FXDX

For those who are willing to trust the negotiating committee to come up with iron clad language to prevent the company from taking liberties with our new retirement benefits I'd like to present some numbers for you.

Remember the line in the sand in 2015 about no PBS at FedEx? Yeah, we really held the line on that and met one of our major contract objectives of keeping PBS off the property!

Except we didn't. For the month of Sep there are 3703 line flying positions at FedEx. 825 of those are secondary line holders. Thats 22% of the actual line flying pilots at FedEx. Another 10% are on reserve lines, 370. Who would like to guess if these numbers will get better or worse as time goes by?

From the Sep 2018 bid packs:

MEMA HK76 ME75 ER75 ME76 IN76 ME77 AN11 LA11 ME11
Reg 397 96 388 65 319 44 550 90 57 506 2508
Sec 108 25 113 27 117 15 140 47 31 202 825
Res 64 16 37 17 50 13 61 15 17 80 370
Tot 569 137 538 105 486 72 751 152 105 788 3703
%PBS 19 18 21 25.7 24 21 18.6 31 30 25.6 22

I guess we could hang our hat on lie flat seats instead of business class, real time trip trading and hotel in lieu of DH for international folks, that language was really iron clad too.

So sure, lets trust the current crop of rocket surgeon, investment guru, pilot negotiators go up against the armada of high priced lawyers and professional negotiators at FedEx and negotiate an improved A plan that takes the investment risk off the company and onto ourselves. What could possibly go wrong in this scenario?

Anthrax

“we’ve always had PBS. this is a much better version. less mystery and more seniority based. you’re welcome.”

ordering batches of stickers now: #SayYesToPBS
who’s in? as in how many should I order? Lots I suppose.

UnusualAttitude

Kronan coming in for defense of any contractual weakness in 3....2....1....

appDude

POUND Me Too (#metoo)

FDX1

Fact: We have always had PBS, used to be called VTO's, now secondary lines.

Fact: The COMPANY, not the UNION proposed PBS and ran after it hard for ALL of our flying.

Fact: The previous MEC and NC said NO. Pilots said NO.

Fact: Company and pilots wanted to improve Secondary Lines. Company wanted some lines in secondary process. The NC and MEC said NO. Company asked for reserve days to improve Secondary Lines. The MEC and NC allowed some...no more than "20% of Known Reserve Days".


Fact: Company Efficiency Manager (newly promoted) has made drastic attack on reserve days beginning this year (think MBO points= $$Bonus). Look at the reduction in the bidpacks to see those numbers since January 2018. All of this before the new secondary line process was in place.

Fact: Company then introduces (August) 20% of "known reserve days" from newly reduced reserve lines. Drives up productivity and utilization but trip over themselves to prove PBS will work at FedEx.

Opinion: Hopefully cementing pilots unwillingness to ever allow PBS at FedEx!

Fact: This would have been A LOT worse had our MEC and NC allowed the company to grab our flying lines to "improve the secondary lines".

Fact: You should be thanking the NC instead of throwing them under the bus.

Your entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts. Perhaps blame the company for the grab on our reserve days!

The FREE PIZZA is NOT FREE!

FXDX

Fact: nothing you said contradicts anything I posted. Got a problem with my numbers, no. You just have a different opinion of where we are headed.

Fact: I do blame the company. But I also blame the union brain trust for thinking that they can out negotiate the company. You completely missed the point, which is that no matter what WE think we have negotiated the company DOES what they think they have negotiated and we get screwed in the process.

So why on earth do we think that negotiating a new, unproven retirement plan that shifts market risk to us will not result in similar problems?

Somebody explain to that to me and then maybe we could have a rational conversation about the merits of this new plan.

You want to improve the A plan, IMPROVE it. Don't throw it out altogether and do it during Section 6 negotiations.

The MEC is so hungry for this they will accept anything and can't even see how they are dividing the crew force on probably THE most important part of our contract.

Yeah, lets be the last of the majors with a Defined Benefit Plan (except UPS) and go ahead and GIVE it away for free. We will go down in airline history as the biggest ****ing idiots ever.

FXDX

So what?

Sounds an awful lot like the argument to cave on Age 65.

FACT: We didn't have PBS before. We had an equally crappy secondary line process. Now we have 22% of our pilots under a true PBS thanks to the stellar language negotiated in 2015.

Do you think we are better off or worse?

Wonder how the grievance will turn out.

Anthrax

Wrong: the company wanted trips and pairings not lines. dummy.

Wrong: whether it would be a lot worse is an assumption not a fact. (but it would be worse).

Wrong: Thank the MEC? As in: thank you sir may I have another?

As for the pizza, they’re paying for it, you eat it. Ready, exercise.

Adlerdriver

Your "facts" aren't quite as factual as you seem to think. First, there is nothing in the contract that restricts reserve days in secondary lines to "no more than 20% of Known Reserve Days". The only restriction in the contract is that the building of Reserve lines will be done using 80% of known reserve days.

If there are "known reserve day" then by corollary, there are "unknown reserve days". I think there are a lot more of what the company considers unknown R-days in this whole mix than people understand (probably close to half of all R-days, IMO).

So, that language allows not only up to 20% of known R-days to be used during the view/add and to build secondary line but also 100% of the unknown R-days. That's why there was the huge drop in published reserve lines with a corresponding increase in secondary lines.

kronan

Yall are funny...

"We didn't have PBS before. We had an equally crappy secondary line process."

I kinda thought that Was PBS. I input my preferences, someone 20 VTO line's Junior to me was awarded a trip I had on my #4 request....and, if I could get anyone to answer WTF I was told he probably had it as #1 and the system gave his request more weight.
Or, I was told it was a VTO Request.

Unlimited unknown R days, man that's a hoot.

Want to know how we get Unlimited Unknown R days? Same way we did prior to the implementation of the SLG software.

Bidpack is published with lines for the 250 people expected to bid, prior to the bid closing 5 people activate, and bid....AbraCadabra-75 more R days are created. Companies not going to pay them to sit at home.

Difference is that now the additional flying is built as extra Secondary Lines while previously Management added Reserve lines. Following the 727 retirement and subsequent flow of Senior folks to the 75, there were several occasions where I was awarded a Reserve Line that wasn't in the bidpack.