Marg and others - Bashing the way the EXCO select their bases and how they bid is a waste of your time and ours. Its how it is done. Don't hate the players, hate the game, or better yet, don't hate either, and just keep asking good questions of our union and demanding the best from them.

There are union stewards who are so far up AR's butt, its rather sickening. "Best update ever, what a wonderful video. You're the greatest'! seriously, what is with those comments? He is not the messiah, or the second coming. He is who we have right now to get the job done. If he gets 150 hrs, I don't care if he gets results. I have publicly called him out in the past and will continue to do so, but overall he's our best shot right now, and we aren't going to replace him.

File grievances or don't file, I don't care. But its all you have right now and it may come down to the company doing some sort of mass settlement like $500 per grievance with merit. Then you would get nothing. Somehow these 5000 will need to be settled.

Of course I wish he would stop spending our money on those tacky bag tags that just line another pilots pockets, and those hideous Christmas ornaments. That's stupid and a waste but big picture we have to put our trust in him for another 12 months. If we don't have results by then we need to find another slate to run against him in the election which is 2.5 years from now.

Note to the EXCO if you read this - send us a good contract to vote on. If its less than 500 pages you are wasting our time. Every rule needs to be spelt out so there is no confusion, no two ways to read it. Anything less and we all need to vote it down, all 15 that are left here in 12 months! And please, no more positive updates - they only serve to stop someone on the fence leaving. It gives them false hope. No more signing agreements with the company to 'pledge we will work hard for a new contract". That was amateurish. All that did was to slow attrition in the busy months. That was exactly what the company wanted and needed. Stop doing silly things like that.