In the middle of a four day and here are some things I have heard in the crew room along with my commentary.
"scope clauses don't work, so why waste time negotiating for it."
-10 years ago very few airlines had strong scope clauses which allowed for the current state of our industry. Today they are a key part of any contract and we should be learning from the past at other airlines to strengthen our future. And if your opinion is anything written in section 1 is useless, why bother with sections 2-31?
"this is a slap in the face."
-and I felt it.
"the preamble to the contract was rewritten to protect our scope."
- no, if it were written to protect our scope then it would have been ten pages longer and placed in section 1 entitled scope. It would also avoid words like "should" and instead use words like "will" and "must"
"if the company needs to fly 100 seaters then that is a business decision. Not all routes can support a 737."
- I agree. If the company sees a need to fly 100 seat aircraft then they can purchase the planes and staff them with Alaska pilots. This TA allows them to outsource the flying which is unacceptable.
"I don't think our negotiating committee even knows what FOs at other airlines make."
-I agree, or if they do, they do not care.
"we need to get a new negotiating committee and dump the MEC if they approved this crap."
-If they are unwilling to fight for a good TA for every dues paying member and merely settle on what benefits them, then yes.
"It is hard to pass up another $25,000 a year."
-Not when you should be making an extra $35,000
"I think we deserve more, but I will probably vote yes."
-I don't understand why you accept being undervalued.
"I hope their is a '**** no' button to vote."
- second
"remember to factor in our profit sharing as another 5-8%"
-This is a bonus and fluctuates. We have another vague statement of "targets" 5% in our contract. Nothing is guaranteed.
"profit sharing does not count as we do not control the formula or the profits."
-I agree. We are hourly unionized employees operating under a CBA. We need to negotiate our CBA. Nowhere in our CBA does it talk about a minimum bonus, or spell out how it will be calculated, or any special accounting practices that cannot be factored in by the company. The PBP has been good to us, I hope that continues, but my pay rates can't factor in a bonus that may or may not be their in 2-3 years.
"eventually you wil be a captain and so you have to look at the top captain scale."
-for the next five years I will be an FO and this is a 5 year TA. So I am going to vote based on how this specifically affects me and my family.
"scope clauses don't work, so why waste time negotiating for it."
-10 years ago very few airlines had strong scope clauses which allowed for the current state of our industry. Today they are a key part of any contract and we should be learning from the past at other airlines to strengthen our future. And if your opinion is anything written in section 1 is useless, why bother with sections 2-31?
"this is a slap in the face."
-and I felt it.
"the preamble to the contract was rewritten to protect our scope."
- no, if it were written to protect our scope then it would have been ten pages longer and placed in section 1 entitled scope. It would also avoid words like "should" and instead use words like "will" and "must"
"if the company needs to fly 100 seaters then that is a business decision. Not all routes can support a 737."
- I agree. If the company sees a need to fly 100 seat aircraft then they can purchase the planes and staff them with Alaska pilots. This TA allows them to outsource the flying which is unacceptable.
"I don't think our negotiating committee even knows what FOs at other airlines make."
-I agree, or if they do, they do not care.
"we need to get a new negotiating committee and dump the MEC if they approved this crap."
-If they are unwilling to fight for a good TA for every dues paying member and merely settle on what benefits them, then yes.
"It is hard to pass up another $25,000 a year."
-Not when you should be making an extra $35,000
"I think we deserve more, but I will probably vote yes."
-I don't understand why you accept being undervalued.
"I hope their is a '**** no' button to vote."
- second
"remember to factor in our profit sharing as another 5-8%"
-This is a bonus and fluctuates. We have another vague statement of "targets" 5% in our contract. Nothing is guaranteed.
"profit sharing does not count as we do not control the formula or the profits."
-I agree. We are hourly unionized employees operating under a CBA. We need to negotiate our CBA. Nowhere in our CBA does it talk about a minimum bonus, or spell out how it will be calculated, or any special accounting practices that cannot be factored in by the company. The PBP has been good to us, I hope that continues, but my pay rates can't factor in a bonus that may or may not be their in 2-3 years.
"eventually you wil be a captain and so you have to look at the top captain scale."
-for the next five years I will be an FO and this is a 5 year TA. So I am going to vote based on how this specifically affects me and my family.
