simple step of putting on a lanyard that (I'm guessing here) just showed up in their box one day, well then management's view may just be correct and your negotiating committee will be that much more out-gunned. I promise you, management IS noticing!!!! They are testing your collective resolve and numbers matter!

So if you're not a lanyard guy--time to become one. If you're not already scheduled to fly during your first picket--time to move whatever mountains you must to get your butt to the IP. It WILL make a difference!

Best of luck to you guys/gals!