Some guys feel that he was trying to "sell" the company's plan. I didn't read it that way, I felt he was just trying to lay out the realities of this particular "negotiation". But that's how a lot of people took it.

 

...when our contract is up for renewal, not just combining all three into one.

Are you guys this out of touch with what this process is about right now?

I WANT 15%!! IF I CAN'T GET IT I WANT NOTHING!! THAT'LL SHOW 'EM!

 

Then he's misread the situation and we ALL pay the price and you may be right.

Did his first experience of bad judgment in driving when he shouldn't have been teach him anything ?

Nope. He did it again, didn't he ?

Some people just need to make a mistake more then once to learn. His mistakes at US Airways are like that first time when the flashing mars lights illuminated in his rear-view mirror. Will this time be simply another roadside test and he'll learn THIS TIME or will he nail a tree (or a person) before the mars lights illuminate again ?

I think he's really hanging it out there this time.

 

Out of touch? Coming from someone that lived with LOA93...

I'm sorry but if you are under grand illusions that we are going to receive some ILC way down the road then I think you are sadly mistaken... What will the excuses be then?

Either way our options stink currently

 

And that may be true. He may very well run this wagon into the ground and perhaps in a few years we'll see another leadership change. But until then, we have to be smart about our options. Saying "I'm voting no unless we have Delta+15%, et al" will guarantee that you'll get nothing and like it with this management team at the helm.

 

Just a question and forgive me if I'm wrong, but did you come to the new american to be second place and have subpar bennies/ compensation? I know I didn't

 

Yep. In my opinion (yes, just my opinion so don't get wound up), I think we can:

1. Draw our line in the sand, be angry and disappointed, and watch them push us into arbitration. They save $ and don't give two craps about how it'll "look" because they feel they've got a really good spin team.

2. Soften/blunt the most negative parts of this deal, take their money (that would otherwise go into their pockets), and still be angry and disappointed.

 

I didn't. I was hoping we'd see the changes everyone was talking about. But I don't see how you're going to arbitrate yourself an ILC. The MOU/MTA handicaps us. So now we've got to see what we can leverage to get *something* out of it if we can. Because arbitration will lead to very slightly better QOL and much lower overall compensation by the time we come out the other end in 2019. And management can still kick the can for the next round down the road a while.

 

Go work for Delta, problem solved, right? (kidding)

I came to this company when it was the worst paid and worst contract and most hostile work environment of any legacy airline, by far. How far we have come.

The problem is "Delta +15%" is just not going to happen right now, we don't have the leverage. You don't get what you're worth, you get what you can negotiate. Flatly turning down the company's proposals is not going to magically make money rain. But we do have enough leverage that we should be able to get a contract that we can be happy with. Frankly we should have faith in our representatives who are doing the very best they can to get the best contract possible. They need our support and should be careful about arguing it out in a public forum. Solidarity is what makes unions work, and this place could use some.

I find Hueypilot's posts to be pretty much on the money here.

 

I have been all over the place with my opinion about arbitration. But now that I have had time and yes this "negotiating" on a public forum a few facts are becoming more and more worrisome.
Why did he hire Glass?
Why did he dangle the early raise?
Why did he hold out to give us an offer until after the FA's? (It wasn't as some had suggested that he would offer us PS)
Why then, did he make this offer a cram down? (What's his hurry all of a sudden)
Why did he say that we have to agree to what he has offered so far, before he will fill in his outline?

Parker does not do anything without a motive. Every move is calculated. If we are going to play chess with him we need to understand that he is not of the same caliber as Richard Anderson. We can not sign anything this vague when it involves someone this untrustworthy. As much as I would love to sign something and move on this, this offer, as it stands, is out of the question.