Orange lanyards
 

In the last few days management has made some very troubling decisions that will be detrimental to each of your careers. I would ask each of you (AS,VX) to start wearing the orange lanyard starting September 11th. This can’t come from the union, it has to be your choice. If everyone does it, they can not stop it, they are powerless. From this little website you shot down 90 seat scope, maybe through unity we can change the direction of this company.

Been waiting for this.

Yeah - wear those orange lanyards! That'll show 'em you really mean business! They'll cave in a second in the face of such a show of strength!

Oh, Hi Mark!

Plane Coffee

Laugh... but they hate them. They hate any negative press. They hate us being unified about anything.
So you wear your 35 year pin and your blue I love Alaska lanyard. We all know who you are and what your about.

Gonna have to send out a fresh batch because, like mine, I’m sure most have been broken or lost by now. I have mine tied tightly in a knot hanging from my bag. The badge clip broke off long ago.

This should be manadatory in a tribal enforcement way. It’s time to hit these guys where it hurts, and this is a start.
I’m in.

Can you be more specific at all? Do you mean the BCP's or something else?

Could you elaborate further on the shooting down of 90 seat scope, as I understand it we have no scope at this point.

Great idea...

Furthermore, I'm going to write "GT" on my lanyard.

"GT" or "I stand with Garin" on bag tags is also a good idea.

Many are Writing GT on stuff, Strongly recommended to make this a huge unifying Lightning Rod!

I take sept 11th is when we'll find out what this is about? Any thoughts on orange lanyards while on probation?

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I'm not Alaska, but the general industry practice is that new hires on probation do not involve themselves in that type of action.

In all the time you dudes were wearing orange lanyards the last time, I don't remember seeing any press mentioning them, negative or otherwise. The company may hate them, but they don't affect company decisions one way or the other. I see guys at other companies wearing protest lanyards from their last contract negotiation, now negotiating a new contract. It didn't have any effect then, and it won't now. So I guess if it makes you feel better, go ahead. But don't think it's actually going to affect anything.

You have no idea who I am or what I'm about. My ID badge lanyard is neither company nor union-related.

The Kooch absolutely hates the orange lanyards. He had SEA base chiefs doing lanyard patrol early in the mornings to find out how many guys were wearing them. It definitely got under his skin.

Getting under MiniCooch’s skin is worth the price of admission.

MEA has had good gouge every time so far... so worth following.

Probie’s just shouldn’t wear a lanyard, and put their orange on a bag if they really want.

Oh, and Getting under MiniCooch’s skin is worth the price of admission.

It may not have grabbed media attention, but it did catch ‘customer’ (allegedly per mgmt) attention and definitely caught management attention. The VP Flt Op’s had no useful strategic messages put out to the pilots other than lanyard police.

The orange lanyard is a great idea but how many people will be wearing them? Mine is tied to my bag — not wearable. When the union did it, execution was terrible. Some people had them, others didn’t. Right out of the gate there were many that broke. Distribution and execution is critical to have one voice and to show unity. This is the best time to take advantage of this unity no doubt, but it takes time to get these things started.

Agreed. We never should have caved so easily.

You’re an idiot, or a troll, or both.

Wouldn't recommend.

If it ain’t Union I know exactly what you’re about. You. Another independent contractor.

And therein lies the problem. If you do not support your fellow pilots they cannot prevail and get you the contract you so richly deserve.
Of course they are asking you to do an awful lot...

Or maybe I'm a career professional who has seen union members do some pretty obnoxious but ultimately meaningless stuff, believing that anybody else cares about their gripes and thinking that if they just annoy management enough, they can make the company relent and change course.

You are not the big deal you think you are. Tame your ego, and see the world a little more clearly.

I'm still annoyed that the union told us to stop wearing them when they were clearly having an effect.

For literally NOTHING in return.

Feel-good, rah-rah union antics do nothing to sway the views of management, no matter how much you might "support your fellow pilots". It's late 2018 now. Ask all of the Atlas pilots sporting "CONTRACT 2016" lanyards and bag tags how much closer they are to a contract now than they were 727 days ago.

The only thing I've ever seen that gets anybody's attention at all (because it might get local news to show up, and I'm still not convinced it's even all that effective, ultimately) is informational picketing. So print up some signs, line the walk at SEA/LAX/SFO, and then maybe -- maybe -- you'll move the needle. But probably not.

Picketing and Orange lanyards worked well here at Delta. You forgot about that....

You are the exact reason why Alaska pilots work under a subpar contract. Luckily, the number of likeminded folks are decreasing due to retirements and acquisition/merger. Don’t sport a lanyard but remember, everyone looks better in orange.

Exactly! Well said. The lanyards got their attention, and it ****ed them off. That alone makes it worthwhile. However, as others have said, this needs to come from the union. Many of the lanyards are either broken, lost, wrapped around bags, etc. We need a new campaign and a new slogan. This merger is done, it’s flying, POORLY, but it happened. It’s in the past now. A new slogan for contract 2020 and something that voices our utter disgust with this management team needs to be made.

As I stated previously, the picketing probably got some attention, but I'd argue that rejecting the first offer had a much greater impact on the final outcome than that, and the lanyards were, again, completely meaningless. They're a rah-rah union thing, but other than that, nobody cares.

And I had nothing to do with the Alaska contract. I am nowhere near Alaska.

You can save yourselves the trouble of posting any "and STAY away!" comments. I already know, and I don't care. That much should be abundantly clear.

If you don’t understand why public displays of unity matters, you are part of the problem. If they ask, the default reaction should be to comply. Unity makes your team stronger. If you don’t like what they are doing, call or write your reps. And if you are playing for the other team, being here just shows the rest of us that unity scares you.

What wearing the Orange lanyard says:

A vote of no confidence in AS management and it’s rudderless direction

An outcry against the dishonorable decisions of the past. (GT and CC)

A demand that we receive 76 seat scope now!

Tell management we are united. Tell them you stand for and with each and every pilot at Alaska. (AS&VX)

So what you're saying here is that the orange lanyards with the "This merger won't fly without pilots" slogan worked brilliantly, because the merger happened anyway, even without pilot group support, and now base chief pilots are dropping like flies. But surely, new orange lanyards with a new slogan will work next time for sure. They'll know you really mean business this time.

My original argument stands.

You want a contract with all that stuff you're wishing for? You're going to have to go scorched earth. You're going to have to be willing to go four years beyond the amendable date - no arbitration - so that nobody wants to apply until a contract gets done. Pilots need to leave in droves, not a few here and a few there. Recruiters at job fairs need to be left waiting for anybody to come talk to them. New-hire classes need a no-show rate of 50% or more. You need to get to the point where the only pilots they can hire are the ones who can't get a job anywhere else, or end up washing out of training.

Do that, and then you will have their attention.

Preciate your opinion. It’s worth every penny we paid for it. And clearly your resume reflects an immense knowledge on the subject.

I think Mea25000 is telling us that Alaska management is considering signing a deal for E2’s... maybe 195’s. Makes sense to get rid of all the pilot friendly leaders to make room for “yes men”. They need hammers, company men, in there if they have any chance at thwarting the looming revolt. If you need a lanyard in Orange... Syracuse, Boise St, Denver Broncos and I am sure there are many more. I like the GT pen mark idea. With Amazon prime you can have it in two days. I am wearing orange, I hope we are all wearing orange... I think there might just be a iceberg on the HORIZON.

Just bought 10 (5 pack’s) of blank orange lanyards 6.99 on Amazon. I will leave them in the resource room with a black sharpie. Go to Amazon get some for a friend. It’s 7 bucks and even has a nice clip!

Wheeeeeew!!!! You know ol’ BM has hit a damn nerve when you get OTZ down off the mountain and sportin orange! Love. It. Cya there. I’m guessing you’ll be the one with the faint aroma of salty air, fine scotch and a MonteCristo smoke. 😉👍🏼

Orange lanyards
 

I second that av8or!!!!! Bring on the orange... Also the sick leave harassment is firing up again. Yes men are out in full force.

I had the same thought. The battle over E-195’s on the Horizon, as OTZ put it.

Did you mean to say “at” Horizon? That’s probably where they would go if purchased, since there is no scope hard to see much of a battle, lots of upset pilots and rightfully so, but not much of a battle.

That would be my guess.

And to Mark... if the company doesn’t care about the Orange Lanyards, or they have no impact, please explain the numerous memos, lanyard patrol by Chief Pilots and VP Flt Op’s, and threats of pulling flying. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t recognize them... it clearly struck a nerve with someone up the chain.

While our competitors have been eating our chili up and down the West Coast, our management was consumed with lanyards, and offered no discernible long-term plans.

Hey, that's great! I guess you really showed them. They are clearly super-annoyed.

And what do you have to show for it? Scope? Industry-leading pay? DB retirement? Massive management reorganization as a result of the orange "no confidence vote"? Tell me!