Originally Posted by
max8222
Saying we didn’t fix everything on prior contracts is similar to saying how come guys worked at a regional so long and didn’t fix their slave wages. They had multiple contract to vote down or go on strike. Matter of fact you could say they were stealing jobs from legacy pilots. If they would have voted down their crappy contracts the last 20 years and pushed for the wages they are making now the legacies would have brought all those jobs in house.
Why the huge crying about knowing what is in the TA. You will find out soon enough. Nothing is going to change between now and when they release it. Read it, if you don’t like it vote no.
The negotiating committee stays in touch with the MEC and I would hope they are both on the same page as to what would be acceptable. If they are out of touch with the crew force then it will get voted down.
Remember the company negotiating team is only trying to give enough for a 51% pass vote. The union negotiating team is trying for 100% yes vote which is much harder ask!
Well it's a bit more complicated than that. This MEC does not get to "sign off" on each section as it is TA'd. The NC makes that decision by itself with zero input from the MEC. The ONLY time the MEC gets a say in any TA'd section is next week - when it can either accept the entire thing or turn it down.
The Company only wants that 51% as you said - and the MEC wants a very high percentage passage - to keep it even for the different demographic groups in the union. Don't want to just have something that helps out senior guys but screws younger guys or the opposite. The only time to stop that is really at the NC or MEC level - once it gets to membership each person will vote what is best for them - as they should. So we can't really see what's being pitched right now - can't really make the argument to our reps why they should or shouldn't support it at their level. This was all planned as it's not normal - normally bullet points do come out. A lot of hay is made during this quiet period - that quiet period is largely to control the process - so that individual reps or NC members or officers don't make statements on their own - things they absolutely will do if and when this TA goes to ratification (we should encourage that - members writing their personal opinion on each section). The "quiet period" absolutely allows bullet points - it just has to be controlled and approved jointly - hence the entire clause "unless MEC allows" - so please don't put any weight on the idea that no one is allowed to say anything. They've chosen to keep it quiet and that should concern everyone here. Sure you can write your reps and give opinions on stuff you have no idea - but not real useful unless you are looking at what is being proposed. And after it comes to the membership writing your reps is useless as they will have the same exact power as you then.
It's a very poor process - likely manufactured to give the best chance to a certain outcome. Definitely not a lot of transparency here. To be fair, this MEC and NC have not been transparent all along and we've allowed it so it's not really anything new for this group but it is new compared to prior negotiations here or at other ALPA carriers.