For Those Contemplating Working for Southwest
08-04-2022, 08:45 AM
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Position: DOWNGRADE COMPLETE: Thanks Gary. Thanks SWAPA.
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For Those Contemplating Working for Southwest
Just so you’re aware of how much our Kulture has degraded, this is a message from our union president today:
August 4, 2022
Welcome to the Jungle
Casey Murray, President
"Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle.” - Albert Camus
Culture has been a fundamental part of the origin of Southwest Airlines. It has been credited for sustaining our Company’s success through the decades. And it’s an important part of why most of our Pilots chose to work here. You probably talked about it in your interview, but what does it mean?
Culture thrived during Southwest’s early decades. It was embodied by every employee, nurtured by managers, and celebrated by leadership. The reward for fostering that culture came in our rapid growth and financial success, also shared by every employee. However, in recent years, the vaunted SWA culture has been harder to find, especially if you don’t work at headquarters. It’s been undercut, pushed aside, and ignored in the day-to-day decision-making about the operation and in the treatment of our internal and external customers. When he was CEO, Gary Kelly knew the monetary value of culture. He weaponized it while his management team cashed in years of employee goodwill to monetize this intangible resource. Here are just a few examples of their failure as leaders that occurred while they hid behind the veil of “culture”:
Let me be clear: They have failed you. Executive leadership, Flight Ops, Inflight, and Employee and Labor Relations have consistently not lived up to the values and attitudes needed for culture to thrive. They would like for you to believe that the operation, in its current state, is due to factors outside of their control and is temporary. Unfortunately, the majority of our cultural decay is due to deliberate and controllable decisions, or inaction, made by the very same leaders who will be throwing a culture-themed party in Nashville on September 21.
This is at a time when the Company should be focused on resolving our differences and supporting frontline employees. Instead, they throw parties and pat themselves on the back while claiming how great it is to work here, effectively normalizing our current operational dysfunction and contractual inaction.
This is not the time for parties. This is the time for action. We must stand up for ourselves and against this leadership direction. As such, our next Informational Picket will be outside the SWA Spirit Party in downtown Nashville. It is time that they face and take responsibility for their part in our airline’s cultural degradation. We cannot stop the Company from living in the falsehoods of their cultural blindness, but we also cannot remain silent. Silence can be construed as apathy or worse — agreement. Our Pilots will be respectfully demonstrating our frustration and disagreement with the course charted by the Southwest Executive Leadership on September 21, from 1800-2200. More details regarding this event will be released next week.
Pilots and other frontline employees have had our employment culture weaponized, monetized, and undone by those entrusted to protect and nurture it. We can no longer pretend that what they are fostering is an environment that promotes the values they claim they espouse. Therefore, I call on those who are able to show up and demonstrate to the Company that we will no longer participate in the façade of SWA culture above all else. Watch what they do, not what they say.
Case
August 4, 2022
Welcome to the Jungle
Casey Murray, President
"Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle.” - Albert Camus
Culture has been a fundamental part of the origin of Southwest Airlines. It has been credited for sustaining our Company’s success through the decades. And it’s an important part of why most of our Pilots chose to work here. You probably talked about it in your interview, but what does it mean?
Culture thrived during Southwest’s early decades. It was embodied by every employee, nurtured by managers, and celebrated by leadership. The reward for fostering that culture came in our rapid growth and financial success, also shared by every employee. However, in recent years, the vaunted SWA culture has been harder to find, especially if you don’t work at headquarters. It’s been undercut, pushed aside, and ignored in the day-to-day decision-making about the operation and in the treatment of our internal and external customers. When he was CEO, Gary Kelly knew the monetary value of culture. He weaponized it while his management team cashed in years of employee goodwill to monetize this intangible resource. Here are just a few examples of their failure as leaders that occurred while they hid behind the veil of “culture”:
- 20,000 days our Pilots have worked involuntarily over the last year
- 150 open grievances with some Company interpretations bordering on the absurd
- 947 days since negotiations opened with only one out of 25 sections AIPed
- Millions of dollars in bonuses to the execs in 2020 while 1,221 WARN Notices were delivered
- Eight out of 12 union contracts currently open
- Flight benefits taken from those out on medical
Let me be clear: They have failed you. Executive leadership, Flight Ops, Inflight, and Employee and Labor Relations have consistently not lived up to the values and attitudes needed for culture to thrive. They would like for you to believe that the operation, in its current state, is due to factors outside of their control and is temporary. Unfortunately, the majority of our cultural decay is due to deliberate and controllable decisions, or inaction, made by the very same leaders who will be throwing a culture-themed party in Nashville on September 21.
This is at a time when the Company should be focused on resolving our differences and supporting frontline employees. Instead, they throw parties and pat themselves on the back while claiming how great it is to work here, effectively normalizing our current operational dysfunction and contractual inaction.
This is not the time for parties. This is the time for action. We must stand up for ourselves and against this leadership direction. As such, our next Informational Picket will be outside the SWA Spirit Party in downtown Nashville. It is time that they face and take responsibility for their part in our airline’s cultural degradation. We cannot stop the Company from living in the falsehoods of their cultural blindness, but we also cannot remain silent. Silence can be construed as apathy or worse — agreement. Our Pilots will be respectfully demonstrating our frustration and disagreement with the course charted by the Southwest Executive Leadership on September 21, from 1800-2200. More details regarding this event will be released next week.
Pilots and other frontline employees have had our employment culture weaponized, monetized, and undone by those entrusted to protect and nurture it. We can no longer pretend that what they are fostering is an environment that promotes the values they claim they espouse. Therefore, I call on those who are able to show up and demonstrate to the Company that we will no longer participate in the façade of SWA culture above all else. Watch what they do, not what they say.
Case
Last edited by rickair7777; 08-04-2022 at 10:49 AM. Reason: User Request
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