I'm not refering to side deals to get an IA that hasnt been blasted to the pilot group. I've never heard from a pilot that has done that. I'm sure it does happen though. However, I have heard stories about getting positive space or only using a one flight commute and delaying the departure so they can make it in. Is the practice wrong, probably but its not like the company is going to start the with conflict coverage.
How many IAs went unfilled this weekend. A few that I saw in my category. I live in base so commuting isn't an issue for me. I just play the who can get a hold of scheduling first game. However it took people hours to get a hold of scheduling this weekend so maybe they should have just ran GS coverage.
CS creates their own phone mess when they send out a ton of IAs and hundreds of pilots are trying to call at once.