I'm sorry man, but nothing can stop them.

Then what is the point of paying dues and signing contracts that apparently don't mean anything?

Yea you're right, you guys should have never voted in alpa. Then you wouldn't even have a chair at the big boys table as we divide the spoils. Bottom line, the split scale will not effect many people for very long anyways. Colgan had no union and no contract before they were brought on by the pinnacle mec. On your own you would not achieve a contract worth half as much as this one. If you vote no, that's your own choice. But if this ta fails I can assure you that you will not see anything better on your own.

There are lots of reasons.

Take this TA for instance. Just drop all pay rates out of it for a minute.

The amount of work and resources to put together a project like this is enormous.

This is a solid contract with excellent work rules and rock star scope protection. That's your job protection, that's how your union saves your job is by working on and ratifying contracts like this one.

This contract not only will help save your job, it will allow you to have a life while you work here.

You vote how you feel necassary, but I work under decent rules now and the few small things this contract brings to me adds quality to my life and money in my bank account, all without a penny raise.

What's it going to do for you?

But if the contract is apparently worthless and able to be worked around by the company when they want to then what's the point?

Why do you think its worthless? I don't understand this statement. There are a few downfalls in this agreement, I think 401k is horrible unless you are super senior. But this is better than pinnacle could have done alone, and far and away better than colgan could ever dream of by themselves.

I hope some of my knucklehead Colgan co-workers wise up and see what's on the line here. Damn the rates. Who the hell ever said life was fair? The work rules are more important. Do you really want another 2 years at the negotiating table while you work under no contract? Don't miss out on this opportunity, quit crying like little b|tches with skinned knees and man up. The TA looks good with real industry improvements, I vote yes.

The split Saab rate has a bitter taste but I'm still probably going to vote for this since it's a slight improvement for me and a nice improvement for the Colgan and Pinnacle guys. If there had been no merger there would be no pay raise at all for me, no long call reserve, no increased reserve call out time, less vacation and less vacation flexibility. The trouble with turboprops that have more seats is that they take longer to get those seats to their destinations. I actually preferred the blended rate for it's simplicity, fairness, and decreased training costs, but it seems like most of my peers hated it. So this compromise is the result of splitting the FO rates without giving the current XJ'ers a pay cut. What will stink is when a current XJ 900 FO who lives in base (i.e. me) gets displaced to NYC as a Saab FO, (might not?) be grandfathered in, and receives a massive paycut while incurring a massive increase in cost of living or decrease in QOL (commuting). Oh well, I guess there's the 200.

You're right. That is my only concern. If you're an XJ pilot and have no choice but to switch to Saab FO, you're pretty much gonna get screwed by the new payscale. You will* take a paycut.

Here's the way the grandfathered rates sound to me: existing XJ guys get those rates as long as they are in their current seat. FO upgrades or goes over to a jet or Q, not more grandfathered rate. CA bids to a CA seat (or FO seat) on any other equipment, no more grandfathered rate. CA or FO is DISPLACED into another airframe because the Saab was reduced, no more grandfathered rate. Honestly, I don't see these rates hanging out very long since Delta is parking the Saabs anyway. The only way for those guys to keep their grandfathered rate is to follow their seat to another base. If you're a MSP/MEM/DTW Saab CA/FO at XJ, in 2 or 3 years, you're either gonna be in a different seat or a different base.

I think a lot of guys are just looking at the DOS pay rates and crying "BS!!!" rather than a) looking at the TA as a whole and b) looking at the life of the contract. Over the life of the contract, the Q doesn't pay less than the -200.....it pays the same. Like was mentioned, by year 3, the Q is at Horizon's current rates. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what Colgan pilots WANTED?!?!? If you told Colgan pilots they'd be getting Horizon rates on the Q in their new contract this time last year, you'd be met with looks of disbelief. Now, it's not enough. Odds are VERY good that Horizon's pay rates are either gonna stagnate or reverse because of their agreement to baseball style arbitration.

The whole "the Q400 is where the growth is, so it should pay better" makes no sense. If Delta announced they were gonna be growing the 737s in their fleet, should it pay more than the 777 or the 757? If we took delivery of another 30 Qs, it would still be fewer than the number of -900s and way fewer than the number of -200s.

In the end, everyone has to make the choice for themselves. If some feel that the split pay rate on the Saab or the Q400 pay rates outweigh the other aspects of the contract, then it's your right to vote "no" on the deal. I'm not a huge fan of the health care premiums and co-pays going up as much as they do for 9E, but I don't think it's enough to kill the whole deal for me. At the end of the day, I'm still taking home more $$$ with better protections on my QoL even with the increased health care costs.