You forgot to add.. Accepting that earlier reserve assignment for MUP, nothing more.. Until we quit bailing them out, there's no reason for a contract..

 

This way, I'll never be wrong.

 

Negotiations only went sideways after Ackerman demanded to be addressed as Captain during happy hour at the Bimini Boatyard and then his card got declined to cover the tab for Bendo and Baldanza. He asked for relief on the bill but got shot down...

 

Ackerman those of us who elected you in 77 haven't forgotten the promises and snake oil you sold us. I can hear "boulevard of broken dreams" playing in the background. Don't forget all of us when you get hired into management.

Please publish another podcast congratulating a system chief pilot for his work. A person who has more time in management than you do on property

 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Do you get a rise beating your chest like that?! I would think you'd be sick of it by now. You and your little band of misfits have tried before and how has that worked out?! Let's face it.....your group is a handful at best (thank God)! But if it makes you feel like master of the universe......knock yourself out!

 

I did Nazi zis one coming!

 

Just a small bit of levity...

 

To put it in pre 2009 terms: yes, we shot ourselves in the foot with the DL LOA, but MM handed us the loaded .357.

 

I predict that we'll begin hearing the same rhetoric in the near future. There's a pattern here and anyone willing to observe with clear eyes will be able to identify said pattern.

 

You started off on the right track, then went sideways with this comment, The lack of true unity building events/exercises/activities is the primary signpost to me that we were in trouble from the beginning. THAT lack is what has me worried.

Under the RLA, we have almost zero leverage in negotiations. We are legally bound to work according to our past amendable date CBA. We can't walk away, we can't wildcat strike, we can't pull of CHAOS. We just can't withhold our services.

Which leaves us where? How do we obtain leverage?

1. The free market can grant us an advantage. When the company is unable to fill seats due to their lack of competitiveness in the job market, then the company will have to improve conditions to attract candidates. That's not really "leverage" but it certainly works in our favor.

2. We threaten to strike. BTW, a strike is not "leverage", a strike is a failure of negotiations. The THREAT of the strike is the leverage, not the strike. (That statement comes directly from the ALPA SPSC National Chair in 2007, and from the ALPA National staff negotiation trainer of the same era)

So where am I going with this you ask. Here >>>>To present a credible threat to the company, the pilot group has to become accustomed to acting per MEC direction, to moving together when the MEC says move, to follow the leadership closely enough to scare the company into believing - to accepting - that the pilots can pull off a successful strike.

We win, when the company realizes that a strike will cost them more than paying us not to strike, and that realization causes them to pay up rather than face a strike. In short, we need the unity events to build that unity and to show the company our resolve to improve our contract.

PS, we need unity events, NOT roadshows of a non existent TA.