Quote:
Quit belittling people for their frustration, thats what the Bar and grill is for.
I don't see anyone being belittled for their frustration...if anything I agree with much of what he says, albeit with some corrections and a different version of "reality" (whatever that really is). Originally Posted by Shaggy1970
A serious question. How great would this place be without conflict bidding and A plan. I think most would change their tune about how great a place this is no matter what year your hired. Quit belittling people for their frustration, thats what the Bar and grill is for.
For starters, it's my understanding there are 126 managers, or what we prefer to call NURPS. Given how most pilots self-manage their cockpits and themselves, that's likely 122 too many. Their true impact on potential hiring is unknown, but of course it's a scourge whose roots go back far and deep, and more than one person and entity is responsible for it.
As for losing friends to HAZMAT and fatigue, these things are not unique to UPS, but like the NURPs are also a scourge whose roots go back far and deep, and more than one person is responsible for it.
The most unique thing about UPS is the management structure and M.O., which like NURPs, HAZMAT and fatigue is yet another scourge whose roots go back...over a century. But...in the end ONE person is responsible for THAT, as leadership does indeed trickle down from the top of any organization. Pretty much every CEO of UPS has been cut of the same cloth, but IMO Davis has pretty much been the worst. Sure, Jim Kelly was a knee breaking thug who was sent to whack Teamsters and us with very limited...as in no success and Eskew was mediocre, but since Max Profit hit the scene, knee breaking labor has been wed with ruthless cost cutting and merger failure unlike anything ever seen here before. A comparable outsider rises on the back of Supply Chain Solutions, and ever since has been like a teenager handed whiskey and car keys. Blowing DHL, TNT, USPS and last peak gotten him over 11% annual raises and bonus/stock packages that rival the GDP of some eastern bloc countries while the once revered concept of service has been turned into a bumper sticker. Every person does more for less and service failures, which under Jim Kelly were unacceptable have become part of the business plan.
Now clearly Davis doesn't directly manage us...there's a whole bunch of his underlings at work doing that exclusive of the NURPs. They decide fleet size and composition. They decide how "labor" operates. They decide city pairs and service offerings. They negotiate with the institutional customers.
BUT...they ALL know how Davis thinks...what Davis wants. They know that the only way to please him is to cut costs, cut costs and cut costs. Airplanes are a cost. We are a cost. Yeah, yeah...I know we have a "new" CEO, but Davis is still on the BOD, and who really knows if the new boss is any different than the old boss.
All that being said, it is their company and they write the checks. In the real world, unless the government nationalizes it and we all get paid less it is what it is. While that frustrates me to an extent, I gotta ask...
What can WE do about that?
As has been detailed endlessly, the antiquated Railway Labor Act serves as handcuffs on us, and a boon to the company as applied today and as we enter the forth year of negotiations. While that frustrates me...a lot, I gotta ask...
What can WE do about that?
I flew for two non-scheds with no union, and virtually no work rules aside from FAR's that were dubiously observed. Many I flew with were EAL and CAL scabs, but many did not cross or crawl back. They ALL told me the way to most influence a good contract is not to strike or engage in illegal or unethical acts, but to strangle them with their OWN rules and a slavish knowledge of and adherence to the contract.
THAT we CAN do. If we have the fortitude and knowledge of their rules and our contract.
While I have Expectation Zero for UPS to EVER do the right thing, the RLA to change or government to rescue us, I DO have confidence in IPA and my fellow pilots.
Anything less...fighting each other and complaining about what we cannot control is little more than chin music...and useless music at that.