Scabs at Jetblue

[calfo]

Flying at Continental, I've looked this issue square in the face for the last six years... most of the people on that list are dirtbags and deserve whatever happens to them - be it denied jumpseats, etc.

Then again, there are some people on that list that really don't deserve to be there, they almost got put there on a "technicality".

The guys that deserve to be on that list are the "superscabs" - the ones that crossed the line right away and kept Lorenzo in business. What about the ones that were hired, or crossed two years after that...? I dunno - two years later, the strike was essentially over and crossing the line didn't really mean anything at that point - yet they still made "The List".

And, listening to a superscab's story, to wit: "Continental was in the midst of giving pay concessions to Lorenzo to keep out of bankruptcy. ALPA (basically United) came to the Continental MEC and told them that they have to go on strike or else everybody else would have to take pay cuts to match." I dunno if that's what really happened, but in a conspiracy-theory sorta way, it sounds plausible. By the way, did anybody tell UAL to go on strike because it was bad for the rest of us? hmmmmm....?

The bottom line that I give guys I fly with is this, you f**cked up in 1983, but here's your chance to redeem yourself - bid all your vacation, and don't scab me, if I have to walk.

To tell you the truth, if I had two kids in college and a wife going through chemotherapy, I'm not sure what I'd do.

I hope I don't have to walk in those shoes... I think we all hope that.

 

[Boeingman]

This thread is pretty comical. A lot of chest thumping and bravado, but remember lads, no one knows who will cross and who won't until it comes down to nut crunching time. Like many of the 400 original CAL pilots including some very rabid union folks who caved in the first day.

The list doesn't mean Jack. Besides ask yourselves....how many on that list are ex (or current) ALPA pilots? And why is that?

CALFO...Not sure who is telling you this info about ALPA telling us to walk in 83, it was all the CAL MEC with little prodding from national. It was a very poorly planned and executed strike.

Dirtbags? Listen sport, your type of attitude does not foster the unity required for us to attain a decent contract. My suggestion would be to promote unity rather than dissention. If not, I'd say you picked the wrong airline to work for.

Oh, and don't make any assumptions about me either.

 

[Beerme]

This thread is pretty comical. A lot of chest thumping and bravado, but remember lads, no one knows who will cross and who won't until it comes down to nut crunching time. Like many of the 400 original CAL pilots including some very rabid union folks who caved in the first day.

I KNOW! I didn't cross over in '98 when NWA pilots went on strike( some consider it a lock-out...either way, I ,nor any other NW pilot ,flew during that period) I knew beforehand exactly what I'd do....you should also!

 

[Boeingman]

I knew beforehand exactly what I'd do....you should also!

Ummmm, I do know. I already spent 25 months honoring a picket line.

 

[Publishers]

LAX

I have over thrity years at this so I think I am qualified to comment.

Some people just are not into labeling others with the negative comments that we seem to find so attractive.

Most of the young people on here that get caught up in this have no idea what some people face or what a crock most of this is. Let me be succinct. Life or companies owe you absolutely nothing. To some of us, if an employer treats us in a manner we find offensive, we go find someone else to work for.

Others need someone else to talk for them. They like joining things and being part of some group. Good for them. Just not for me. Frankly I find ALPA to be a self serving bunch who want to control a labor market. Not my kind of group.

 

[trainerjet]

Re: LAX

Frankly I find ALPA to be a self serving bunch who want to control a labor market. Not my kind of group.

Wow. Big surprise there, considering you fancy yourself as some sort of airline management, or at least management sympathizer. Your posts repeat the same old tired story that airlines are not in business to provide jobs, etc., that they owe you nothing, and that your are just a piece of the profit making scheme that can be replaced at will.

Until you actually have anything new to contribute, why do you bother to continue to post at all? I'm not sure you have much credibility here or much of a reputaion, either.

 

[calfo]

I have no firsthand knowledge of what transpired here in '83... I only know what I hear. That part about "being told to strike" was from a former assistant chief pilot that is now in the training department in Houston. Like I said, from a conspiracy-theory viewpoint, it sounded plausible.

 

[UALU30]

A SCAB is not a SCAB forever. . .

Sooner or later, all SCABS become Dead SCABS.

Names are not forgotten.

 

[Publishers]

post

I post everytime someone spits out this kind of anger when they have no idea of what the situtation was, no personal knowledge of the people and issues involved, and no empathy for much of anyone.

You do not have to be much of a manager type to read these boards and see the division over what goes on at ALPA. People who take some pleasure in seeing "Dead Scabs" are not worthy of this profession. In the end that is it is it not. We want to act like this is some lofty profession of highly skilled talented individuals but then run and look for a union to protect us like some minimum wage laborer.

 

[typhoonpilot]

UALU30:

I was waiting for a UAL guy to post something. Let's get this straight, the UAL pilots who went on strike for all of 35 days dare to label Eastern pilots who were on strike for 6 months and then went back to work Scabs ? Anybody can go on strike for 35 days, its like a vacation. Who doesn't have enough money to pay the bills if they were out of work for a month ? The Eastern pilots who were 45 years old with no prospects of getting another decent job; have been on strike for 6 months ( and in most cases actively supporting said strike ); whom ALPA National is telling to " go back to work "; who have run out of savings and are watching their only chance of income flounder; and who signed up en masse on the same day to go back to work are Scabs ?

I've worked with a lot of former Eastern pilots who fit that description exactly and are on that stupid little blacklist. Whenever a captain I was flying with at USAirways would pull it out I would tell him the personal stories of the guys I knew on that list. Generally speaking they softened their attitude considerably.

In Taiwan we had 12 Americans living together in the same hotel. Of those 12, 5 were former Eastern. One never went back because he had a job at Midway, Three went back at six months, and one was an outright Scab who crossed to get a job. Guess what ? they all got along fine. Two of them have been hired by JetBlue this year and that doesn't include the guy who didn't go back.

The heroes at UAL who went on strike for 35 days and so proudly wear their battle star ALPA pins shouldn't really talk until they have been on strike for something longer than a typical European's vacation. UAL pilots who didn't participate in that strike have even less place to speak.

Typhoonpilot