Honest Assessments
Ragtime67, no one with an understanding of how negotiating works will be surprised when this terribly slanted (in the company's favor) FIRST OFFER is voted down, including the NMB.
Is the management trying to wear down the pilot group? They had been doing a good job of just that as they were able to run circles around our (current) pathetically spineless MEC. Now that the pilots and their wives are unified and actively fighting, it is the company that is on the run, as can be proven by their desperate act of overnighting their DVD infomercial/salespitch to every pilot.
The overall feeling among the pilots AND their wives, based on my many phone calls and emails, is one of anger and determination. I really believe that the company got overconfident because of the apathy shown on the last contract. They pushed the pilots too hard and were not prepared for the fierce backlash.
Yes voters are of two stripes. They are either very selfish--the money is good enough for me, to hell with the rest of you--or very fearful--buying into the scare tactics no matter how unfounded. Luckily, the majority of the pilots are smart professionals that realize a good contract is one that provides the most FOR the most. The self-serving and frightened will wind up on the wrong side of history!
Next Step--why back to the table, of course, until we get it right! Which according to an educated guess will not be longer than Feb when the new FAA mandated work rules are due to be imposed. Concurrently, we will be dumping the present MEC which failed us miserably, and handing over petitions (now over 900 collected, I believe) to divest ourself of the, equally useless, Local 284.
