Originally Posted by StoneQOLdCrazy
There are only a few ways we as pilots subjected to the RLA can legally voice our displeasure at the way management treats us.
"Killing them with kindness" gives them everything they want from us. Further, it then gives them the impression that they don't need to be in a hurry to negotiate a deal, since we're all pretending to be happy.
All the things we did legally to put pressure on them (i.e., being grumpy) is why when you got hired what, 18 months ago, you walked into a very nice contract.
"Killing them with kindness" when we're getting **** on is not a winning strategy. And it will show the company that treating us like crap is producing good results for them, and motivate them to continue to treat us like crap.
We need to negotiate from a position of strength and resolve at all times. Playing nice has never worked and will never work. Just the way it is.
Just so we avoid the implication to the contrary, I genuinely appreciate the negotiation efforts, pain, and suffering the pilot group went through before I got to Delta to produce the nice contract we have today. Seriously.
The killing them with kindness routine is not to get flight ops to be nice to us. I completely agree that will have no effect and it’s not the intention. And I agree that hats off or bright colored lanyards will annoy them and more importantly shows unity.
But being nice to passengers while the operation is continually a dumpster fire isn’t going to “produce nice results” for flight ops. Non-cancelled and on time trips are infinitely more important than a tiny NPS boost from me saying bye to a passenger. Continuing to be a decent person reduces the credibility of a narrative that says pilots are greedy, difficult people. So we win by not being viewed unnecessarily in a negative light without giving up any significant negotiating position.
I do not see how being difficult with passengers and other employees is going to get us anything. Other employees do have power to make our lives more or less pleasant in small ways (no matter how much the captain is in charge or has the parking brake). Why increase animosity with them when we aren’t negotiating with them and they have no ability to influence the outcome? It’s pretty obvious flight ops is going to continue trying to malign us as a group and I’m simply advocating to improve—or at least not worsen—things outside of the section 6 battlefield. I may be new here, but I’m not new at being a human being or dealing with people.