Good point, but perhaps look at it from this angle. The XJ proposal did not have a clear winner, nor did the CJC proposal, and here is what I was led to believe was the reason why...
According to our negotiation team...it would be a true statement to say that before SLI negotiations took place, everyone agreed to make a fair plan, one that would not have a clear winner. Draw your own conclusions from there.

 

I think in the end our combined group will still have the 5%. It always will. "fair and equitable" is in the eyes of the beholder. That's the entire psycological premise behind this 20+ pages. What 1 thinks is fair, 2 do not. What 1 thinks is equitable, 2 do not. For that very reason we all entrust in Bloch. His only job is to create a method of "fair and equitable" and populate it with our pre-existing list that was totally based on the seniority system. We could be the best of friends, or worst of enemies- that won't change bloch's job or mindset. He is the "neutral" and theoretically the only one who is entirely unaffected by the outcome. Why he has had all info since tuesday and it's not out is beyond me. Hopefully this is resolved soon, everyone is ready to see the list and move on. The only smiling face will be the #1 guy. The rest if us will have a different view of "fair and equitable" but will move on just like Delta. We can only fear a Usair/America west situation, but I think between merger policy and learning from the past this shouldn't be the case.

 

Well then why the H$ll did we waist 3 months negotiating together if there was never any intent to try to find a fair and equitable sotution for all three groups? Seems to me we should have just turned it ovr to Bloch right away. To me the word negotiating means back and forth proposals, listening to each others needs and ideas and try to find a solution that works for everyone. What your saying is that the Pinnacle group was unwilling to do this, that it was only what was best for them and no one else. I suspect it was this attitude that kept you in contract negotiations for so long.

 

Higney, (or is it "Mr. Higney)...if this is in fact the case then the SLI is a fairly simple mathematical problem...Bloch gets the 3 lists, solves for "X" and bam! the integration is complete, assumably by DOH since that would be the most straightforward solution to be "totally based on the seniority system" as you assert...so then, why all the hoopla on 3 forums, countless crew buses, hotel vans, crew rooms, and flight decks across the system? Just asking...I don't care what the list looks like or when it comes out...it's like reality TV to me...I just want it to be over so we can all move on...

 

No offense, but in my view the Colgan proposal had a clear winner - Colgan pilots. Based on relative seniority you would have a lot of Colgan guys moving ahead of people with several more years experience at the other airlines.

The Mesaba proposal was a win for the senior Mesaba pilots while a big loss for junior Mesaba guys and colgan. Pinnacle would probably have been close to a wash.

Pinnacle's proposal was a win for pinnacle and Mesaba at the expense of Colgan.

All three proposals were based on some level of logic and a core principle (DOH, relative, or category class). Each proposal has elements that could be considered fair or unfair depending on your point of view.

People also seem to forget that this was also just the last and final proposals. What else was proposed or negotiated during the other 2-3 months? I sure don't know. Maybe it was good, maybe it was bad, but all we have right now is a snapshot of the very end of the process. The road to get there, at least for now, is only known by a select few and they aren't sharing the info.

 

My guess is most reasonable folks expected their committee to submit an initial proposal something like 50/25/25, hoped for 40/30/30 deal, and figured something like 33/34/32 would be the result. Messaba and Colgan both started with their own 50/25/25 plans. Pinnacle started with a 90/6/4.

 

I am not a naysayer, but in hindsight what is happening now with the SLI should have been predictable. Knowing what I know now, I would have NEVER have supported a single-list contract, taken my chances with doing our own negotiations and if PNCL Corp decided to do any whipsawing it would have been better to deal with it IF that ever occurred. I really am very disappointed in the way this entire merger/SLI has been handled by ALPA. Yes, I have a payraise, an increase in per diem, etc...But, I don't think it would have been too long before we'd have had the same contract or something close to it. PNCL Corp. knows that the future of the company is NOT vested on the large, uneconomical and aging CRJ-200 fleet, but on the Q-400 and CRJ-900. That is why they bought Colgan and Mesaba. I really don't feel any animosity toward anyone that flies at Pinnacle. If circumstances were different, I likely could be there now myself. However, from a Colgan pilot point of view...Pinnacle's MEC is being greedy, self-serving and not looking out for the future of ALL the pilots of ALL three companies.

 

You think Pinnacle's MEC is being greedy, I think 9L's MEC is being greedy!! Its outrageous to think that your MEC would even consider RELATIVE integration...

 

Well played sir...Obviously, each merger committee is going to try and get the most that they can out of one of these deals or they aren't doing their jobs. However, I think Pinnacle's solution was more unrealistic and would have created far more problems within our pilot groups than it would have solved. Everyone knows, understands and respects the long battle you have had with PNCL mgt. to get your contact amended. Everyone also knows about the infighting that took place during the last vote for a TA over the signing bonus. Based on this last-second maneuvering that is going on, frankly I really don't who to really trust to give me the straight story...

 

As Higney said in an earlier post, they were only looking out for th best interests of their pilots, and by doing so it appeared that they gave two $hits for the rest. They are so afraid of having the pilot group mad at them they made it impossible to reason with at these negotiations, and therefore forcing Bloch to make the decision. Poor union leadership at its finest, and I don't mean leadership literally.