SWAPA TA Failure and downgrades

[shearedshaft]

What I wrote before is coming true. The "no" vote looks to be a very, very expensive decision.

Now we have Gary Kelly saying we're negotiating in a new environment (whups, I thought if we vote no the company was going to give us more money? Someone should tell the CEO, I don't think he got the message).

I've read that we have chief pilots saying that retro is now off the table, and to top it off:

23 captain downgrades in a month or so.

God only knows what that is going to do to the lances (does everyone get to keep their star? No? Yes? I thought many people voted no because of the lances, there were a little over 100 that would have lost their stars, where does this 23 fit in? Maybe over the next five months, the rest will lose their star, and we'll still not get our overdue pay raises. )

I've been been hearing from more and more that we just cut off our nose to spite our face.

In September, when your 6% raise doesn't show up (sorry 7% with the 401(k) bump) you can thank your lucky stars that we paid around $12,000 per year per pilot for a no vote. Sure was nice to save those lances. Well, 3/4th of them. Until September, then it might be 1/2 of them. Until January, where it might be...zero.

 

[Daddy]

The sky is falling isn't it?

Perhaps not...the pilots are the most mgmt friendly group on property...the company would be stupid to not offer a bit more to put it closer to other groups and over the top and provoke a war with the most friendly group when other groups will likely follow suit down the road. Talk about cutting off the nose to spite the face. Dont get played here...this is a very conservative group of mgrs. Chuck would start a war, but Gary is not that foolish...luckily for the shareholders Chuck is not the "decider" here. LUV stock trades at premium to other airlines even now because of the business model and the traditional harmony with labor...they will not risk screwing that up.

 

[scoreboardII]

Shearshift, 1st, you know nothing. God knows, you would also if you read the current contract. Get your facts straight; nobody is downgraded, they are still "Captains" if they choose to play the Lance game.

Second, if the TA passed it would have resulted in exactly the same, the loss of 23 hard captain lines. Every lance keeps their star, you never lose it. You can thank the OLD contract for that little rule.

It's the Chicken Littles like you who spread the fear that made this last vote so close. There is nothing in a passing of or failing of a TA that keeps Kelly and crew from doing anything with regards to manning, it was and is going to happen regardless. So please get over yourself and your'e prophetic prognostications. Here's one for you, the economy will suck for another year. No matter how we vote next time around, we will still lose more manning this fall. Hows that?

 

[shearedshaft]

well, real quick, show me the part in the contract that says they get to "stay" lances.

I'll be waiting.

P.S. I'll save you time, in the past they have allowed it, but it's not contractual. Since they're so enamored with the program, I'm sure they'll just let us double the lance size. Yep.

 

[radarlove]

I don't know much about the LUV world, but I can state this: you may get a different contract, but I doubt you'll get a better one.

Think about it, if they hand the keys to the cash register for a simple no vote, doesn't that telegraph a message for all future negotiations with all the other work groups?

Take a good, hard look at Airtran, voting no has got them nowhere but years down the road with no raise.

I suspect that has just happened to LUV, you guys will get a contract, but down the road and will have given up a chunk of raises.

Or not, maybe telling your MEC turn this down was the best thing in the world to do, but history shows a different view.

 

[scoreboardII]

Stay Lances? The part that says upgrade or out, the part that says once upgraded you always take the PC as a Captain. That part.

Since they're so enamored with the program, I'm sure they'll just let us double the lance size. Yep.[/

Yes, they will, per a little rule in the RLA...

 

[StopNTSing]

What I wrote before is coming true. The "no" vote looks to be a very, very expensive decision.

Now we have Gary Kelly saying we're negotiating in a new environment (whups, I thought if we vote no the company was going to give us more money? Someone should tell the CEO, I don't think he got the message).

I've read that we have chief pilots saying that retro is now off the table, and to top it off:

23 captain downgrades in a month or so.

God only knows what that is going to do to the lances (does everyone get to keep their star? No? Yes? I thought many people voted no because of the lances, there were a little over 100 that would have lost their stars, where does this 23 fit in? Maybe over the next five months, the rest will lose their star, and we'll still not get our overdue pay raises. )

I've been been hearing from more and more that we just cut off our nose to spite our face.

In September, when your 6% raise doesn't show up (sorry 7% with the 401(k) bump) you can thank your lucky stars that we paid around $12,000 per year per pilot for a no vote. Sure was nice to save those lances. Well, 3/4th of them. Until September, then it might be 1/2 of them. Until January, where it might be...zero.

Friend, as someone who has fast become the loudest SWA chicken-little on FI (even out-doing Mach 80), I keep wondering where was your voice BEFORE the vote ended?

 

[PropPiedmont]

Doom and gloom, Doom and gloom. Let's see how many guys take the buyout before you get your panties all up in a wad.

Wasn't the August schedule cut announced before we voted on the TA????????????????????

How could we not be overstaffed if we have cuts coming? This has nothing to do with the vote.

 

[murano]

What I wrote before is coming true. The "no" vote looks to be a very, very expensive decision.

Now we have Gary Kelly saying we're negotiating in a new environment (whups, I thought if we vote no the company was going to give us more money? Someone should tell the CEO, I don't think he got the message).

I've read that we have chief pilots saying that retro is now off the table, and to top it off:

23 captain downgrades in a month or so.

God only knows what that is going to do to the lances (does everyone get to keep their star? No? Yes? I thought many people voted no because of the lances, there were a little over 100 that would have lost their stars, where does this 23 fit in? Maybe over the next five months, the rest will lose their star, and we'll still not get our overdue pay raises. )

I've been been hearing from more and more that we just cut off our nose to spite our face.

In September, when your 6% raise doesn't show up (sorry 7% with the 401(k) bump) you can thank your lucky stars that we paid around $12,000 per year per pilot for a no vote. Sure was nice to save those lances. Well, 3/4th of them. Until September, then it might be 1/2 of them. Until January, where it might be...zero.

Tom Dean, is that you?

 

[PCL_128]

Sounds to me like SWA management is doing a good job of turning SWA into just another legacy carrier with poor labor relations. If they're smart they'll reverse that trend quickly before it's too late. The money that they'll end up losing as a result of a disgruntled labor group that won't go above and beyond anymore will make the money required for a fair contract pale in comparison.

Take a good, hard look at Airtran, voting no has got them nowhere but years down the road with no raise.

And you would have a very hard time finding a single pilot here that regrets that decision. That TA was a disaster and far worse than current book. The scope concessions would have erased the jobs of hundreds of AirTran pilots, and the work rule concessions would have canceled out any pay rate increases. Stick to your own pilot group. You obviously don't understand things over here.

 

[Widow's Son]

>>Stick to your own pilot group.<<

Says an Airtran pilot on a SWA thread.

 

[PCL_128]

>>Stick to your own pilot group.<<

Says an Airtran pilot on a SWA thread.

The difference is that I'm not criticizing your pilot group for the actions that you've taken on your own through the democratic process. He is.

 

[filejw]

From a old legacy guy, code share is a big no no. You are selling to future down the road especially in a 737. Don't be short sided...

 

[shearedshaft]

I think you're wrong about having a "very hard time finding a single..."

It is starting to sink in that we just past the first pay period following the failed T.A.

My paycheck grossed almost exactly $1,000 less than it would have if the T.A. had ratified. So let's start a count, I've already spent a thousand bucks so far in your hopes that something much, much better is coming down the road.

I think everyone should say their seniority range, and I'll keep a running tab for you about how much you have spent.

SWAPA is starting what sounds like a long process to hire and train a new negotiating committee. The letter from the VP of flight ops followed by the blog from the union president didn't give me any warm fuzzies that they're going to whip up a codeshare fix, find some bigger raises, and fix all of the other stuff that you guys complained about in a short time.

It looks like we're back to the long slog, and if what I read on the other forum is correct, we may be starting from square one, minus retro.

What's funny is that one poster here complained about the codeshare in the TA. Fill me in, how much codeshare protection do we have right now under the agreement we reverted to? Hint: zero. If the company doesn't grow, they only have to tell us the reason why.

So I'm out a thousand bucks. I bet the no guys here are senior to me and are out even more. Next month it will be up to two thousand bucks. Next month, I'd bet money more captains get downgraded. Month following, into the fall? More captains downgraded.

No contractual protections for the lances that wanted to be grandfathered, so voting no didn't save them. No contractual protections for code share, so Volaris and Westjet move ahead with absolutely zero cap, no restrictions whatsoever.

Let's start counting:
1. Money is leaving our pockets, a lot of money out of our paychecks starting last paycheck.
2. Captain downgrade means that "saving the lances" is a moot point
3. Reverting to the old contract means we have zero say over codeshare. None, the CEO could hire Skywest tomorrow to fill in California and Texas short-haul. Under the TA, he couldn't, right now, I bet he's got phone messages on his desk from Skywest, Republic, ASA...
4. More schedule cuts coming in the fall, so overall pilot pay will go down. With the raises, it wouldn't have. Now, we're not only going to lose on additional salary, we're in the enviable position to actually be taking a pay cut due to schedule cuts. Nice, guys!
5. Did I mention we don't have any contractual protections for domestic codeshare? Just wondering if that sunk in.

So far, you've called me names, but nobody has shown me how we're better off than we would have been if it passed. That's because we're not better off. We're worse off, and it's going to continue to go downhill.

Even the new contract had better furlough clauses in it than our current, so if that happens, the guys would have been better off (and no, I'm not saying voting no will cause furloughs, but voting yes would have put more money in the pockets of the guys getting cut loose).

I had hopes the union and the management would meet and come up with something fast and good. It looks instead like management popped the champagne corks and is going to push any raises until next calendar year, or later.

Where is the rejoicing over the no vote? Why are you guys calling me names instead of telling me what is now better than before?

 

[shearedshaft]

...and I think Radar is right, if the company caved easy, there would never be another union on the property that didn't vote down the first TA offered.

Even if management WANTED to cave in, this reason alone means that we're in for the long haul, they can't telegraph that they don't really mean it when they say, "This is as far we we can go"

Think about that, negotiating committees have to believe the company when they reach the end of the road. If the end of the road isn't really the end of the road, then there isn't an NC around that will believe the company negotiators have any credibility.

So you guys hoping something lovely and sunny comes out from a no vote might want to think about whether or not the company wants to give up all of their credibility for all future negotiations.

Look three threads below this...Airtran is now seeking even more concessions after to failed TAs. Are we that different over at SWA?

 

[scoreboardII]

instead of telling me what is now better than before

We are acting like union that seeks to ensure the betterment of all, not just a select few on the top of the heap. That includes those that come behind US.

YOU fail to realize it isn't all about "ME, MINE, I"; it's about US and WE.

YOU are upset because YOU are out $1,000, which YOUR'E not. YOU will get that $1,000 once a new TA is agreed upon by US.

YOU fail to realize YOU are now on the side of the US with a no vote on the TA.

It will all work out for the better, If WE hang together, instead of being greedy and only caring about YOU.

If SWA so much as hints at pulling a Tranny pullback, it's going to be awfully hard moving jets with the parking brake set. I believe SWA will come out looking like gold, throw in a few monior bones, appproved TA, life goes on. You are the one with doom and gloom.

 

[Herkdrv]

May I ask what your background was before coming to SW?

What I wrote before is coming true. The "no" vote looks to be a very, very expensive decision.

Now we have Gary Kelly saying we're negotiating in a new environment (whups, I thought if we vote no the company was going to give us more money? Someone should tell the CEO, I don't think he got the message).

I've read that we have chief pilots saying that retro is now off the table, and to top it off:

23 captain downgrades in a month or so.

God only knows what that is going to do to the lances (does everyone get to keep their star? No? Yes? I thought many people voted no because of the lances, there were a little over 100 that would have lost their stars, where does this 23 fit in? Maybe over the next five months, the rest will lose their star, and we'll still not get our overdue pay raises. )

I've been been hearing from more and more that we just cut off our nose to spite our face.

In September, when your 6% raise doesn't show up (sorry 7% with the 401(k) bump) you can thank your lucky stars that we paid around $12,000 per year per pilot for a no vote. Sure was nice to save those lances. Well, 3/4th of them. Until September, then it might be 1/2 of them. Until January, where it might be...zero.

 

[Daddy]

...and I think Radar is right, if the company caved easy, there would never be another union on the property that didn't vote down the first TA offered.

Even if management WANTED to cave in, this reason alone means that we're in for the long haul, they can't telegraph that they don't really mean it when they say, "This is as far we we can go"

Think about that, negotiating committees have to believe the company when they reach the end of the road. If the end of the road isn't really the end of the road, then there isn't an NC around that will believe the company negotiators have any credibility.

So you guys hoping something lovely and sunny comes out from a no vote might want to think about whether or not the company wants to give up all of their credibility for all future negotiations.

Look three threads below this...Airtran is now seeking even more concessions after to failed TAs. Are we that different over at SWA?

If the next TA is not better, it will fail...period. Then SWA will have to deal with the very real possibility of getting ALPA on property...like Airtran. If you think they are fine with dealing with ALPA, then you need to take a drug test before you go flying again. Mgmt does not want to go down this road. You may lose your house because you cant live off the extra 1000 bucks now, but you will be better off in the long term when we get a (slightly) better deal in the next few months. I personally will be much better off with the flexibility in the current contract...I am up roughly 2K already due to the extra time and a half flying that otherwise would not have been available with the TA's draconian ELITT restrictions.

 

[Blue Dude]

What I wrote before is coming true. The "no" vote looks to be a very, very expensive decision.

...

I've read that we have chief pilots saying that retro is now off the table, and to top it off:

23 captain downgrades in a month or so.

How many captain downgrades would you expect with looser scope restrictions? Just wondering.

 

[shearedshaft]

YOU will get that $1,000 once a new TA is agreed upon by US.

It will all work out for the better, If WE hang together, instead of being greedy and only caring about YOU.

Well, rumor has it that retro is off the table, because it was us that said no to the money. It's a good argument, we said no to the money.

I'm curious as to exactly how sure you are about this retro.

I haven't heard one single voice from people who would actually know (read SWAPA and SWA executives, something in writing or a Torti video) that have stated that what you said is true. Maybe it is, or maybe it's your fantasy speaking. I guess we'll find out. The only think I have heard is that retro is off the table, so that goes against your thoughts. But that's a rumor, maybe it's wrong.

And to the poster talking about "draconian ELITT restrictions", I call bull. The ELITT committee, whoever those people are, post new restrictions all the time on the forum and nobody bitches. I don't even read them.

Why don't I read them? Because ELITT is useless for anyone who is a weekday flier.

The changes weren't draconian. But maybe I'm wrong, so show me, using a real example instead of a catchphrase ("draconian") how I am worse off under the new contract regarding ELITT.

More weekend restrictions would actually make it easier for a weekday flier like me to use ELITT, as would restricting lances and first year guys from pounding on the system. So weekend restrictions make it harder for YOU, but make it better for ME, there will be some weekday trips left to trade to, perhaps.

But as you reminded me, it's not all about you, is it?

 

[PCL_128]

Well, rumor has it that retro is off the table, because it was us that said no to the money. It's a good argument, we said no to the money.

You sound like a gullible newhire at an RJ operator, for f&ck sake. "Off the table?" I've got news for you: nothing is ever "off the table" in negotiations. That may be their ridiculous line at the table, but it's all posturing. They know full well that they won't get away with not paying you retro. Don't be a chump.

 

[firstthird]

no COLA, no retro, no contract.

 

[shearedshaft]

How many captain downgrades would you expect with looser scope restrictions? Just wondering.

There are exactly zero scope restrictions in the current contract, so your question is hard to answer.

The new contract restricted domestic code share and RJs, the old (current) contract did not. So voting no was to vote against scope and codeshare restrictions. Odd to hear that argument.

Status quo is much worse under the contract that was last negotiated when I was probably still in high school.

There is a side letter that says that the company plans to grow and that's why they're codesharing (yah, sure) but if the company doesn't grow, the only penalty is to sit down with the union and explain why they aren't growing.

And why they aren't growing isn't a rocket science question, now is it?

 

[shearedshaft]

no COLA, no retro, no contract.

No contract, no raises! Everyone, including management is happy.

Except those of us who fly weekdays, can't ELITT because of the weekend guys and lances who make it useless for us, and those of us who want to restrict domestic codeshare.

And to the guy who is making fun of Retro being "off the table", I have no idea if it is or not, but I do want to make the point that you don't either.

If it's still on the table, is it tradable? Does our new NC, six months down the road, get presented with "Retro or lance reduction?" Or "Retro or ELITT changes?"

Maybe not. Maybe we'll get the keys to the cash register and they'll send up balloons at headquarters when the NC shows up. Herb will take them to a strip club, tell them that they get everything everyone wants and we'll get to vote and be happy.

...Or maybe we'll be told that the economic conditions are completely different now then they were when the raises were negotiated (oh wait, Gary has already said that, hasn't he? Not a chance his negotiating team will say it too, now is there?) and if we want that, we have to give up this.

 

[firstthird]

shearedshaft "the sky is falling, the sky is falling"

you fear guys failed to get the 50% + 1 that you were looking for. the vote is over. it is time to renegotiate and get something that a majority of us will approve.

I'm sorry if you fall for the chief pilot talking points of the day. Last I checked, Chuck hasn't canceled ELITT yet even though our own union guys were selling that little fear package, helping the chief pilots along.

We'll see how it goes but I'm not scared. are you?

p.s. we made 30 million in the first quarter flying airplanes. and we might make money this quarter too, despite revenue management screwing the pooch and selling much of our inventory out in the early spring for fire sale prices, again. reminds me of the summer of 2007. full all summer, anemic profits. I hope they learned something during the intervening two years. something like, you can't make money selling tickets below cost.

 

[shearedshaft]

May I ask what your background was before coming to SW?

Why is that important? Why is that the first question out of every air force guy flying a civilian airplane? I'm on Flightinfo, so connect the dots, where do most of us come from?

Personel items? I fly a lot, I couldn't pick out my board rep from a lineup without a copy of the reporting point to look at his picture, I don't know anyone in management and in general, I could have cared less about the politics of the union and company until I heard the nonsense coming out of many of the no voters.

What counts now, however, is that I am a SWA pilot, I read the contract and I understand it, warts and all.

I read through the contract and kept thinking about the why's of the changes. "Aha!" I would say. "They're trying to keep guys from using ELITT to change bases. Or using ELITT to change from a copilot to a captain!"

The new contract had JA at double time and JA pay would start if you were rerouted even a minute before or after your scheduled day (yes, guys from other airlines, any reroute that changed your duty day was paid at time and a half, what a drag).

Overfly pay would start sooner (half of what it is now), ust like American, except we're not quite yet being paid by the minute, but it's closer.

New restrictions were put on ELITT that would partially restrict junior guys and lances from moving all weekend flying to the weekdays (which screws weekday fliers who wanted to use ELITT and who can't right now), would restrict lances and first year guys from pounding on ELITT so that net zero might, for once, be positive, so a weekday flier might have a chance to change his schedule around.

It gave oversized raises to senior FOs (dollar for dollar equaling captain raises), it restricted domestic code share and RJs.

It also changed our good-ol' boy open time system to one with multiple bidding opportunities, turned VJA into true VJA, oh hell, I bet you guys didn't even read the contract all the way through. I'm going to stop now.

You're welcome to keep calling me names, I'm PHX based, so you know I can take a lot of guff.

But seriously, other than calling me names and asking what my background was, why don't you address the argument I'm making?

 

[Herkdrv]

Why is that important? Why is that the first question out of every air force guy flying a civilian airplane? I'm on Flightinfo, so connect the dots.

Personel items? I fly a lot, I couldn't pick out my board rep from a lineup without a copy of the reporting point to look at his picture, I don't know anyone in management and in general, I could have cared less about the politics of the union and company until I heard the nonsense coming out of many of the no voters.

What counts now, however, is that I am a SWA pilot, I read the contract and I understand it, warts and all.

I read through the contract and kept thinking about the why's of the changes. "Aha!" I would say. "They're trying to keep guys from using ELITT to change bases. Or using ELITT to change from a copilot to a captain!"

The new contract had JA at double time, had JA pay start if you were rerouted even a minute before or after your scheduled day (yes, guys from other airlines, any reroute that changed your duty day was paid at time and a half, what a drag).

Overfly pay would start at half of what it is now. Just like American, except we're not quite yet being paid by the minute, but it's closer.

New restrictions were put on ELITT that would partially restrict junior guys and lances from moving all weekend flying to the weekdays (which screws weekday fliers who wanted to use ELITT and who can't right now), would restrict lances and first year guys from pounding on ELITT so that net zero might, for once, be positive, so a weekday flier might have a chance to change his schedule around.

It gave oversized raises to senior FOs (dollar for dollar equaling captain raises), it restricted domestic code share and RJs.

It also changed our good-ol' boy open time system to one with multiple bidding opportunities, turned VJA into true VJA, oh hell, I bet you guys didn't even read the contract all the way through. I'm going to stop now.

You're welcome to keep calling me names, I'm PHX based, so you know I can take a lot of guff.

But seriously, other than calling me names and asking what my background was, why don't you address the argument I'm making?

Well it sounds like you are falling for every single management trick in the book and was just wondering if this was your first airline or not. So is this your first airline?

 

[m80drvr]

Why is that important? Why is that the first question out of every air force guy flying a civilian airplane? I'm on Flightinfo, so connect the dots.

Personel items? I fly a lot, I couldn't pick out my board rep from a lineup without a copy of the reporting point to look at his picture, I don't know anyone in management and in general, I could have cared less about the politics of the union and company until I heard the nonsense coming out of many of the no voters.

What counts now, however, is that I am a SWA pilot, I read the contract and I understand it, warts and all.

I read through the contract and kept thinking about the why's of the changes. "Aha!" I would say. "They're trying to keep guys from using ELITT to change bases. Or using ELITT to change from a copilot to a captain!"

The new contract had JA at double time, had JA pay start if you were rerouted even a minute before or after your scheduled day (yes, guys from other airlines, any reroute that changed your duty day was paid at time and a half, what a drag).

Overfly pay would start at half of what it is now. Just like American, except we're not quite yet being paid by the minute, but it's closer.

New restrictions were put on ELITT that would partially restrict junior guys and lances from moving all weekend flying to the weekdays (which screws weekday fliers who wanted to use ELITT and who can't right now), would restrict lances and first year guys from pounding on ELITT so that net zero might, for once, be positive, so a weekday flier might have a chance to change his schedule around.

It gave oversized raises to senior FOs (dollar for dollar equaling captain raises), it restricted domestic code share and RJs.

It also changed our good-ol' boy open time system to one with multiple bidding opportunities, turned VJA into true VJA, oh hell, I bet you guys didn't even read the contract all the way through. I'm going to stop now.

You're welcome to keep calling me names, I'm PHX based, so you know I can take a lot of guff.

But seriously, other than calling me names and asking what my background was, why don't you address the argument I'm making?

No really...Where did you come from? You are coming across as a selfish idiot I just wonder what path you took to get here.

 

[shearedshaft]

shearedshaft "the sky is falling, the sky is falling"

you fear guys failed to get the 50% + 1 that you were looking for. the vote is over. it is time to renegotiate and get something that a majority of us will approve.

I'm sorry if you fall for the chief pilot talking points of the day. Last I checked, Chuck hasn't canceled ELITT yet even though our own union guys were selling that little fear package, helping the chief pilots along.

We'll see how it goes but I'm not scared. are you?

p.s. we made 30 million in the first quarter flying airplanes. and we might make money this quarter too, despite revenue management screwing the pooch and selling much of our inventory out in the early spring for fire sale prices, again. reminds me of the summer of 2007. full all summer, anemic profits. I hope they learned something during the intervening two years. something like, you can't make money selling tickets below cost.

I'm not a "fear guy". I didn't say a word to anyone until after the contract failed, then I smacked my head because I should have spoken up.

This shiit is expensive. You took a $1,000 month bird in the hand and traded it for an unknown. We'll now have a new negotiating committee, walking into the lion's mouth during the worst recession in 50 years asking for "more please." That's $12,000 per year, or more if you're a senior dude.

That's a lot of coin to place on the roulette table.

As I've written about, ELITT doesn't mean squat to me, or to anyone who flies weekdays. It doesn't work. I don't care if SWAPA or the company pull the plug, I wouldn't notice the difference.

I hate codeshare, and I liked restricting all domestic codeshare so we don't get an American/American Eagle thing going. But hey, back to the roulette table. What happens when a Republic contract gets announced? Then our NC is going to have to get SWA to back out of something that's already going, instead of restricting them from starting.

And I don't know the chief pilot talking points, I wish I did. The only (only!) interesting stuff I've heard is from a guy who was on the negotiating committee and is posting on the forum. I wish he would have spoken up a little earlier.

 

[shearedshaft]

No really...Where did you come from? You are coming across as a selfish idiot I just wonder what path you took to get here.

More with the insults. Fine, but deep in your heart, you have a sinking feeling that I'm right.

Just wait until you get a progress report from our new (well, "new" isn't right the sperm hasn't even left the vas deferens yet) NC and their fancy box-stuffer says, "SWA now maintains that times are different now than when they first negotiated the last TA, so we are making very little progress."

When that comes out, I'd like you, like a rapper, to pour out a 40 on your copy of the old TA and think, "He was right after all."

So far I've gotten insulted and asked about my background.

Nobody has touched the central issues.