Originally Posted by
IflyAeroPlanes
I proudly wear all my ALPA swag.
I'm extremely skeptical of this "quick" deal route and have been from the onset. The MEC was NOT unanimous in the decision to go that route. The rep most people on SM respect the most was against the quick route as well. He was in the minority. So it's a little bit hard to trust the MEC when I and the person I trust most on the MEC was against this process to begin with.
The negotiators, while very important, simply march to the MEC's direction. Even if they don't agree with it (I guess they could resign if it was that bad). I do have faith in that group but again --- it doesn't matter if they are given bad direction.
This is probably the only time in our pilot group's history where we will have the leverage to solve (in our favor) most of our outstanding issues with the company. F payrates. Fix all the stuff we don't agree on (see the 27 open grievances currently in progress) and the new interpretations that the company has unilaterally taken (minutes under, pre-posted rest, PB days etc etc). Hell, I'd even be okay if we threw the the company a "win" on fatigue reroute (where a pilot fatigues out gets rerouted home a day late and wants reroute pay).
The list of "impasse" issues and grievances is higher than it's ever been in our history and it continues to grow on a monthly basis. And we went the "quick" route that lets all of those issues go through the flawed arbitration process where we have an absolute abysmal record? Skeptical?! Yup!
You have raised some valid points, and I agree with many of them. However, please keep in mind that these forums are open to everyone. Is it too far-fetched to believe that CPOs or higher-ups may read these forums? The last thing we need is for the company to have leverage in a negotiation.