From Ed Sicher:

"By now, you’ve probably heard that our recent attempts to improve our pay and work rules over what was previously offered at the negotiating table was met with total disdain by Robert Isom and his negotiators. With respect to pay, we received a pass back from management that has been whittled down to a 10/5/3, with the 5 percent being offered at date of signing plus one, and a cap on the snap-ups of 2.5 percent that may require us to arbitrate if Delta and United ink deals that significantly exceed ours. This almost ensures that we will lag our peers in pay.And remember, this take-it-or-leave-it pay offer is being made at a time when railway workers are receiving a 14 percent pay raise, with a retro pay of 14 percent back 2.5 years, and a 24 percent pay increase over the life of their contract. Robert Isom must think that we are either completely ignorant of the profitability of our company, or so beaten down that we are willing to negotiate a contract that leaves us behind inflation at a time when we enjoy our greatest leverage.

Remember also that the 10/5/3 on the table is really a 0/0/10/5/3/0/0, since we have already worked two years without pay increases, and if history is any indicator, we may have to work for another two years after this contract has expired in order to secure future pay raises. I expect that you share my view that this is completely unacceptable.

Make no mistake about it – this contract is not only about pay. It is also about quality-of-life improvements, especially with respect to scheduling. The scheduling crisis of this past summer is simply a result of mismanagement. We can no longer tolerate an abrogation of our seniority to rescue their flailing operation. Forced productivity without contractual safeguards must be addressed in this contract. We would be remiss to pass up this opportunity to improve our scheduling rules in this Section 6, and currently there are no safeguards in the proposal that management has presented.

The Negotiating Committee recently tried to secure a guarantee of the distribution of trip lengths that would put a floor under the number of one- and two-day trips and cap the number of four- and five-day trips. Remember, this is after a summer in which they have locked us out from our ability to trade trips, in some cases for entire months. Then, they constructed narrowbody sequences primarily of four- and five-day trips bound to fall apart. That’s left us in onerous recovery obligation and made our senior lineholders into junior reserves. What was management’s response to our proposal? They gave us the hand. They won’t even entertain these protections.

I’ve relayed our message to David Seymour and Robert Isom. If they wanted to further anger our pilots over scheduling abuses, they couldn’t have done a better job! I’ve repeatedly emphasized that the integrity of the schedule will best be improved by incentives instead of force.

I recognize the fact that, at the end of the day, the Negotiating Committee gets their direction from the Board of Directors, but I also know for certain that the Board of Directors takes their direction from you, the members.

For that reason, I need you to stay focused, stay informed, and remember what you’ve earned and what you’re worth. At this critical juncture in time, we need to stay unified and stand strong on this assault on our profession and our quality of life by this hapless management team.

I will continue to take the fight to management and carry our message to Capitol Hill, to our investors, and to our sister unions who are engaged in similar struggles.

Please stay informed, remain engaged, and keep the faith.

Fly safe, and thanks for listening."