Polar negotiations update.....
We just received "negotiations update # 31" which being that it is the 31st update should indicate we have been in negotiations for quite some time - almost 3 three years. The Union/Company will meet with the NMB on 8/12 - after which we expect to get released into our 30 day cooling off period. We hope to set a strike date around - you guessed it - the busiest time of the year. I can speculate either September or October.
The strike vote is in. 99.23% voted in favor which is also 258/260. Also, over 90% of eligible members voted. Good turn out and excellent support.
Of course no one really thinks we will strike. Our position is that we are the lowest paid 747 plots in the world and all we are really looking for is pay consistent with our Atlas brothers and sisters.
Management continues to play the old school game of hard-nosed, knock-down negotiations tactics. Jimmy Hoffa era type stuff. They just don't get it. Don't want to give a guy an honest days pay for an honest days work.
In the end it will all work out. A strike of any duration will cripple Atlas. Keep in mind that Polar is not being merged into Atlas but rather Atlas is being merged into Polar. Polar is where the value is corporate wide so I think a strike is highly unlikely given the demands of the crewmembers is not all that unreasonable.
Of course all of this is just my opinion.