Originally Posted by
tsquare
I don't think this is a possible equation because the employer is the one that controls the cash flow. That alone would seem to preclude protection of the employee. Being that we are always on the liability side of the ledger.. ALWAYS.. I don't see how this can be done.... unless.. we are paid with some sort of secondary market type deal.. i.e. stock, with the stipulation that we can sell it IMMEDIATELY on the open market as soon as it shows up in our account.
I don't know, T, but I believe there has to be a better way. We need to find a way to get paid when management and capital gets paid. We need to find a way to reap a substantial share of the gains we help create, but protect our pilots and company on the downside of this cyclical industry.
Look at 1996-2000. After a concessionary contract the company made record profits. We benefited only slightly (first tranche of stock options and 8% profit sharing turned into a raise). We left a whole bunch of money on the table. Leo the CEO does his "contract is a contract" thing...and we generate leverage for C2K. From 2001 to 2004 the company loses billions, while our pilots in aggregate are paid billions more than their peers. Hello LOA-46 and pension freeze, then bankruptcy. That same scenario has been played out throughout deregulation, just the amplitude kept getting bigger.
Pardon me for not wanting to jump back into that cycle. There has got to be a better way.