Originally Posted by
Scoop
So true, that is now management’s specialty. Lets see zero profits, BK around the corner, poor performance - Oh what to do? I know management bonuses all around!
But wait, says an extra sharp, recent MBA recipient "If we file for BK we will lose our bonuses and pensions too." I can just imagine the scene as the other masters of the universe pause, look at each other seriously for a second, and then burst out laughing! "Ha! us lose our bonuses, us lose our golden parachutes. That’s rich! What a rube!"
Yes, the days of unions extracting anything from corporations these days is dead - management is much better at it than the unions ever were.
Standard management rebuttal:
"We can't help it, no one can make money in this market, these conditions are terrible." To which I partly agree, but then reply - "If you can not help it, then it does not really matter who is running the company, and so why do you deserve the big $$$$$ bonuses?"
Scoop
As pilots, our responsibilities, in a nutshell, are from getting the metal moved safely from "A" to "B".
As Management, the responsibilities, or goals, are running an efficient business model while maximizing profits.
Management doesn't care HOW we, as pilots, accomplish our responsibilities, they just want it done. Speaking for myself, I really don't care about the details, nor am I interested in, how the management steers the company onto a successful course. I just want to see the company succeed, for obvious reasons.
That being said, I don't think we should sit down at the bargaining table with the mindset of preventing the company from losing money. Our concerns are to improve salaries, QOL, and work rules while the concern of management is to save a few bucks on labor. Make no mistake about it, pilot labor is just another cost to management, nothing more, nothing less.
Management executives are professional negotiators who manipulate people and redirect deals on a day to day basis. They will say what they need to say and do what they need to do to save money and procure a stronger profit. When pilots sit at the bargaining table, across from management, the expectations should be clear-cut, direct, well thought through, and by all means NOT the final offer.
When you buy a car, do you really care about how much profit the car salesman will make?