I will be voting for this agreement because it is in the range that I have always believed to be fair to us.
But I have to admit that I find it strange that now Avtech is trying to use the fear mongering on US to vote FOR a 4 year increase in our seniority over his fellow mechanics.
What a role reversal.
:unsure:
Not sure what you mean about a role reversal, I accepted the boost in seniority a long time ago.. As far as fear mongering, I see how my post could have been taken as fear mongering, but it wasn't my intention. I was simply putting a different perspective on what may happen if we were to go to arbitration, that it's not a guarantee for either AT mechs or SWA mechs, that we are a totally different scenario.
I was an advocate to arbitration long ago, before the negotiations ever began because of the non-response by AMFA during the card drive and the lack of motion on the IBT's side. I figured arbitration would set a guaranteed timetable to move things along, in a forward direction.
Now, since we've started negotiations, I believe resolving this on our terms would be in all of our best interest and am not advocating arbitration. Ever since, i've been more than willing to give a little seniority as a show of good faith to our SWA counter parts. If you re-call, I believed a reduction in seniority by 30% was a fair method to resolve our SLI issues, and a lot of you, including you WNMECH, agreed with me. Then you guys realized how a boost benefited you more than a reduction so you changed your mind from a reduction in % to a boost in %, but decided to change it yet again to a solid year # of 4 years.
After nearly a year of talking, we finally have a realistic TA to vote on. I can live with a 4 year boost. I'd be starting at SWA with more seniority than I would have if I would of left Airtran in 2011 and went to SWA....
That's how I came to terms of accepting the seniority change. If you guys, meaning SWA mechanics/AMFA, would've approached US, or at least me, with a 4 year offer from the beginning, but in a positive manner rather than a threatening one, then I believe this would've gone down a lot smoother and would've been done long ago.
What convinced me was, someone asked me, If SWA would've approached me before the acquisition and asked me to come work at SWA with my current seniority, at my current location and receive all the pay and benefits that my current seniority provided, and all I have to do is give the current SWA mechanics a 4 year seniority boost, would I do it... I had to answer yes of course, and that put things in a different perspective for me.
Like I said before, if someone from SWA would've approached me in that manner, I wouldn't of been only grateful, but willing. Unfortunately , that wasn't the case and we are where we are now, nearly a year later. But whatever.. What's done is done and now I just look forward to working along side all those willing to work along side of me.
