Originally Posted by
JDFlyer
Here is the pay proposal:
CRJ and EMB CA: base rate increase of 1.5% effective immediately
CRJ 700 Block Hour Override (BHO) from 5% to 6%
CRJ 900 BHO from 5% to 8%
CRJ FO: base rate increase of 1% effective immediately
FO CRJ and EMB Scale increased from 7 to 8 year max
EMB FO: base rate increase of 5% effective immediately.
ALL PILOTS:
Additional 1% increase on Jan 1, 2012
Additional 1% increase on Jan 1, 2013
Again, to repeat prior posted information. These pay increases are NOT contractual. We can take the money today and still vote in a UNION tomorrow. We can ask for 20% more money tomorrow. We can ask for 50% more money tomorrow.
Respectfully, a longevity increase is in fact a pay "raise". You may disagree and that is fine. The largest other "raises" I have received in aviation came
1) when I moved from the right seat of a Twin Otter, to the left seat of a Twin Otter.
2) when I moved from the right seat of a CRJ to the left seat of a CRJ.
3) my next big pay raise will hopefully come when I move from the left seat of a CRJ to the right seat of a Boeing made product.
This is the reality of the industry I choose to work in. Nobody is holding a gun to my head. If I want management pay, I should apply for a job in management.
From a purely economic perspective, without any consideration for other reasons why a person may want to work for a specific airline, if I want to get paid drastically more to fly airplanes I need to go get a job at a company that pays more for that service I can provide because the ECONOMICS of that business model permit those compensation levels.
Minor league baseball players will never be compensated major league salaries. Flame away folks, I could care less.
For the record, I am not bashing unions, I am only bashing ALPA. If you like them great. I am not marginalizing their accomplishments. But I strongly oppose their current incarnation.
As a side note, I can't stand the American Trial Lawyers Association either, but to be quite honest, I credit their work with as much effect on the reforms and airline industry improvements over the years as ALPA. Nothing motivates airline management more than the threat of or actual cost of multi-million dollar tort liability and possibility of ruined corporate brand names.
First, I appreciate the civility of your post. We will have to agree to disagree on many points, but that's what makes the world go 'round.
You may consider your longevity increase a raise, but the rest of the industry does not. When contract raises are negotiated, they will be along the lines of "5% raise in 2011, 2012, 2013. No further raises". However, in 2014, if you haven't topped out yet, you are still getting your longevity increase. I see what you are saying, but I feel its disingenuous.
Second, I am not always happy with ALPA, but I definitely realize that they have done more for me than any other body in terms of career pay, safety, and security. The deck is definitely stacked against them in terms of leverage in most circumstances. You should realize, in my opinion, that compensation at Skywest is generally set by ALPA... just by work done at other ALPA represented regional carriers. Skywest management comes up with their pay "proposals" to you based on what other union carriers have managed.
You had a post about getting paid what you signed up for. Not always. I signed up for Contract 2000 when I was making $200k plus. I signed up for a nice pension. I signed up for 78-81 hours a month and lots of vacation. None of it turned out that way. There is one thing for certain about this business, nothing you signed up for will last very long. Luck and circumstance have more to do with what happens than I would hope for.
Last, and this one goes out to everyone in the industry. We should ALL be shaking out heads when Chip gets a 40% compensation increase and we as pilots aren't even keeping pace with cost of living. Tilton did the same thing at UAL. I took a 40% paycut and he got a 40% pay INCREASE on a contract that he opened early. The old "if you don't like it, apply to be a manager" doesn't fly with me. Just because I'm not in a position to affect a change doesn't make it right. What managements in this country have done over the past several decades is despicable. CEO pay is now, what, 600% above workers when it used to be 40% above. The trouble is that they are writing their own checks, and checks to each other. That system only works when they can be trusted, and they demonstrate time and time again that they can't. Are you really telling me that the job Chip has done is worth 40% more than last year, but the job YOU have done is worth 1% more? It's criminal. There may be no way to presently change it, but I won't forget about it either when they tell me that we are "too poor to pay you more". Puh-LEASE
Anyway, like I said, nicely written post. I wish you guys nothing but luck.