Originally Posted by Carl Spackler

Look alfa, the professional airline pilot has made significant gains in compensation and work rules since the 1930's all the way until 9-11. The VAST majority of those contract negotiations were NOT cost neutral. They were contracts where management gave us things for "free." We didn't give up anything for them to make them cost neutral, they were pure and simple gains. Maybe you've only been around long enough to experience the "what are you willing to give up for it" era of negotiations, but that has not been the historical norm. If we care to fight for it, I believe we can all enter a new era of making pure gains...in other words, the end of cost neutral contracts.



The only contention comes from you parroting management's view that all future contracts must continue to be cost neutral to the company. It will only be that way if we all continue to give up being unionists, and strive to be management some day.



Exactly, so what. If there's an ADDITIONAL cost, let the company bear it. That's what it means to move away from cost neutral negotiations.



If the MEC agrees with this cost neutral style of thinking, we are lost. We will fall behind all of our other airline brothers. Maybe that's less important to you than sticking to the orthodoxy that you consider "immutable."

Carl