Surfer
To a certain extent I get what you are saying, probation is a shlit sandwich on a good day. There are work arounds (spouse working, moon lighting, etc). During the furlough we had guys doing all kinds of jobs to keep the lights on and this is nowhere close to that.
Part of it is there are a good number of guys who rely on JA’s, busting the credit cap and making side deals with scheduling that the thought of working for 40-50 hours for a couple of months is unthinkable. It doesn’t help that the douche bag cap in ANC puts out that it is imperative that we lean forward, operate at all cost, etc. to make it happen. This puts pressure on the probies and some others to waive the contract and go well beyond to get it done. Apparently it is working.
Anyone beyond 2nd year pay should have an emergency/strike fund at this point that they could tap into if needed.
This is not limited to the ANC guys, SDFZ flies in China as well. I was in CGN last week listening to guys brag about being on 60+ hour JA’s and complain about the China testing procedures in the same breath.
If enough guys declined China flying ups would be forced to make system changes. Boxes are moving so there really isn’t a problem. Besides the vp has your back regardless!