Originally Posted by
blastoff
The company (New ASA) is over twice as big as it was this time last year. The Holding Company (Skywest, Inc.) is the most profitable in the industry. They can afford to give us raises that don't even keep up with inflation going back to 2004. Economies of scale. There is a reason they went after XJT not once, but twice. They will make money.
Somehow ASA guys think asking for reasonable contract gains is "Burning it Down." You guys have played the "miser" angle for so long, you forgot what it looks like to act like a normal pilot group.
We, unfortunately, have a lot of guys who are not ready to bite and draw blood.
Over the next three to five years a great deal of movement is going to occur within our industry. We (speaking for those of us who do not want to make a regional a career destination) need to bite, and bite hard. The time is now to recoup the lost time with families, the furloughs, to poor reserve utilization, poor pairing / line construction, the ridiculous behavior of management over the past three years - in the form of significant contract improvements FOR those of us who will likely remain on property (so long as the company exists) over the next two to five years...and even for those who will fill our shoes when we finally can escape this place.
So...no point having a good attack dog if it won't draw blood.
Passive negotiations get you nothing of substance.
Contact your status reps, voice your concerns, attend LEC and MEC Public meetings. Reach out to your volunteers working on YOUR behalf on the ASA and XJT JNC. Call them up, send them an e-mail. Do far more than complaining and challenging an ASA or XJT pilots' opinion on this very forum. Become active.
In the end, we all need to remember that we will be one pilot group - one labor group - doing the work provided to us by our management team. Who will we stand next to when the time is necessary? Each other. One group, one contract. This is still peace time, but if we don't collectively start thinking with a tactical mindset, we all will pay the price.