Brown Girls:
Thanks for expressing your opinions. There's certainly going to be differences in a touchy subject like this. All you can do at the end of the day is do what you think is right.
Having said that...
I'll start by disagreeing with your opener. A No vote does not equal a Yes vote for the current LOA. A simple and easy to relate to example:
- Your airline's contract is up.
- After negotiation, a TA comes out.
- If you vote No to the TA, does that mean you are voting Yes to the contract already in place?
Nope. What's already in place is already in place and you're never "re-voting" on an old contract. It just means you don't think the new TA is good enough. Plain and simple.
I agree with the guys above about incentive. There is incentive to come back and renegotiate a better LOA:
- They haven't filled the right seat in HKG yet. (Though we don't know how close they were since the last bid cancelled).
- An MD-11 HKG base is looming on the horizon. They need to fill that right seat too.
- A European base may be coming, gotta fill that right seat too.
- Lousy economy/fat pilots = Can't hire new guys to fill those seats. Must use existing pilots. We actually have leverage because we know they can't hire anyone in the near future.
Also keep in mind many of the improvments in this new LOA (1000lb move weight and $10,000 deposit assistance are already in place via FCIF). I highly doubt the company can remove these. They can't fill the right seat now, how are they going to fill it by making the deal worse? Let's say they actually do remove those two improvements via more FCIFs. That's fine. Refuse to sign the letter and then don't go. You'd have a totally vaild case there.
The ground trans thing? If this LOA fails, you can still take the train if you want to. The original car/van ground trans will have an accepted fare. Don't want to take it? Then deviate and take the train yourself. You'd still end up in the same layover hotel at 1pm for your 12 hours of rest. But don't give the company the right to force guys to use public transportation. Dangerous precedent for everyone.
Bottom line, I vote based on the core belief behind the voting process: It does not matter what's currently in place. It does not matter what I end up with if I vote No. Only one thing matters to me. Is the thing sitting in front me adquare. Yes or No.
I don't think this LOA is good enough, and I have never nor will ever vote Yes to something I don't think is adequate. (And I'm also more than likely going to end up in HKG).