I find it odd that so many take business personally. Make no mistake, every business, when given the opportunity, will screw over its employees; such is the dynamic we have created in this country. There's no such thing as a benevolent executive. Even the "good" ones like Oscar have a responsibility to the shareholders whose influence greatly outweighs labor. The experience of any worker in this country should be purely transactional. Companies have no loyalty to any individual or labor group. We are, and always will be, replaceable in their eyes. We provide them a skill, they provide us money to live our lives. I owe them nothing more than to do the job expected of me as the professional that I am. I choose to do that job to the best of my abilities and take care of people not because it makes the company look better but because it provides fulfillment for me. I have no ill will toward my customers or my colleagues.

We will only get what we deserve, and by deserve I mean we will get what we remain unified toward and fight for. No company will ever give more than they're required to give, and I feel like the current MEC leadership is doing what the membership is asking of them and are communicating updates with regularity.

Coming from another airline which went through contract negotiations last year, this process is slow, frustrating, and tends to bring out the worst in people. United pilots deserve an industry-leading contract, and should have had it years ago. Knowing now the philosophical difference between ALPA and the company on what constitutes "industry-leading," I'm satisfied with the pace and feel like meaningful progress is being made. Accepting as a basic tenet of negotiations the company won't give more than they have to, I'd frankly be skeptical if progress were being made too quickly because it would tell me we weren't asking for the right things.

Beyond that, my union speaks for me.