Originally Posted by NuGuy

Heyas,

Polling, in it's current form, is nothing more than a tool to manage expectations.

To wit:

Would you rather:

1) Take a huge pay cut
2) Give up more scope
3) Give up more work rules
4) Give up more benefits
5) Take a status quo contract

And, lo and behold, nearly %100 vote for a status quo contract! Remarkable!

The question presupposes the answer. Believe me, as someone who did statistical analysis as part of a degree program, this is exactly what goes on.

Ask your rep who comes up with these questions and how they are vetted. Good luck getting answer from the person who does it.

At NWA, we attempted time and time again to wrestle the vetting process away from the officer that did it, and put the questions in front of a committee made up of a cross-section of pilots. We had a pilot, who is probably one of the smartest guys I know, who had a freekin' degree in statistical analysis willing to head up the project, but they would not even consider it.

Though it defies reason, the survey process is THE most political process inside ALPA. It is a tightly kept secret and only the party faithful have the keys. You'd have better luck getting a Scientologist divulge their closest secrets.

Nu