I don't blame Republic pilots, but the fact remains that they replaced me. They aren't scabs, because we didn't walk off the job when management dropped the bomb on us. Yes, it would've been an illegal job action, and it would've angered the beast in Herndon, but it would've also allowed the Republic pilots to contractually refuse to replace us. Instead we followed the rules and allowed management to hold a gun to our heads, while replacing us with pilots who made less than half of what we were making.

We have weak scope language in our contract, but we do have solid subcontracting language for this very situation, which is what we took to arbitration. The arbitrator disregarded the very language in question, and issued a ruling that was basically a restatement of management's defense.

So what's next? With the gun still pointed at our heads while we're in section 6 negotiations, I don't have hope for a decent contract, and management wants these crappy rates all the way out to 117 seats. If it really sucks, what do you think our owners (Delta) might try to do with it? The Delta pilots granted a carve-out for Midwest in their contract, that I think got moved to code share? The door is open for us to whipsaw Delta mainline. I've tried to tell Delta pilots this, but they still insist their scope will protect them from that. Don't be so sure. I was sure the subcontracting grievance was a slam dunk, but I guess management just had to pass a bigger bag of money under the table.

This is a battle to push the boundary between mainline and RJ rates way past 100 seats. This degrades the profession for every one of us, and it is not stopping with Midwest.

I don't know when Republic's contract is ammendable, but they could help by taking Midwest's pay rates for their openers. You guys aren't scabs, but don't be surprised by resentment. I think there will be a lot of that going around until we grow enough backbone to take a stand to demand real rates for every jet, regardless of size.