Originally Posted by
waflyboy
As long as we're on the subject, perhaps somebody can explain why Mesa's pilot group is unable to improve QOL, work rules, and wages through:
* enforcement of their existing contract (it gets violated every day, doesn't it?)
* collective bargaining
* legal actions against the company
I'll admit that I don't know much about labor organizations (I'm only halfway through Flying the Line), but isn't being organized supposed to provide power to the pilots to prevent such abuse?
I seriously do not understand why they (the pilots) just bend over and take it..... especially when they have the resources of their labor organization available.
Some of it has to do with circumstances, some of it with demographics.
JO always seems to arrange for some bad news when negotiation time rolls around...this puts labor on the defensive.
Many mesa pilots are less-then-enthusiastic about upsetting the apple-cart...
Junior FO's are often super-low time, which means they have little industry knowledge or experience. They are afraid for their jobs because they don't have the time to get another one.
Senior FO's/Junior CA's are more likley to stand up for themselves, but they have also invested a significant amount of time at mesa and would really like to get their 1300 hours TPIC and move on before the company implodes.
Super-senior CA's (who usually run the union) actually make pretty good money by regional standards...they sure don't want to start over, so they will be reluctant to strike when the company is on the rocks. Plus JO is always willing to throw a few bucks at the top of the pay scale (wink, wink).
Industry Rejects: Mesa hires folks nobody else would touch due to background or other issues...these people really don't want mesa to fold.
Also I hate to say it, but I have met quite a few characters over there who don't have the same level of initiative or self-respect as the typical pilot you run into. A lot of the good people leave mesa early, especially lately. Of course there are good folks in the pilot group, but not as many as there might be at other companies.
When I left I had concluded that there was no way in heck the pilot group as a whole would muster the nads to walk...I'm still hoping to be proved wrong, but I wasn't going to stick around for 6 years just to find out.