Originally Posted by
Denny Crane
Carl,
During our C2K contract negotiations I really believe that the fDAL pilot group would have gone on strike if the need arose. I know there has been a lot of talk deriding things that happened during the negotiations such as emptying out our lockers etc. but I know I was prepared to walk out and everyone I talked to at the time was too. I don't remember what the strike vote percentage was but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 97+ percent.
DennyCraaaaane!
Carl,
To piggyback on Denny's comments, I would agree that DAL-S pilots were pretty fired up for Contract 2000. However, Contract 2000 followed a very concessionary contract referred to as POS 96. That contract was approved by the DAL-S pilots by a substantial (and surprisingly large) majority.
As Contract 2000 was being negotiated it was interesting that very few pilots would own up to the fact that they had voted for POS 96.
That lead me to the conclusion that DAL-S pilots in general talk tough in the cockpit, the crewroom and on Internet forums; but they vote in the privacy of their homes. There the thought process is: "It's not that bad a contract. I've got a mortgage payments, car payments, etc. I can't afford to go on strike..." followed by a "yes" vote.
I can't recall a single instance of DAL-S pilots rejecting something the MEC endorsed. If our MEC continues lowering expectations, it'll be a very tough fight to get a good contract.