Originally Posted by
ExtraMedium
My understanding is that our biggest outstanding item is health care. Omni says it will match the Teamsters Team Care plan, but it won’t put the benefits or employee cost in writing. It would have the option to change that any time it wanted. This is a huge deal to me.
I don’t trust the company! I was here through the last negotiations, and I’ve seen the empty promises the company makes. Take the FA’s. They aren’t a month into their contract and they’re already feeling the pain of the lies by the company negotiators. The “program” FA’s were promised certain override pay that they’d enjoyed pre-contract, and it was taken away instantly upon ratifying their TA. Some have also been staying two to a room... something they were promised wouldn’t happen.
I realize we aren’t flight attendants, and that we will have all things better than they do, but my point is that the company is verifiably dishonest, and I have zero reason to trust them over our negotiators.
And as far as seeing the company offer in full, my understanding of that is that the NMB has asked the negotiators not to disclose it to us.
Am I frustrated by the lack of communication from the NC? Sure! But I’m even more frustrated by the companies hard line that they’re done negotiating.
Extra,
Good post and hearing the opinions of actual Omni pilots, especially ones who were here for the last dance is very important.
But, respectfully, I think the one thing we all agree on is THAT LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT. No one is disputing that.
The problem is that the company says they are willing and ready to negotiate the specifics but only within the confines of the existing offer. Some call that a take it or leave it offer; and they wouldn't be wrong.
It does seem rather totalitarian and no one likes to be on the receiving end of that.
But, trying to be fair and looking at both sides of the argument, the company believes that they have made this offer with respect to previous request from the Union and that every time they acquiesce, the Union ask for more.
IMHO, they have made a pretty good case for proving that point.
I would be as patient as anyone for a new contract if we were at the point of just hammering out language, but it does seem that we're miles from even starting that process because the Union keeps adding additional requests (ESPECIALLY given the fact that they seem to be the requests of another pilot group rather than our own).
Like so many others on here, I admit that I could be wrong because the simple fact is we have very little information to work with.
a year ago I begged and pleaded this Union to have better communication and warned that this point in the negotiation was coming.
The proverbial chicken has come home to roost.
P.S. No FAs on the program are 2 to a room and as i understand it, the override your talking was about galley pay which they were told the could keep. Some are saying that the company lied and took it away. Not true. The galley pay was a $2 override, but only FAs working in certain galleys were getting it.
Now the pay is $1 but more FAs get it for working any galley.