Originally Posted by
BandDingOw
I didn’t say we have more leverage now than we did in ‘23 but we have more leverage now than we have since then. You could argue that we have more leverage now though because the company seemed fine with hiring CFIs and visas to replace leaving pilots. And yeah, I think we have more leverage now despite the fact we probably aren’t getting released anytime soon. They need government and shareholder approval to get this deal done. They want to show DOJ/DOT and financers that there are no labor troubles. If we’re quiet then all will assume that labor negotiations are going smooth. If we’re loud they’ll be more inclined to finish the deal. That’s called leverage.
For starters I never stated that the last picketing was children stomping their feet. But I do want to point out that although the turn out was good, and media coverage was decent; HOW, explain to me how it pressured the company in any sort of way?
Secondly, the company like others had to take CFIs, something the legacies didn't have to do. No visa pilots have been hired for some time; the company discontinued that. You thinking that more picketing, or more "being loud" will get a deal done faster. The dynamic has already changed. The company has said they want to meet more and get a deal done, the E-board has agreed to do so. The EXCO is taking a pragmatic approach, using resource like unlike before, to bring a deal sooner rather than later.
Like Nate and another individual have mentioned, the mediator has already given the new team a clear "ultimatum". Bring a TA soon, or risk getting iced out. What that tells me, is that this current mediator was less than impressed by how the last NC decided to negotiate, act, and is not interested in any more "impasse", proffer games. You're right, the company doesn't need this labor issue to still be an issue when they seek approval from the DOJ/DOT. But if you actually think that we now have more leverage before to get everything under the sun, then you're way off, and it's why the new eboard was voted in. Because the majority wants to vote YES or NO on SOMETHING, and SOON.
You wanna get more instead of less? Then learn from the Flight Attendants... They voted down their first TA, went back to the table, and were able to get much more. Company had to do it. At the end of the day this E-board got a clear message from the pilots, get something done and let us the members decide. Period.