With the possibility of a TA hopefully coming soon, what are your bets on Longevity for Furloughs for pay purposes?

 

With all that our furloughees have been through, if they do not get longevity, I am truly ashamed.

 

With our lack of representation, many resign from the Union.

 

Unless their new contract changes things, the furloughed UPS pilots did not retain their longevity. After they were recalled they got a letter with their adjustment date for longevity.

 

Delta got it. No reason we shouldn't. I know mgmt won't see it that way.

 

I think longevity is very important for us for this very reason: If we get screwed in the Seniority integration and find ourselves in court, a judge may be puzzled as to why we're being paid as 12th year employees but junior to a Continental Captain on 8th or 9th year pay. Can only help our case. Am I wrong? If longevity is not included for furloughees, I sure hope the TA is not put forth for a vote!

 

Here is what I heard from a friend in class who asked the CAL MEC rep the very same question about longevity. Take it for what you will:

"Upgrading 1437 pilots conceivably to much higher pay scales eats into the pie of what the contract costs the company. The company and union pull and shove about how many dollars they want to allocate to various areas of the contract. The union writes contracts to favor the majority in order to effect passage."

Ok so according to this the gist of the this CAL Rep's explanation about their view of how longevity fits in to the TA I get from this that longevity does not a favor a large voting block therefore it doesn't have the "bite grip" on the pie unlike issues more senior pilots are interested in.

Many of the 1437 will not even be on property to vote, roughly only 380-400. You juxtapose that against the interests of the senior folks who VASTLY outnumber the furloughees I see it as a tough sell.

Yes it's the right thing to, it's the honorable thing to do and so on and so forth....but folks reality check time (and I hope I am so VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY WRONG!). The furloughees are out of sight and out of mind of the senior folk. The most you'll get is about what you usually get from pilots in general who are still on property:

Hollow platitudes.

 

Translation:

"We are afraid of anything that might remotely affect SLI, including our own shadow, so we have been fighting the UAL MEC over longevity (for pay) since day one."

 

I feel Delta is more of the exception, rather than the rule.

 

I think Kalitta kept longevity through furlough.....