Continental and military reserve/guard?

[BengalsFan]

A friend of mine, who is both at Continental and in the AF reserves, told me that it is apparent that Continental is steering their hiring away from military reservists and guardsmen. He also said that the union is aware of the problem and is trying to convince Continental to stop breaking the law, without filing a lawsuit that would obviously hurt Continental as a whole.

Does anyone out there have any insider information on this problem?

Thanks

 

[dtfl]

I know the CP tried to fry a guy in my unit that had a trip (reserves) the week after Xmas. This caused him to drop his Xmas rotation - but he had this trip scheduled since October. He had to get the SQ CC, Union and JAG involved. The CP called the Sq CC to ensure that the guy was MISSION ESSENTIAL. The CC told the CP - yes..he is the AC and we need him for this week long reserve tasking.
He had been on the fence - CAL or ART job. This did it - he quit CAL and is now an ART.

 

[Bobo135R]

FWIW. I've got bud there on the 737. He's a reservist that's been there about 11 months and says CA very much discourages MIL leave and other Guard/Reserve participation.

 

[whymeworry?]

FWIW as well... a CAL classmate of mine called me this past winter to complain about someone in crew planning making disparaging comments about CAL hiring military guys when one of them called up to request MIL leave. He wanted my opinion was curious what could be done about it. I told him I thought it was illegal to prevent guys from doing MIL leave. I believe the union got involved.

I'm not going to take sides on this but in talking to a lot of my military buds, they do indeed seem to work the system a bit to their favor... taking tons of MIL leave to avoid that first year pay at CAL. But in their defense, hey, what does CAL expect with what it pays out the first year? Guys aren't motivated to work for $30/ hr so they max out their MIL leave. Ya' get what ya' pay for. And why shouldn't a guy work all angles to better his pay and lifestyle?

I surmise that CAL is feeling a bit burned by this and it's affecting their manpower planning numbers. Hence the subject of this thread may indeed be correct... but I have no proof of this.

 

[pipe]

FWIW as well... a CAL classmate of mine called me this past winter to complain about someone in crew planning making disparaging comments about CAL hiring military guys when one of them called up to request MIL leave. He wanted my opinion was curious what could be done about it. I told him I thought it was illegal to prevent guys from doing MIL leave. I believe the union got involved.

I'm not going to take sides on this but in talking to a lot of my military buds, they do indeed seem to work the system a bit to their favor... taking tons of MIL leave to avoid that first year pay at CAL. But in their defense, hey, what does CAL expect with what it pays out the first year? Guys aren't motivated to work for $30/ hr so they max out their MIL leave. Ya' get what ya' pay for. And why shouldn't a guy work all angles to better his pay and lifestyle?

I surmise that CAL is feeling a bit burned by this and it's affecting their manpower planning numbers. Hence the subject of this thread may indeed be correct... but I have no proof of this.

Funny, you never hear these kind of things on the other end of the spectrum. Got a 767 Captain and an MD-11 Capt in my unit. How bout doing the math on how much money they lose every time they drop a trip to serve their country.

Yes - it is their choice to serve. Bottom line though, they willingly lose big to serve their country.

Just trying to keep everything in perspective.

PIPE

 

[IAHERJ]

I've heard point blank guys bragging about taking long Military leaves right after new hire training to avoid reserve and first year pay. They don't think we are listening in the pad but theyn are on the phone with fellow reservists talking about this very topic. I respect the military flying etc. but when an airline hires you with less time than they hire a civilian pilot in most cases; don't screw them.
IAHERJ

 

[ClubORD]

I just interviewed at CAL last week. I think there was at least one, if not two, Guard Bums in the mix that day.