Originally Posted by
Davetastic
Globe, I'm not a conspiracy theory guy. I have NEVER even made reference to a conspiracy. We get a contract and the assessment goes away. That is not a conspiracy. That is fact. Thus, I don't think the union is in "any hurry". I heard what you said and it is obvious that you are firmly entrenched into the "amalgamation" argument. I have read numerous previous mergers and acquisitions awards and I know that if/when contract negotiations get to that point and moreover specific to our contract, an arbitrator must take into consideration proposals from both sides that account for industry peer comparisons, career expectations, and other elements before an award can be issued. So to expect me to believe that we'd go backwards from what we currently have and bring Southern up to parity is not realistic.
I have NEVER said that the union is refusing to settle. Please go back and search all of my words. I am confident you will never see that.
I have brought my concerns to EXCO members during new hire meetings when they have been present and to be quite honest we just get glazed over with political double speak. I'm not impressed.
We went backwards on work rules on the last contract. Ask the Polar guys. Ask them. Any one of them. I've talked to several whose W-2s went backwards the first year on this contract because of the work rules despite a $40 an hour bump in rate. All of our rules wouldn't get worse but some would. None would be better than the best of Atlas or Southern. That's what's in our contract in the SCOPE section for a merger. Are you claiming they're going to "give" us those things out of the good of their hearts?
I know you fancy yourself to be quite the strategist but Amalgamating contracts with a Bankruptcy contract from Southern isn't a good deal for you. The 1% you'd get in ending the Strike Assessment would pale in comparison to the two extra days of work you'd owe Atlas a month. It'd probably be worth 1% of your pay to not be riding Coach from Dubai to Hong Kong. I'm a 747 Captain and I'd be leaving for Spirit or Jet Blue in that scenario due to the difference in retirement.
Agree to disagree but you wouldn't be getting my vote running a slate on a platform of "Let's Amalgamate so we can save 1% in Union Dues".