Originally Posted by
dracir1
The company, like all the others, will follow supply vs. demand rules for the most part. If there is an ample supply of people willing to work for these or a slightly higher wage, then they will not change or chance only a little. I doubt there is a pilot working here that will voluntarily pay a higher wage to a worker (say a housekeeper or somebody repairing their roof) than they need to. If you could find someone to do an adequate job for you for $0.05 cheaper, then most of us would. And, Ive found this pilot group does more than an adequate job - in fact, it boggles my mind how people do extra.
The only thing that is going to bring about serious consideration for any raise is self-help. With the RLA, this is the last step and in some cases, isn't even allowed. But, for us and our small size, I think it will be.
So, hopefully, the union will negotiate in good faith with the company, contunue the dog and pony show and show the mediator that we are doing our part. And, hopefully, the mediator will get us released and we can strike. The company will lose millions and be forced to come to the table. And then, our union can present industry leading wages and work rules and we get something more to our liking.
I don't see anything else helping us. This is what it's going to take. All this other nonsense about lanyards and info strikes (while important for us as a group as well as public perception) mean very little to the company.
So, I will participate in anything and everything my union suggests to the max extent but don't have a hope of any of that having any bearing on the company whatsoever. I will do my job to the letter of the contract and that's it. I will file grievances if needed and I will not answer any company calls. I will pick up open time only if it serves my own personal purpose (which is usually a trade for a higher credit or a trip in different days). But most importantly, I will sit back and wait for the strike time to occur and not bicker about other people actions and opinions regardless of how silly they may be to me. I truly believe the majority of people here all agree with me about our wages, etc and will vote accordingly.
And I think if you're an F9 pilot, you should too.
I agree with most of what you post, believe it or not.
You call lanyards and info strikes non-sense, but then go on to say how they are important for unity building and public perception. I agree with the second part of your personal disagreement.
And, there are pilots among us who hold opinions that are very much against our self interest, as a pilot group. Don't underestimate our management's will to divide and conquer, as well as lower expectations. It's something they are actively doing. They aren't passively waiting around for strike day, so why should we? It doesn't hurt to share opinions with pilots who are saying and doing things that are against our self-interest. I think it makes our pilot group stronger, and more unified. We need a unified front in these negotiations.
A recent example is Delta's most current contract. They had numerous pilots, as well as ALPA, trying to sell a contract to the pilot group that was against the groups best interests. There were pilots who were looking after only their own interests, bringing up the "time value of money", and how they would be parked by the NMB, if they didn't sign an agreement laden with concessions. It wasn't till a unified effort to turn down the concession-laden contract, that their pilot group came together and signed something much better.