And I think, for some context, I remember what it was like coming to worked in the lost decade. I think a lot of us honestly lost years off the end of our life through high blood pressure annd the anger we harbored. It was well deserved, but I’m not going back to that mindset again. I will be voting NO unless this is a substantially lucrative &QOL positive contract, but I’m not going to let myself get angry if the company refuses to pony up.

I talked to a C-suite exec on a flight the other day, and we ended up talking for probably half an hour. It was very amicable right up to the last part of the conversation where he mentioned negotiations. I put forth that I expected large improvements in our contract. He countered that we already make a good amount of money and hope that the union will be reasonable with requests. I told him, with zero tension or anger in my voice, that the way our pay works, we might be living under a contract for well over a decade, and that it is incumbent upon us to make improvements when we can. I’m sure I didn’t change his mind substantially, but I think maintaining calmness and rationality is imperative when presenting our demands. If we act like a 10-year-old, who throws a tantrum in the grocery store knowing that our parent will have to give in, I think that has more negative implications for both sides, long-term, even if we do get our way.