reposted "with author's permission" from another board
I am… someone who tries to research things and think about them before forming an opinion or taking a course of action. I’ve tried hard to sort through the rhetoric on all sides of the issue now before us, searching for those grains of gold in all the sand that’s being flung up. I try hard to be respectful of other people’s ideas and opinions, even if I don’t agree with them. I’ve been called many things: “a little tightly wrapped”, “slightly over-caffeinated”, “a danged Liberal” (and those are just from my Dad!); but I hope that “close-minded” isn’t one of them.
I am… a professional decision-maker. I evaluate, analyze and try to reach sound, logical conclusions all day, every day. It’s what I’ve been trained to do; it’s what my profession demands. I don’t respond well to a “hard sell”, and telling me what I think, or should think, is an almost sure way to get me to turn you off.
I am… someone who’s never had any exposure to unions before this, and was anti-union in my outlook when I first came here. I was “original” Flight Options, right down to my gold and teal necktie; a True Believer. Since then, I’ve watched three different management teams; I’ve listened to what they said, and I’ve seen what they did. Over time, I’ve seen a motivated, familial group of people, eager to demonstrate “fanatical attention to detail” to our Owners - turn into an angry, dispirited group of people who, many times, are only going through the motions necessary to get our Owners from Point A to Point B. I’ve watched morale slowly spiral lower and lower.
I am… mindful of the lessons I’ve learned in my life about trust in relationships. Trust is a fragile thing, and once abused it takes a very long time to rebuild. Once broken, it may be beyond repair. Our Company’s management (and their predecessors) have made a number of promises, assertions, representations and nuanced suggestions, many of which have turned out to be without substance, misleading or downright untrue. I have seen benefits scrapped because they were “not sustainable for this size of a company”; yet those same type programs seem to work just fine at some of the Fortune 500 companies. I have seen programs and initiatives, loudly promoted when they first appeared, quietly die. I have seen incentives bargained away, sneakily, behind my back, only to find out about it after the fact. I have seen assurances negated, promises made by one set of managers summarily withdrawn by another set of managers, for unsupportable reasons (or in some cases, NO apparent reason). I have seen people forced out of their previous seats, even as I have lost seniority to those same people. I have heard repeated requests to “give us a chance”, “give us one more chance” and “we hope it’s not too late to earn your trust”. I think that the trust which had been established between our Company’s management and the majority of our pilots is presently inop; I think it has been MEL’d one too many times, and that this latest attempt at an MEL extension is just a little too far beyond the limit for most of us to feel comfortable to continue to fly it. I would politely suggest that perhaps it is too late, and I would refer those people asking for trust to my comments at the beginning of this paragraph.
I am… not afraid of my company’s management. Indeed, I count some of the middle managers as close personal friends, and some as professional acquaintances whom I respect a great deal. I have listened to their ideas, and in some cases I have asked for their views before coming to my own conclusions. I am willing to believe that there may be more to some stories than I’m aware of, and I’m not afraid to ask for more information, instead of leaping to unsupported assumptions. I don’t believe anyone in upper management either likes or dislikes me personally; any more than you might look at a bee hive and feel anything really positive or negative about any of the individual bees; they’re just a group, and they produce a product you want or need - nothing more. Any good lawyer will tell you: It’s not about you, so don’t make it personal. Take the emotion out of the equation; there’s nothing but a set of facts. But, like numbers, they can be used to tell you whatever you want to hear.
I am… skeptical of my Company’s motivation in offering me an improved compensation plan, and in listening and responding to my issues, at this particular moment in time. I am not unaware that our Company has had quite some time to develop and offer me an improved compensation plan, and to listen to my issues before now; nor am I unaware that they did not seem terribly interested in my compensation or issues until there was 1) a highly lucrative and industry-setting contract covering compensation and Quality of Life issues, brought to conclusion by a Union at our largest competitor, and 2) a nascent and imminent organizational drive underway at our Company, conducted by that same Union. I am also skeptical of Raytheon’s timing in 1) acquiring the last outstanding 4% interest in our Company; and 2) our recent re-acquisition of RAS mechanics which used to be our to start with.
I am… someone who wants a career here, and still wants to retire from here. I do not want a stepping-stone to somewhere else. I want our Company to be successful, so making demands on the Company which are not sustainable is not in my best interest; accepting pay and working conditions less than what I am worth is also not in my best interest. Assumptions that I will do either are naïve, at best.
I am… an educated, mature, thoughtful professional. I have not said anything on this forum (or any other) that I am personally ashamed of, or would have difficulty repeating to anyone’s face. I will not stoop to, or participate in, name-calling, personal ridicule or malicious personal attacks on anyone, management or otherwise. To do otherwise demeans me, undermines my sense of self-respect and makes it vastly less likely that I will be taken seriously and/or be negotiated with as the mature adult that I am, or be shown the respect I am due as an individual.
I am… after much thought, prayer and consideration of all sides of the question, taking a stand on the side of our Union. I think that self-representation might have once been a good idea; but I think that our co-workers who are presenting FOPA to us, if they are sincere (and I have no valid reason to assume they aren't), might have chosen a less awkward time to unveil their proposal. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that currently we are better served by being part of a strong cross-industry Union which represents all fractional pilots, not just those which work at one Company or another; and which has the experience and resources to effectively and expeditiously assist us in reaching a fair and equitable agreement with our Employer. I fervently hope that every one of us will allow every other one of us to do the same thing: acting not on emotion, or fear of reprisal, or a sense of wanting to get back some of your own; but using your intellect to reach a heartfelt and comfortable decision; that is, one you can feel at ease with at the end of the day, knowing you made the “right” decision for yourself and your family, no matter what it was you decided. I fully realize that no matter what the outcome of our vote, we will all still be working and flying together; even if we didn’t vote for the same thing, we can still show respect and care for one another, and remain the same friends that we always have been.
I am… aware that our Company is characterizing our Union as “outsiders”. Well, I’m not an outsider. I’m the same person you’ve been flying with, talking to, eating meals with, and trusting your life to for years. We spend more time with each other than we do with our “real” families – in a sense, we are family. Over time, we’ve talked about our spouses, our kids, our parents, our siblings, our pets, our houses, our cars, our boats, our side businesses, our finances, our pasts, our plans for the future, our regrets, and our dreams. I’m sure that, at one point, you’ve told me, or I’ve told you things we’ve never even told our spouses. I’m not an outsider – I’m one of us. You want to know who IBT 1108 is? It’s all of us, united in our support of one another, and working together to make our Company not just successful, but the best in our industry.
I am… CJ Captain Mike McLeod.
I am IBT 1108.
