FLOPS Strike ballots are being sent out !!!

[skanza]

OK silver. I just have a few things after reading your post:
-Why not start off with a strike? You know it will end up there anyways. And like you really want to waste time with negtiations.
-What is the strike colses the company? You'll wish you had that "sub-industry" pay compaired to the no pay you'll have. Plus all the other people who's lives were affected negatively so you could make a fu(king point.
-No, I would not work here if I were being paid less than when I was hired.
-Every company is experiencing a rise it health care costs. Don't expect ours to be different.
-There is no such thing as job security by the way.

 

[Frac Cap]

Nice to see you back Silver. I couldn't have said it any better, and you were spot on. But I think I am making less than when I started. I just looked over my old loan papers to refinance my house so I can cut my required payments in half, just in case we go on strike. You know, hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Well I saw a copy of my check from 9 years ago, and to be absolutely honest, my check total was the same then as it is now. Nine years of trying to do an honest days job and not getting an honest days wage. Now lets talk about cost of living. My gas expense went up. My groceries went up. My health insurance went up. My taxes went way up,ect, ect. So I truly am making less now than 9 years ago.

Scumza, you are correct about one thing, I will not like not having a check coming in when, and if we go on strike. But the important thing is, it will force us to leave the sinking ship that we have been clinging to in the hopes of re-floating it. And if we do, I know it will be for bigger and better opportunities. I don't want to strike. But I will if I have to. When I looked at my check from 9 years ago, it just pissed me off. I will have the biggest sign on the picket line. This stagnant pay needs to stop, and the laughable 9% increase (from what I heard) is an insult.

So I say, industry standard or I'm voting no.

 

[SilverSurfer]

OK silver. I just have a few things after reading your post:
-Why not start off with a strike? You know it will end up there anyways. And like you really want to waste time with negtiations.
-What is the strike colses the company? You'll wish you had that "sub-industry" pay compaired to the no pay you'll have. Plus all the other people who's lives were affected negatively so you could make a fu(king point.
-No, I would not work here if I were being paid less than when I was hired.
-Every company is experiencing a rise it health care costs. Don't expect ours to be different.
-There is no such thing as job security by the way.

We didn’t establish the negotiations process the RLA did. And you are wrong about a strike being predestined. By a very large margin most labor negotiations are settled at the table and a strike is never even a consideration. I have no desire for our company to go through a strike, and you are right it will do great harm to the company. If a strike closes the company or not is entirely dependent on what management does, not the pilots. The pilots have no desire to close the company, this is in no way our goal. We simply are unwilling to continue business as usual with management, any management. A contract is mandatory.
Believe it or not there are a lot of sub standard jobs out there to be had. So should it come the company failing because of managements inaction, we will all find a way to go on, and even take one of those mom/pop sub industry jobs. Life will go on and again its up to management. What point do you think we are trying to make?
Well at least we know you are not foolish enough to work for less then you started with. But is does make one wonder why you would ask such a foolish question.
As far as job security, you are right in a ultimate sense. But under a contract with a strong scope clause, our jobs would be protected against anything short of the company shutting down.

 

[1folinepilot]

Welcome back SS!

Skanza, I see you have no reply to my previous post.

 

[o2bflyn]

Look at the recent Amerijet strike. Many non-Amerijet pilots refused charters for Amerijet because they would have been struck work. Cargo crews were checking their cargo for signs that Amerijet cargo had been loaded on their airplanes and, if found, having it removed.

You scenario is two pilots working for companies in the same industry (cargo). In this scenario you have pilots in one industry (Frac) striking while pilots in a seperate industry (charter) still working. Honestly, I dont see the parrallel.

I really just want to do the right thing here without losing my job. I am not trying to stir up too much sh!t. The facts of life for me is if I lose my job for refusing a FLOPS based trip, I have no recourse to get it back.....

 

[SilverSurfer]

Skanza,

This is right off our company website and is an example of the double standard that our management wants to ride.

Pilots

Nothing contributes more to your overall safety than a professional in the cockpit.

That's why Flight Options recruits and retains the best pilots in the industry, bar none.

Through highly selective recruitment and training programs, our pilots and crew provide an unsurpassed level of commitment, expertise, professionalism and skill which meets and often exceeds the exacting standards of the Federal Aviation Regulation Part 135. Type-rated by the FAA, Flight Options’ pilots complete two annual training events – one in a flight simulator and one in-aircraft with a FAA certified check airman.

The combined experience of the crew members onboard your Flight Options flight averages over 25 years, and over 18,000 flight hours. Since Flight Options inception, our pilots have logged over 1.2 million hours of flight time with over 900,000 legs flown. Having flown over 15,000 legs into and out of difficult terrain such as Aspen,CO, the highly experienced crew members aboard your Flight Options aircraft are ready to take on any mission.

Each Flight Options pilot has an average of over 6,900 hours of flight time and is type rated by the FAA. Each has an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) classification, is trained to the exacting standards of Federal Aviation Regulation Part 135, and undergoes a comprehensive training program at CAE SimuFlite, the world's largest training facility. In addition, our crews utilize our specially designed online supplemental ground training system for additional training on specific processes and procedures.

Each Flight Options aircraft is operated by two type-rated pilots in the cockpit. In addition to their extensive flight time, crew members complete annual simulator training and each Pilot-in-command completes a biannual practical-check ride in their aircraft. Because of our industry-leading standards and top-of-the-line training programs, we have the safest and most professional pilots in the industry.

Management wants to claim that we are the top of the industry, including the highly experience although highly under paid pilots that keep this company alive. For years the company has been selling our highly experienced pilots on our website but what they have not advertised is that we are also the lowest paid pilot in the industry. Can you tell me why management would not like that fact to be advertised to our customers.

We deserve everything that pilots in a industry leading company should receive just as the pilots in the other industry leading company's receive.

 

[shanes123]

how can they claim they have the most proffesional pilots in the Industry when idiots like scumza works there..can Flops be sued for false advertisement?

 

[skanza]

how can they claim they have the most proffesional pilots in the Industry when idiots like scumza works there..can Flops be sued for false advertisement?

Your opinion of my professionalism is just that, an opinion. Can't sue for that, fool.

 

[skanza]

YES!!!! A vast majority of the pilots that came over from Travel Air had their salary "Adjusted for theoretical aircraft deliveries and upgrade dates" thus loosing thousands of dollars of wages as management pushed back upgrade and aniversary dates on positions that were rightfully earned and flown. All the pilots had to endure the "slide to parity" or go back to year one for upgrades. THIS WAS A DIRECT CUT IN SALARY!!!!!

To continue with the cut list, All non-SFO employees had their pay cut below "industry standard per Kenn Ricci" to fund the SFO program at no cost to the company, All have had their benifit costs drastically increased and level of coverage decreased, All have lost their 401K match, a large group of the pilots have been capped and denied vacation thus loosing earned vacation hours, quality of crew food has decreased to the point of being inedible, the pilots have lost paid parking at their home domicile, CLE pilots lost their CLE domicile pay, Shall I continue with the list? No, you've made your point. If one looks at it this way, it does appear like a "direct cut in salary". But I see it another way - though you may not like it. We don't know for sure what that company's finances are like or what management, past or present, uses to make their decisions. I do believe they have the best interest of the company's health in mind since they are personally and financially invested in it. When the economy changes and flight hours go down, the size of the company has to follow, simple math. They need to find ways to stay open - mostly by cutting labor costs which are the largest overhead. This is unfortunate for everybody in the company because layed off or not, you're affected. But, I think these efforts will pay off in the long run just by keeping the company running for when the economy recovers. I know a lot of you are going to be rolling your eyes and hating me because I seem to be defending mgmnt and sound like I am part of it. But I assure you, these are my thoughts, my words, my opinions and I am not management. I'm just against the union squeezing the company when it's vunerable which could cause a collapse of everything that could otherwise be avoided. That's the point behind all of my posts. I really don't think they're trying to screw us because they know they need us and they didn't just recently get into business or aviation.

Post the company's offer for us to review Skanza as their glee about raises and schedules are meaningless without solid SCOPE protection. .

Begin hating.

 

[GhettoBeechjet]

Skanza/Ed you are not in management because your benefactor Bob had to remove you to appease the FAA. In the process he gained the benefit of having you out in the field to spy on the pilots and spread FUD. You talk about the reduction in all employees compensation packages being for the good of the company. That only makes sense if management takes cuts as well. Based on the fact that the previous CEO and COO sued Raytheon over bonus money I highly doubt that "senior leadership" has shared in the employees pain. They seem to be "above" such things.