None of what you said is based in any kind of reality.

 

Was he hesitant to send out the strike vote because he thinks we shouldn’t strike or because he didn’t think that it would get the votes that it did with the participation rate that it did. Because those are two different animals completely. The first would mean he thinks we should bow to management’s will, the second just means he didn’t want to waste the vote and possibly damage our leverage. I can’t say i would’ve blamed him for being hesitant over the latter. I didn’t think that vote would’ve turned out as well as it did.

 

You can eliminate both cases. Everyone knows strike votes come in 99%. The strike vote has nothing to do with going on strike, and he certainly knows that.

A 3rd rail exists. It’s possible he thought the timing did not maximize leverage, or otherwise potentially degraded negotiations progress.

I have no knowledge of his state of mind or whether he did or did not initially support a strike authorization vote.

 

Did the company not threaten to close SLC during BK if the pilots didn't vote for the TA?

Did the company close two bases, DFW being the largest, because they were openly against the TA?

After the merger did they not immediately close one NWA base, ANC and then MEM right before C12?

Did they not keep CVG open for years and multiple contracts with almost no presence and DTW next door?

How do you think the vote would have gone down with a BOS base and a one or two FL bases?

Which major airline was the only airline that didn't hire Eastern pilots after the strike?

Which airline spends the most amount of money keeping unions off the property?

If you don't think forming another LEC is a major calculation into whether DAL opens a base or not, I am sorry, but that is just naive.

 

I do not know anything about DH, so it is hard to get into his head. He has been around through the good and bad times, so he has clearly seen strategies that work and those that don't. I was not very happy with the stiff upper lip percentage that insisted on wearing their hat out of personal pride vs showing unity, lanyard the same. As such I also did not think the strike vote was going to go as well as it did. The vote went extremely well and I have newfound respect for the group- this really is a fantastic group of pilots. We at least owe him a fair shot. We can always vote down a TA, clean house and strike if need be.

 

None of what you wrote is remotely the truth. I always find it amusing that the same pilots that claim the company is some uber-genius entity when it comes to manipulating pilots are the same who proclaim the loudest how incompetent mgmt is running the airline. I think that you honestly believe that mgmt sorts go to bed every night with visions of manipulating pilots dancing in their heads.

No mgmt did not threaten to close SLC, ever.

Yes DFW was a more "militant" base (the old Roundup base newsletter read a lot like the current C16 newsletters) but the base was closed because we chose to be a bit player in DFW--and still are.

CVG was kept open as long as it was because mgmt made a mistake--like they often do.

ANC was closed because cargo-only operations flown by pax carriers are no more relevant than flying DC-8s. Did mgmt retire the 727s and L1011s because they were at the end of their natural service life? Or was it a communist plot to screw over pilots and reduce the number of paid positions from three to two on many of our fleets? Hey, while we are at it let's insist that Boeing and Airbus start building 3-man airplanes again! That would create all sorts of pilot jobs!

MEM--see DFW. We are bit players there these days, as all airlines are, and it SHOULD have closed post merger. The mistake the company made was not closing CVG at the same time. No need for a CVG base with DTW there.

 

All strike authorization votes pass by 99%. Nothing unique or special.

 

eggggsactly

 

So we could have skipped the vote? I don't get it.

 

so, you’re suggesting that our reps are taking bribes from the company? Who, exactly, are you accusing of taking these “buy offs?”