GR,
Look, I know that you want to hear me say it was all b/c of your union.
If you want my honest opinion, this is it...(fyi...I'm NOT a cool-aid drinker either, trust me)
When I started at CS, a good portion of my interview consisted of what my loyalty to the company would be. I got the "How long will you stay" question, "you wouldn't leave, would you" question, "we don't want people to use us as a stepping stone" and so on. I have never worked anywhere...and I've worked for quite a few places now darnit, that seem to take leaving so personally.
They have told me from day 1 that they want us to be happy, both financially and with QOL. They don't want turnover, that part is obvious. Then last summer morale started slipping b/c of certain things going on....folks were leaving for Continental, JetBlue, etc....I was flying with guys that were on the fence about leaving. Management knew this was going on. There were strong rumors going on from people that would be "in the know" that the company was working on an "incentive" to keep people on the property.
So, to answer your question....I'm quite confident that our raises were "in the works" and it was just a matter of timing that we got ours right after your contract was achieved. However, I could be wrong. Maybe we got our raises a little sooner b/c of you guys, maybe we got a little more. I definatly don't think that we got them based ONLY on your contract. Like I said though, it may have helped in part...and that's great, thank you to your union. To be honest, I can't believe you guys didn't strike....you were being hosed for TOO LONG. All my friends over there are finally happy with their job. How say you?