Originally Posted by
Forgotmyhat
Hi all. I've been following this forum for several years, but this is my first post. I understand my credibility is at zero right now, but I feel that it's time to join the conversation. I'm a DAL new-hire (since the 2014 hiring wave), but I'm a student of history and have done a lot of listening here and in the cockpit.
As we continue to make our feeble attempt at section 6 negotiations and now struggle to keep from being furloughed as well as hold the company accountable for past agreements, I am continually dumbfounded at how we keep getting played at every turn. I'm not bashing the union, our representatives or our negotiating committee. I think they are about as good as we can hope for under the current structure and I back them at nearly every opportunity. But we have shown up to a gun fight with a knife. The company has dozens of lawyers, who went to school to learn the law in order to ensure their language is tight (in their favor). The company has negotiators, who went to school to learn how to negotiate in order to ensure their terms are tight. The company has businessmen at the helm, who went to school to learn business in order to ensure the company makes money. Our union has...pilots, who went to school to learn to fly, doing all of the negotiating and compliance. We are a pee-wee football team playing in the NFL. It's no wonder we continually get taken advantage of. It would be as if we trained a private pilot to fly a 777 and then told him to captain a flight to Asia. He knows how to fly, doesn't he?
I couldn't believe the MEC allowed the company to re-work April. For nearly a year, the company has insulted our good-faith negotiating efforts and completely stonewalled us, a calculated move in hindsight, and then we fold at the first sign of turbulence?! And then they play us yet again! No, from here on out, they don't get an inch unless they agree to one thing: 100% of our opener on a given date. Other than that, they reap what they sow. I don't think that the "greedy" pilot asks are going to be the thing that finally does Big-D in.
Thanks for listening.
Great first post - I mostly agree.
As to Sailings point - Yes we have many legal experts on our team but it somehow seems the company is usually one step ahead of us.
Yep - we got played on the April rebid - but this will actually work out in our favor. Just imagine if the company had said something like this:
"Yes we agreed to offer SILs for May, and even though we believe that is not a long term solution we will honor our agreement since we already benefited from the April rebid."
The Pilot group would be divided with half tripping over themselves to help the company and the other half arguing FUPM.
But as a result of their shortsighted actions the company has united the Pilot group like never before. I have never seen the group so united. Even during the BK years and the during C15 TA-1 and TA-2 the union was mostly divided.
I just hope DALPA does not do something stupid to squander this unanimity.
Scoop