I suspected this might come up and I respectfully disagree. I don't think talking about what we want or ideas from other carrier's contracts in a "public" forum hurts our negotiating position.
First off, what's public and what is private? Call me paranoid but I don't think any conversation we have regarding the contract can be considered private. In the crew room, on the bus or on a layover you don't know exactly whom you're talking with. Could seem cool, could be PC's best friend. Either way it might get back to the company negotiators. The only private conversations I'm comfortable calling private are when I call my FedEx buddies.....but then the topic usually revolves around families, football or other stuff.
So where *should* we talk about this stuff? I’m a schedule ***** and work as little as feasible. I also haven’t been able to hold a line in over two years so I end up flying with a different guy every single trip/night. The topic of conversation usually doesn’t immediately jump to “what would you like to see in the next contract?” Especially at 4 a.m. Using a wide-ranging medium such as APC to collaborate seems like a very easy and effective way to brain storm as a group.
In the end, the union's negotiating team is going to decide how to approach their openers, not you or me (directly at least). I've paid a heck of a lot of dues money for them to make those decisions so I don't have to. I want them to know what their members are thinking and management to know we’re paying attention and engaged even if I’m not beating my chest every time I get to MEM. So even if you think what I’m trying to do is wrong, I hope I at least got you to email you rep or at the very least thought about this enough to tell somebody who emailed their rep.