Originally Posted by
buscappy
if there are gains to be had at zero to minimal overall contract cost, then the union is incompetent and the other forum thread that everyone needs to wear their tie tacks is ridiculous
but, Dave, i doubt the union left costless quality of life improvements on the table. really doubt it
(and, to define the event where the company shedulers ask a pilot on reserve to be near the parking lot and available within a couple hours as "crew desk abuse" is the height of labor employee whining. but if the 1% of the 20% wanna sit around the crash pad sofas complaining that the company wants reserves to be near the airport - go for it. personally, on reserve, i always carried a pager to a golf course near the airport and saved my whining for the bar on my days off)
As the previous poster said, I disagree.
Let's review some recent contract history, LUAL side.
1. Bankruptcy, horrendous contract, at least we can agree on that.
2. Several years in negotiating to fix that contract, before the merger was announced.
3. Merger announced. Trying to fix the bankruptcy contract during the same time as a combined contract. Lots of obstacles. Including almost being released to 30 days cooling off.
4. Not much time spent on the little things because there were so many big ones. Needed to get it done to stop Jeffy from playing games.
5. Contract extension was the time to fix a few little things, but that didn't get done. For a variety of reasons.
6. The time is now to fix those little things that we couldn't or wouldn't in the extension.
If not now when? Again, minimal negotiating capital for major gains in quality of life. Whether you agree or not, reserve is not always a choice. If it weren't so bad, it would also alter people's decisions for when to bid new equipment. Not good or bad, just a different choice. Why not make that small investment and let it grow?