Originally Posted by
jj158
Hey OmniSlash, I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone I've flown with that thinks I don't like the company. I actually think ZW is a great place to work, with great people, and a good culture. I think everyone has reflected on their career choices the last few months, and I can say that I don't think I would go to any other airline if I could make my choice again. I'm happy here at ZW. I think they treat us well.
However, I do think the Union that represents us is ineffective. Further, based on emails I've seen and conversations I've had regarding the bonus, I would say they are misleading. When this whole bonus process started, they spread misinformation to many of the pilots effected. Whether they intentionally did this or accidentally did this is open for debate/interpretation. But they had the information available to them, because I personally provided it to them--but they chose to not disperse this information internally, not to study the information provided, or to play stupid and plead ignorance. If you want me to provide more information on this, feel free to PM me.
You mention that I am not happy with the processes used to address the issues. This is inaccurate. I am happy with the grievance process, but it is not being followed. I am unhappy that there is no process being used as of now. Our grievance is in limbo with no definitive timeline on getting a resolution. I talked to an FO the other day who said he needs the bonus money in order to keep his kid in the same school. Not knowing when there will be a solution is a disservice to the pilot group.
You mention that they are not meeting because they are working on other projects. I think that is fair. I tried to pull up the original email that said they were suspending the timeline to get more context, but I couldn't find it. If anyone can provide that Pay Day Hotline date that would be great. However, all of the emails regarding furlough mitigation are vague at best. They provide no details or offers made/declined from either the company or the union. I hope they can find solutions, but most companies have announced agreements by this point but ARWMEC has not. Further, they have made it clear there will be zero pay concessions for pilots who stay on property, which makes negotiations quite quick/easy.
As for my pay cuts comment above... I just didn't want someone to say "Oh you can take a SAH line and not have to travel."
I agree that these things take time. I'm just happy to still have a job as of now. But when I hear ALPA members bragging about how scheduling let them swap one leg with another ALPA member so that they can keep captain pay, I get frustrated. When I see ALPA reps say they don't have certain documents and then see them sending that document a month prior, I get frustrated. When I see the suspension of a process that we voted on and approved as the pilot group, I get frustrated. Can there be delays on these things? Sure. But it needs to be more defined than "We'll get to it later".
This is obviously your first grievance. I remember being frustrated with the process when I didn't understand it either. Unfortunately, the rules that govern how unions can fight these cases are not really in favor of work groups. I don't understand how you can say that the process isn't being followed when the documentation of each step of the case was provided in the email. The process takes time and it's unfortunate that this case didn't reach a quick resolution in your favor but that is how it goes sometimes. I have had some of my own issues resolved quickly but have had some that take a while to go through the whole process. That doesn't mean that the Union is ineffective though. We have had times in the past where management and the union didn't work well together. We had many more issues and it took a lot longer to get a resolution - favorable or not. I like hearing that they are working together. I have friends at other airlines that have bad relationships between the union and management and that makes it difficult to get anything done.
I'm not sure what misinformation you say the union is spreading but I talk to the reps quite often and get a straight answer on any of my questions and I don't get the feeling that they are just sitting around purposely delaying getting our issues addressed. They have also gone in print on many issues recently giving us more insight into what is going on. Honestly, I have seen misinformation in your posts on here and not what they put out to us. You may not like the information that is presented but you do us all a disservice by trying to undermine the work that is being done for us and trying to make false generalizations and conclusions. If you think that all the details of every negotiation are supposed to be made public and in real time, you are mistaken. That's not how it works and nothing would ever get accomplished.
I truly hope that you and the rest of the pilots that are owed money get paid quickly. I also hope that the union and the company continue to prioritize getting us through this pandemic. I understand your frustration but when you turn that to divisiveness, you hurt us all.