I guess my take would be: $10K extra for the 100 or so new hires we average a year would translate into a whole lot more universal brotherhood, pro union camaraderie then the extra $25K VEBA super bonus for the dudes who don't need it.

I usually work out a deal with my indie crew, I skip the layover hotel and we split the tip.

 

I don't agree. An extra 10K per year for new hires would do nothing at all toward "universal brotherhood or pro union camaraderie". Pay is pay. If it's not enough to live on, people complain. If it's ok, people don't think about it at all. Hell, we have a crew force, that although unionized (for the most part) still acts like a bunch of independent contractors, with their own personal agenda trumping any union effort. It's been that way since long before I got here, in 1990, and I suspect that it will be that way for a long time after I've gone. In short, we have a crew force that shows very little regard for their fellow man. As for your VEBA statement, the only "dudes" who won't need it are guys who retire from FedEx with a military pension, everyone else will come to embrace VEBA, when their time comes, because it's a very nice deal.

 

Everyone else is not getting the 25K. And if we teach the dudes you have to fly your butt numb for the extra $45 an hour what do you expect him to do when it is now worth $145 an hour? We are basically telling the new hire you have to be an independent contractor because the company and the union don't give a rats patooie about you. Old habits are the hardest to break.

 

Nobody is getting the 25K until they retire, and hopefully everyone here will get that opportunity at some time in the future. And frankly, I don't know anyone flying till their butt turns numb. If guys want to pick up extra time, that's fine. It's in the contract, however, we try to tell them not to pick up disputed pairings, but it's hard to tell them that, when senior guys in all seats are doing just that. By the way, where is an hour of new hire time worth $145? I'd like to see that one in writing, as in a contract.

 

I suppose I didn't make my self clear. We pay new hires slave wages (IMO). They struggle to get by. They find out hey I can make more by flying extra. This is a behavior that is learned. They keep flying extra the next couple of years to pay off the credit cards. Now they are making $145 an hour and have developed a nice habit. Yes it is legal. Yes it is in the contract. Yes I do it (although my PK of sick leave is 17 times more likely on a makeup trip). I assume most of us agree, all of us would be better off if open time was ignored.

As to guys flying with numb butts I would have to refer you to the OCT DP thread.

As for the 25K, true they can't use it till they retire but the company has already forked it over. It is earning interest. When you retire in 10 year I expect it will be more than 25K.

 

The following are first year pays for all the "Majors" that are even thinking of hiring in the near future. We are at the top. To consider ours "slave wages" when they're at the top of the heap is whacked. It's the way the payscales have been for years...you start out low and work up. Our first year pay has traditionally been very high compared to others.
I understand that first year guys are going to work extra, but they need to get the clue not to do so at the expense of the entire crewforce, i.e., don't do it with DP's!!!

FedEx $56/hr
SWA $52/hr
Delta $49/hr
UPS $33/hr
UAL $32/hr
CAL $31/hr
USAir $25/hr