realityman
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2004
- Posts
- 782
I'll start with a few things I can think of off hand. Givebacks in work rules were the main problem.
Basically the union gave the company everything they wanted as far as scheduling is concerned. I do mean everthing. They did this to get better basing and pay for the SIC's. They gave a small raise to captains but unfortunately the work rules and loss of OT due to day one airline show/go rules have far outweighed the small pay raise we were given. Most of the PIC's have lost money on this deal. Some SIC's actually lost money too because they are not allowed to get by pass pay now with the IBB rules.
Most of the NJA guys aren't interested in the NJA side. IBB was a big part of the seniority list being merged. I think most of the NJA guys didn't look hard enough at this when they voted. Well at this point I don't see how any YES voter can complain. We knew all this BS was going to happen before the IBB vote.
A bunch of pilots lost out on getting their 4 weeks vacation (during year 10) because IBB changed the vacation bidding schedule (you have to complete 10 years of service to get the 4th week) (we hired a ton of pilots in the fall of 2001) (honestly many of those pilots have no idea that they will miss their 4th week of vacation by a month or two yet). On top of that many lost 5 or 6 days vacation due to the vacation bid schedule (although we did get paid for those days we still lost them).
This is just a basic overview of the problem with IBB. I could go on and on about this. The givebacks on scheduling and work rules are really sad. We will never be able to get that stuff back. Its all lost now.
Don't forget that shortly after IBB 2 of the top ranking union members left to go to Managment. Something else that we all could easily see before IBB. I'm convinced that IBB had something to do with this.
Well, that's one perspective. Funny how you left all the things we GOT with IBB. I'm not gonna make a list like you did. What's the point? But we got plenty out of it!
Was it perfect? No! Did the company get a lot? Yes! But so did we. Did the company get everything they wanted? I'm sure your answer is yes, but they did not. Both sides still have plenty of room to negotiate on the next round.
I don't know who you talk to on the road, but while most people I talk to think there are plenty of areas we can improve upon, most are pretty happy with what we have. One of the biggest things you haven't mentioned is that without IBB, our junior folks would still be limited to 5 bases. Without IBB, we'd be making quite a bit less than we are now. And most importantly, without IBB, we'd have been negotiating for our new contract at the peak of the worst economic downturns seen in a long time while Netjets was losing huge sums of money. Under those conditions, would we have been able to demand enough to not only give us raises, but make up for the three years of money we'd have left behind from IBB?
It's not as simple as you paint it to be. And i don't think the majority of the pilots are unhappy with IBB. I think many are unhappy with how certain parts have turned out, or how the company is trying to interpret certain parts, but overall, I think most agree we're still better off today with IBB than if we'd have passed on it.