Originally Posted by
wjcandee
I say this respectfully: There's a difference between being opposed to self-destructive, pointless union activity that does nothing but entrench the spoiled leaders and pay big $$ to lawyers for years of delay and basically no results that truly benefit the rank and file, and being "anti-union".
I applaud what I think are smart, effective tactics, and criticize ones that are not. That we may disagree about the likely effectiveness and probable outcome doesn't make me an adversary.
You guys are locked in pointless, low probability of success litigation that the company loves because it puts off ever really getting to a contract. Again, it's not strategically-beneficial, it's a result of trying to show who has the bigger set, which isn't a clean route to a result for members.
The way to get Atlas to focus on the legitimate beef of low quality candidates and training is to do what I suggested. Good stuff will result, but of course leaders won't get obvious credit for it, so they would rather follow a different strategy.
The same as everyone else, the leaders want results, period. In a world where big money writes the laws, the overall system is designed to keep airline labor suppressed while forcing the aircraft to continue to move. Don't believe me? Look at the last airline pilot section 6 strike. It was the Spirit strike nine years ago. When airlines are able to drag their feet in negotiations for 6-10 years on contracts that can be negotiated in under one month, there is a problem with the system. In this specific case, people have now died and more will die all so a few at the top can become wealthy to a level beyond what any of us can even comprehend.
We will fight on low probability of success cases as well as high probability of success cases. We will leave no rock unturned. Choosing to just sit idle while our contract gets violated does nothing for us except slowly erode what little benefits we currently have. At Atlas Air, choosing to play nice with management only leads to being taken advantage of. We have years of history prove that point.
This is Eastern Airlines all over again and just like at Eastern, labor never sets the tone.