Originally Posted by an225flyer

I agree with most all of this..especially the last sentence. You are 100% correct..they just have not accepted yet that industry standard is a must..to be honest I am not sure they will accept it before it is too late.

I have been around this industry for a lot of years. I have seen both sides of the table. As long as a pilot group is harassing its own members and making threats the company will never in a million years accept industry standard as the way to go trust me on this..they will just sit back and watch while the pilot group digs their own grave..
if you want the company to accept the pay you want(ie industry standard or even industry leading) then you will have to show them that you deserve it. this could be in many forms..this could mean proving to your company you have a vested interest in the future success of the company by offering something in return for the compensation you so desperately want like PBS for example (huge savings to the company). This is how you negotiate. It is unreasonable to expect a company to, for the 1st time ever in its history, give industry standard anything solely because "it has been 8 years without it so we deserve it".

I can promise you that if both sides are negotiating truly in good faith then you will get the best contract you have ever had and all the other problems will resolve on their own I have seen it a hundred times. This is what we are really all after isnt it? we have to protect this profession for the future but we have to be smart about it.