DBCOOPER said:
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?
Nice post, DBCooper. It is nice to actually see someone post from Citation Shares that doesn't have a big chip on his shoulder regarding a Union, only to have that, with no reason to have it.
The points you make are excellent. Basically, as long as the employer takes care of his employees, he has no fear of a Union coming onto the property. There was a time at both RTA and Flight Options before we merged that both of our company's pilots were for the most part, happy with their management.
Unfortunately, with no contract, things can change in a heartbeat. All it takes is a change in management, or a merger. In our cases at RTA and Flight Options, both occurred, and when it did, our lives went straight to hell, and neither company was fun to work at anymore because of benefits being taken away, raises that were hinted at were not delivered, and favoritism reigned on upgrades - seniority was not respected.
In that type of environment in the Aviation industry, it always leads down the same path: Favoritism = unhappy employees. The environment becomes political, and it is no longer based on your job performance for raises or promotions, but "who you know", and "who likes you". Everything else becomes arbitrary. Throw a merger into the works with no seniority protection, and you get what happened to us - a biased system that hurt pilots from both companies in seniority and our most important item to most people, "pay".
It is really terriffic that Citation Shares did what they did. You guys have it good right now... there really isn't a need for a union, unless you see a trend of politics interfering with upgrades, which has rumored to already be true.
Unfortunately, that is not an option at Flight Options, LLC. Our management is corrupt and the attrition in management is as high as our pilots - we have gone through 4 CEO's in under 4 years, our sales staff has had over 50% attrition, probably closer to 80% (in fact we lost a bunch of guys at the same time to Citation Shares), and our puppet CEO has cut most of the quality of life issues that brought us to Flight Options rather than wanting to go to Net Jets at the time of hire. Upgrades have gone from 6 months to 5 years, and we continue to see our quality of life perks whittled away by management, all to save a buck, while at the same time, they reward themselves with bonuses, free harley davidsons, and free trips on our airplanes to places such as New York for shopping sprees or Disney World for their families.
Our pilots have no choice but to unionize, not to mention the very VERY real threat that Raytheon has set us up in the last 60 days to be sold. They recently placed the around 300 ex- flight options mechanics who had previously went to Raytheon Aircraft services BACK on the Flight Options payroll, as well as bought the remaining 4% of our shares that they did not own. This makes us a nice complete little package for someone to purchase - either outright or in pieces.
We pilots have no protection should we merge with another company. Should Net Jets purchase us, they are union, we aren't - without being a union, we would have a bad situation for merging seniority lists... that goes for any company that should purchase us, whether it be Swift, TAG aviation, whomever. Any company could buy us, and do what they want with us, and that includes our pay or benefits. For instance. Swift could buy us, and say "sorry, we can't pay you that wage", or "well, our benefits don't cover dental, you'll have to pick that up", whatever. The point is we have no say, nor any protection. Many believe we WILL be sold this year. This is a solid and valid concern, and I'm sorry, but there is NOTHING, save a Union, that will change that protection.
Also, our company was the only company that publically told its pilots after Net Jets' contract ratified, that they would NOT be matching. That kicked our union drive into overdrive, and in less than a month we had enough cards for a vote. Only after the company found out that we were going to have a vote did they have a change of heart and "were looking at a new compensation package" for us.
So as you can see, our situation is vastly different than Citation Shares'. We have no choice but to unionize, management has made that a reality... not just in our morale and how they are managing us, but our vitality as a company. There are SOOO many reasons, as you see, for us to be a union.
So, love it while you can, Citation Shares. I hope you NEVER need a Union, that'd be great. However, history has shown, that it will more than likely only be a matter of time before that will change. Flight Options will be unionized by April 2006. Flex Jet is right behind us, they'll be a Union probably before the end of the year... when that happens, both companies will start to negotiate their contracts. When THAT happens, and contracts are ratified, we all will have overtime, paid benefits, seniority protection along with all the other protections a union affords, etc. etc. etc.
It is highly unlikely that Citation Shares would just match everything from benefits to overtime. Maybe I'm wrong. Only time will tell, but history shows that companies just don't do that if they don't HAVE to. If they do it to avoid the union, then you continue to win without paying the 1.5% dues that the rest of the industry pays, and that'll be good for you.
So. I hope Bogart and Fractrash can be mature enough to understand why we want a union. We don't want a union, we NEED a union at both Flight Options and Flex Jet, because management has made it that way. Citation Shares hasn't done that, yet... let's all pray they don't and you guys continue to reap the rewards the IBT 1108 fights for. We're all after the same thing, a great career with great incentives, and of course, continuing to offer the safest mode of transportation for our customers.
Let's wish us ALL luck in accomplishing our goals.
