Originally Posted by
T Dawg
APC – You might be correct. I’ll only offer one of several possibilities to consider. There could be many reasons they could be asking this question. Not all bad.
Not sure as to the make up on the negotiating committee, but one reason this question could be asked is to merely squash the argument of one of the committee members. I have no inside scoop, but I could see polling the group to get the leverage to quiet down a committee member that’s way off the mark. I’d hate to think that we haven’t learned from our past mistakes (Trade Scope for $$). But the bottom line is you have the final say whether a TA is ratified.
I’m definitely not accusing or have any knowledge. I only want to point out that there are a lot of reasons to poll…. Some not as obvious as the others.
OR how about another perspective?
We KNOW the company wants to eliminate scope (their ultimate desire) or at the very least extend the UAL scope to the CAL operations. So it is being discussed at the table. The company could be saying that our union really doesn't know what we want regarding scope vs. all other parts of the contract if they improve (i.e. make a trade). The union could be saying we know what our pilots want, but let's find out. Let's put all the various options on the table that management wants to discuss with us regarding scope. We'll put in the options, not hide them, and let the pilots show us their desires.
That could be the reason for the question the way it is. You have all the options that management will want to discuss. You have the option the union wishes as the outcome. Now you tell the union which one is best for you (and the combined pilot group) and let them take the results to the company to say, "I think we have a concrete idea of what our pilots want."
Just another way to look at that question.