Maybe I'm having memory problems? Wasn't the "Bridge" contract sold to the membership as an avenue to expedited Contract Negotiations?

Wasn't it a fix for Management's FDA problems?

How'd that work out for us?

 

UPS guy here. I have to say though that our (cargo pilot) rates are not tied to the pax guys. Our job is substantially more dangerous than theirs and we are quite more productive than they are. (No slam intended, just saying NDA envelopes are more profitable than people).

FDX and even UPS are making gobs of money from their respective airlines. The Delta rates aren't our benchmark.

 

They do inform the negotiating environment, though, and would seem to set a minimum bar for the "more productive" pilots in the cargo industry. Of course, hourly rates are just one part of compensation.

 

Mark


Not to beat a Dead horse but,

I'm not sure what the real FDA problem Fix was for MGT as we already had previously signed an FDA LOA. Yes the Bridge improved FDA bennies but not massively.

As has already been proven, The Company had/has no real trouble filling New Hire FO slots in both FDA's and they still don't. Would they have trouble filling New hire Captain Slots if ALPA would have played Hard ball.

As to the "Bridge". No matter how one slices and dices it or spins it, it was a Brand New contract. True, it was not much more an 1 year extension with an option for 2 and a status quo plus a 3% pay raise with a few extra bennies here and there.
But the fact is, it was a brand New Valid RLA Contract with a new amendable date.

I know I know, the hope was that we would have a new Contract at the Amendable date of the "Bridge" FEB 2013 but that certainly didn't happen.

I know there are many Pro /Con arguments.

A Fact is that 2011 wasn't the best Negotiating environment from the Pilot perspective. We were the Top of the industry and we were basically the only ones hiring and at that time FDX was most Pilots 1st choice.

Snap shot today. Consolidation, Better economy, Low Fuel and now all the BIG 3 are hiring. AAL has basically completed the Merger with USAIRWAYS. Everyone is profitable and now our pay rates are not the top anymore.

I'm not a psychic and I have no idea how all this will play out.

Had we elected not to sign the Bridge and continue in Full Section 6 in 2011-12, it is anyones guess as to when we would have inked a 4-5 year deal. If we had inked a deal in late 2011 or 2012, would it have been Top of the industry now? If it would have been a 5 year deal in 2012 and we then watch AA and DELTA surpass us and we had 4 more years before Openers in 2017, how would everyone have felt at this time? Figuring at least 2-3 years in Full Section 6 new contract in 2019-20.

Now that AA and Delta have higher rates Management knows we will not settle for anything less than they have. In fact will we settle for anything less than Delta Plus a nickel? I hope not.

Now, we at least have a target that Management and the NMB mediator cannot ignore. We do not even know what the New Delta pay rates are yet.

Again, I cannot predict how this will all shake out. I have no clue what we will settle for. I hope everyone still has their sights high.

I do know that presently, we are in a much stronger position to demand what we want or deserve , much more so than we were in 2011-2012.

I suspect we will know in the coming months.

In the mean time, it is up to 4200 Pilots to tell Management we deserve more.

 

The Company could not open an FDA in Germany without a mechanism to force pilots out before the 5-year point when they would be required to participate in Germany's social security program.

The "Bridge Contract" gave them that mechanism.


That was one of my many points of opposition.





.

 

Huh? 2006 contract went until October of 2010. Bridge contract was signed Jan 2011.

 

OK Tuck.....You got me.

The point was the Bridge Contract was TA'd very close to Amendable date. 2 1/2 months.....Not 2 1/2 years.

 

If you want to get picky, the 30 October 2006 CBA was amendable on 31 October 2010. Per that agreement, ALPA Opened 90 days prior to that date.

We reached a TA on January 27, 2011 - 6 months later.

We ratified the CBA by membership vote in March, and the new CBA was backdated to an effective date of February 28, 2011 - 7 months after Openers.

It was amendable on the first day of the March, 2012, bid period, and again on the first day of the March, 2013, bid period.


To say that we worked a deal in 2 1/2 months is inaccurate, even if measured from the Amendable date to the official TA date. In reality, almost 6 months of negotiations were required on the core sections which were at most administrative, and the bulk of the TA, the LOAs and MOUs (ASAP, FOQA, FRMS/FRMP (Data Collection), Over/Under 60 Flying (ICAO), Iraq & Afghanistan flying, etc.), had been in work for literally years. The only part The Company was in a hurry for was the FDA LOA.



In reality, the process in which we find ourselves mired today began at the end of July, 2010, nearly 5 years ago.






.

 

Tony et al.

I never said we only negotiated for 2 1/2 months for the bridge deal. I merely stated ALPA reached a TA very close to the amendable date of our first ALPA contract.

I only said this in response to others comments lauding Delta Management and ALPA reaching a TA 7 months before their current Contract becomes amendable.

The Devil is always in the Details.

Again I hope DALPA was able to get a great deal. We will soon see.

 

Angry because - we gave a lot to the company for very little in return!

So, yes you are correct, the devil is in the details!!