I don’t think every contract REQUIRES concessions. I believe that contract negotiations are a negotiation……not a demand list from one party to be litigated. While I’m no expert on Delta’s contract, I would be beyond surprised if their company didn’t present their union with any changes.

Perhaps a better long term focus for ALL OF US is asking our union how they track the QOL issues identified by the crew force and ensure that they are getting addressed during negotiations. Typically we have “surveyed the crew” and come up with our “Cornerstone issues”….which until recently have always been the same…Pay, Retirement, Back Pay…..and don’t mess up vacation. This cycle we discovered Scope…(which imo never made it in the survey because we all KNEW our union would never compromise scope……ooops).

But the QOL issues….we write the reps, we submit insites, we bellyache over beers. But if it isn’t being recorded, tracked and attacked during Section 6 it NEVER gets better. Those have to be broken out regardless of what the Cornerstone Issues are….and they have to be redressed appropriately during negotiations. Substitution, Reserve Rules, Dead Heading, Bids, Passover pay, seniority protections…..easy stuff like Hotel Receipts for a layover hotel, Uniform Cleaning while on the road. There are literally hundreds of these QOL issues that have fallen thru the cracks while we focus on the big 3 (or 4). Are they what is going to make or break the vote - clearly not. But if they don’t get the relevance they deserve during contract negotiations….they don’t improve.

Just one opinion,

With respect to all,

Ape