Mesaba/Pinnacle article

[81Horse]

From today's Detroit Freep:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060321/BUSINESS05/603210310

 

[redflyer65]

Both regionals, PCL and Mesaba, don't make enough money as it is. It blows my mind that they think the work force will just bend over for a 19% paycut on REGIONAL wages! FO's and FA's making around $15,000/year? Give me a break. It's ludicrous.

There are two things that could happen if management keeps this up.
1- The judge throws the contracts out and everyone walks.
2- The judge or arbitration panel comes up with a serious wage reduction, then there will simply be a mass exodus of pilots and flight attendants.

I mean think about it. A person could go just about anywhere and make better money and pay less for better health care. The judge can't do a thing when everyone just quits. There is no law to force them back to job that they don't want. Management needs to wise up to what's ahead.

 

[Lear70]

Management will NEVER believe that enough pilots to permanently sink the airline will quit.

Seriously, those guys drink their OWN brand of kool-aid, and they have been taught (by pilots) that we'll keep working for lower and lower wages and NO ONE has stepped up to show them where the bar is so they'll know in the future just how low they can push a pilot group.

So what are the majority of your F/O's going to do? They can't make a living on 15k to 18k, but how many will truly just quit and start hunting for work at home depot? There's not a lot of jobs for them to just jump into.

These are the things that management is thinking, you guys are going to have to start coming up with a Plan B for all the pilots to be able to make a mass exodus. If you don't and just trickle out 30-40 pilots a month, management will just replace you with low-time wannabes who don't care about $15k when they're living with Mom and Dad.

Good luck to you!

 

[Livinthewhat]

Managements view of employees

The fact of the matter is that as soon as management gets into their positions they begin setting themselves up for the day they will leave the company. They know that it will be a short tour of duty and their pay and benefits will will be sufficient to allow them to simply leave after a few years and proceed to another company which will undoubtedly place great weight on their "success" on reducing labor costs. Minimal weight will be given to the loss of workers as this is a win-win situation as it will be seen as they got rid of the high time, "highly" paid employees and replaced them with low time "low" paid employees and still operated the company, in the black or red, makes NO difference, they will play the "airline" card and all the woes that go with that. This bodes very well for any manager in today's economy. Truth is, in my opinion, we have become so streamline and "computerized" that companies no longer see longetivity as a virtue but an uneeded expense ranging from pay to benefits. I believe it is here that the thinking will need to change and it begins with the workers standing up for themselves just as so many of us are doing, but not nearly enough. Not even close yet... Again, just my opinion as I sit here and pay the price for the beliefs that I have.

 

[Elusive Napkin]

Truth is, in my opinion, we have become so streamline and "computerized" that companies no longer see longetivity as a virtue but an uneeded expense ranging from pay to benefits. I believe it is here that the thinking will need to change and it begins with the workers standing up for themselves just as so many of us are doing, but not nearly enough. Not even close yet... Again, just my opinion as I sit here and pay the price for the beliefs that I have.

I agree with that. Computers have definetly removed the need for as many "good people". I wouldn't know what to think if a company started offering more money for experienced people to stay on board. They used too..