Originally Posted by
Sunvox
Here, here!
Come on guys . . . take the high road for once in your life! Every day we bicker loses us all money. Think of it, you are giving up thousands of dollars a month in pay and benefits when the issues are truly insignificant. We are quickly becoming our own worst enemy. We all want the same result . . . a better life in the future, and without question that is within our grasp if we can get over this incredibly petty fight. I'm a United pilot with a reasonable expectation of making 400 captain for many years, but I will gladly trade a few percent seniority for a winning company of which I can be proud and a future with certainty that was lacking just a few months earlier. No matter how the chips fall you will not be pushed out of your domicile or seat and if we get this right your movement upward and forward can be greatly accelerated by the success of our Mega-carrier status. Aside from groveling on my hands and knees I don't know how to bring the nay-sayers on board other than to ask: What will make your future brightest, fighting til hell freezes over for 5% seniority or finding common ground and facing the corporation with a united front to demand the fair share we all lost in the decades past.
Man up. Get on board. Stop whining and fight for what is rightfully yours, but recognize that "we" (be that UAL or CAL) are NOT the enemy!
JP
We're apparently in the same position seniority wise (& fleet/seat/domicile?). I agree with much of your post, HOWEVER, I am NOT willing to 'trade' any amount of my seniority to get this train rolling. Why? Because I DON'T HAVE TO! This JCBA should be about getting the contract done correctly. Our negotiated pay rates should be about codifying the BEST pay structure for the future, not about holding seniority hostage. Our seniority will be determined by a group of 3 -- based on arguments made by our merger committees. I STRONGLY advocate keeping the SLI & JCBA separate. If I 'lose' seniority, it BETTER NOT be because it was traded away in the JCBA just to grease the skids. On the other hand, I would accept the same outcome IF it was decided by the arbitrators during the SLI process. That's probably as clear as mud.
Sadly, I'm only 43 but can not see myself being 'proud' of any company I work for. I passed through a one way door in dealing with the abuses of this management team. My pride is in being a professional pilot, NOT in my company. I just don't see that changing. Regardless, the company will do as it wishes and be as successful and prosperous as management is capable of making it. Our only power, or lever, is to HURT the company. I'm not even talking about actively causing problems! A pilot group that knows (and FOLLOWS) their CBA is a big problem for UAL/CAL/UCAL. All things we do to IMPROVE the company are siphoned off or ****ed away by management. When we move in that direction we seem to hear "sorry, a contract is a contract...". A self leveling mechanism I guess?
I personally don't see why the CAL MEC/MC/NC won't agree to exclude the JCBA from SLI negotiations? What is the harm there? Doesn't the merger policy refer to 'pre-merger' considerations?