I think everybody here is correct to a point.
It can easily be argued that if a company has an x amount of money
to spent on labor, and a certain work group succeeds in securing a
large percentage of that money , the remaining group or groups
have to divide the remaining of x.
One pie, many mouths.
This thinking assumes:
1. The company has a specific amount of money allocated to labor
expenses and is unwilling to go over that.
2.The company does not care how the money is divided among
the work groups.
At the same time I am sure that when the mechanics negotiate they
don’t ask themselves:
“Did we leave any money on the on the table for the FA’s and the Pilots?â€
I am not sure they would feel guilt if they succeeded in getting most of the money.
This does not make them “ bad guysâ€, and at the same time I can see where
the “good guys†would be fighting to get a larger bite out of that pie.
Everybody is looking for better leverage.
A better education, a better negotiator (Union), and better market conditions will certainly help us all.