Originally Posted by
Regularguy
jsled:
I was there at the MEC level in 1985, and was privy to the conversations about the offer. The reason why the AMR contract was turned down can be summed up in the statement of the MEC Chair, Roger Hall, "we may end up with a "b-scale" but they will have to pay for it if they want it..."
In fact it was considered and turned down for two reasons:
1. It would not work. UAL would have been about 800 pilots short due to the better work rules in the AMR contract.
2. Second the "b-scale" became the focus of the 1985 negotiations and the MEC, led by Roger Hall, at the time would not go down in history as selling out the un-hired/furloughed pilots at the time.
Additionally you might remember at the time UAL already had a "b-scale" in place from the 1981 contract where the MEC Chair, John Ferg, sold out the furloughees with permanent "b-scale" S/O pay rates, which is credited with leading the way for AMR's "b-scale." In 1985 Roger Hall determined he would not be the author of another such incident even though it was inevitable.
As far as the DL scales go today, if pilots want more than DAL then stop pointing a finger at how "good" things are over at DAL.
I thought your first post was a teenager who read wikipedia, your second post is closer to the truth. When the UAL Management realized the man-power implications of the AMR contract, they said "Well we didn't mean word for word."
I don't know if you were there or not. Or, you are just another keyboard pontificator, but the fact is, the B-scale was always on the table by ALPA. The key element that was not negotiable was a B scale that would destroy the incumbent rates when the Killer B's became a majority vote. ALPA's proposals always guaranteed that the new hires would reach the A-scale before they became a destructive political faction. Dick Ferris refused a last minute offer for a 7 year B-scale because he knew it would not have the intended result of destroying ALPA.
As it turned out the B-Scalers were quick studies of MEC politics and they forced the end of the two tier pay scale in the very next contract. That is, until the RJ, when many former B-Scalers fell for another of management's destructive schemes.
Your comment about Rodger Hall is off the mark, the line pilots voted to fight this battle, no small feat considering the CAL Strike, Patco Loss and a hostile Republican administration. Hall would have settled earlier except for a faction of the MEC that kept his feet to the fire. He ultimately did a superb job leading us through those extraordinary times. The only unsettled issue when the strike started was the B-Scale. Many strikers who were near retirement unselfishly fought this battle knowing they had nothing to gain and possibly a lot to lose.
Your reference to the "1981 contract realignment" of pay as a B-Scale is ludicrous. The pilots of the day did not think a 747 S/O should make more than a 737 Captain, plain and simple. This was an ALPA instigated pay scale adjustment before anyone ever heard of the B scale. I will admit, no one will ever convince a "79" hire that there was nothing nefarious about it.
Your comment on DAL is absolutely correct, good for you, but leave the history lessons to us old duffers who wrote it.
Baron