Originally Posted by
flyths1
What part of no one cares does Alpa and 9-E Pilots not understand....
..........CS and PT and the shareholders don't care. You can come over and info picket the CO on NON-C 24 hours a day and buy up every billboard in MEM, DTW and MSP and the end result is......NO ONE CARES....The passengers could care less as well they only care that they are getting a cheap airfare..
Think the shareholder had a long discussion about your problem..NOT
Time to grab your sack and tell Alpha stand up to the plate and either get this settled OR walk....9-E will understand the minute the bottomline stops coming in.
At this rate you still will be negotiating in 2011 for something you could have had in 2007....
Do Something Already.
FWIW the media attention and public reaction was interesting to watch. To see a clip of a barback downtown saying he makes more moving dozens of beers than pilots do moving dozen of lives at least works to shake off the phobia that we are overpaid and overworked just because we wear a tie and some bars on the shoulders.
I do wholeheartedly agree that the union "voice" that picketing reaches out with is not as loud as it was in past generations simply because of the changes in corporate america. Whereas many were part of a union or professional association in the past, it's in essence "every man for themselves" at this point in both the industry and US market both socially and economically.
Action is needed, but legal actions and utilizing the political climate, media and public attention, and the previous 5 years of performance compared to comparable "reward" industry wide would poise us to be able and force a strong contract above and beyond a payrate that happens to be in line with the current industry average.
Prater's claims since his reign has been to "Take it back" and it is my strong hope that his office also pushes not just the PCL MEC, but every MEC at every carrier to push for an increase in "industry average" using contracts that were prior to all the concessions of 9/11. The report card so far is not conclusive because Alaska has been able to secure improvements (although not extreme but higher than the previous concessions that were taken), while Mesa's latest idea of a contract got his signature- which to me is not a sign of "taking it back", nor is it a strong sign that his office is willing to force a hand at the national level for overall improvements in leu of simply a settlement.
Time will tell, and if a TA comes out that is not good in any way I will be a loudspeaker for the NO vote. I have had conversations with the negotiating cmte, the MEC, and with the chairman of cmte's that I am on and nobody is going for a "settlement". Committee wide there will be what you could call as a "sandbagging" if any committee is left in the dust as far as provisions proposed or overall concepts desired in a new contract. It's not all money but QOL, job security, and credit hours vs. block hours are all aspects that get the attention of the average pilot.