I believe your MEC's negotiating committee negotiated this deal. Those would be your fellow pilots. If you are looking for failures, look within.
Here's what's puzzling about it. Originally, when Mesa first started the China JV, management offered pilots the option to go and work under the terms that KP was offering. That meant complete severance from Mesa except that they could take a LOA and retain their seniority. Not everyone who wanted to go was taken, but some did and the rest is history.
MAG ALPA had concerns about it in terms of the fairness that would result for those who stayed and worked under the more 'difficult' conditions, ie the UAL system. After all, only a select few went and KP was hiring off the street as well.
Some went and kept their seniority. After a few months of that arrangement, however, the practice stopped and you had to choose the horse you rode. The process was muddled because the contract was not clear on a situation like this and the company's view was that it had unfettered discretion when it came to allowing LOAs.
Now, from a distance, it appears that if you choose to go, you are being punished financially compared to those who went initially and certianly compared to those who were hired off the street. The only distinction with the LOA was that you retained your seniority. That's why I say you are buying your own seniority.
You can justify it by saying that you plan to come back, but I don't understand why the MEC would initially condemn the idea and then subsequently endorse it again with the only distinction being a pay cut. I must be missing something here.
