Well, I hate to say that you’re almost certainly correct. I’ve first hand talked to guys on the way out in a few years that have told me directly to my face if it benefits them then they are taking it sorry about your luck. This isn’t a one person one off comment.

The issue is I understand they want to make the most money before retirement. I understand they may have been in the lost decade, but that doesn’t mean you screw over your peers for a quick buck… As we are seeing now there are consequences for skipping over what seemed like minor things previously only to realize that the contract life is most definitely going to be longer then just 5 years.

We are now 2 years into negotiations and on our second mediator, what do we have to show for that? Last I checked absolutely nothing. The industry has spoken, we are not less than our peers… Last time I verified we take the same check ride, follow the same regulations, and are flying the same f’n plane. Albeit with less resources. So when you think about that and have some serious reflection with where we are at is it worth screwing over your peers for a minimum gain just to make a few bucks before you retire or move on to another airline? It hurts the entire industry to be at the bottom when negotiations come around for the other guys.

I haven’t even mentioned the scope issues the company is trying to slide into our new CBA. It’s not just rates we should be concerned about. There are many issues we are all aware of but pay is just one aspect. As many have mentioned before in other threads we could be paid $1000 an hour with zero scope or work rule protections and that $1000 isn’t worth it.

One thing I think people fail to realize is the company claims they can’t afford to do these things and all the other nonsense they say. One thing I’d ask you to keep in mind is that we could take the crappy offer of what they want but then how would you feel if the day after it’s signed they decided to change the model? They are in full control of that. They claim to already be getting and retrofitting big front seats… what’s next WiFi, in seat power, less seats for more spacing, cargo? The list can go on and on of what they could decide to do after we hypothetically sign the dotted line. My point is they will figure out how to manipulate the numbers to continue to survive if we took some subpar offer when in reality they could pay us and give better improvements to our QOL and still make those changes to see what they want to see. We can’t just sell ourselves short because they tell us well we can’t do that. Excuse me but WTF you want to align with the industry in the crappy areas but can’t align overall this isn’t a pick and choose scenario that’s why we have pattern bargaining…

Anyways just something to think about perspective sometimes kills ya before you begin don’t sell yourself short and screw others in the process.