Originally Posted by
Bozo the pilot
Agree with you that a NO vote will garner more $, but PTO sellback is gone forever and the NC said that health care/profit sharing and COLA were no-go areas for the company.
We need scope/retirement and section 25 more than cash. To each his own, but looking at the pay rates without the more important sections is a bit JV.
Thats not directed at you Mat, but realistically what would a "Negotiating 101" rejection net us and how long will it take? Since you took that class?
Btw, When does one put some trust the NC?
That would be in one of the higher level classes but if this TA fails, we'd have half a summer left to fly SOP and, by the end of that, I doubt they'd want another SOP summer. Despite what others have said on here, I saw a lot of guys flying SOP and nothing more. It was almost uncomfortable sometimes and I felt bad for the pax (sorry "customers" ;-) ) but I was right there along with them in keeping it SOP. I trust that the NC did their best with what they were up against. (You hear about some airlines giving pilots a raise just 'cuz!) I thank the NC for their efforts and I'm sure their job feels like a thankless one sometimes. None of their efforts are going to go to waste. TA #1 will be a MAJOR stepping stone if we end up going back to the table.
You say scope, retirement and section 25 are the important things and that health insurance is a no-go area.
I'm fine with the scope in the TA. Retirement seems like a marginal increase and section 25 will actually cause me to fly more while on reserve to the point that I won't be able to bid reserve anymore.
Lastly, the most common reason I heard for voting in a union was better health insurance and I don't remember anyone mentioning scope. When the company axed health insurance, that's what made the union finally get voted in (with an impressive majority.) If we were on strike, would health insurance still be a no-go item?