AIRPORTMAN,
I know you're talking about the AFA, but the same thing comes up periodically in ALPA so I'll stick my nose in.....
Any negotiator, no matter how talented, is only as good as the backing they receive from the MEC and membership. Using ALPA's LOA 93 as an example, no negotiator can do anything when enough of the MEC & membership is demanding a vote on a company proposal - that effectively removes any negotiator from the process by rendering them powerless.
At the end of the day, there's only one Truth in negotiations - you'll never get better than you're willing to risk losing your job fighting for. As long as the overriding concern of the membership is keeping their jobs, the company has you exactly where they want you. The best negotiator that money can buy won't change that.
Jim
Jim is absolutely correct. And insofar as Pilots are concerned, the overwhelming majority feel as though the job they hold is the only way that they will ever make it. In the east following 9-11 and the economic downturn, it was "live to fight another day". They achieved that to a certain degree, but man was it ever ugly.
My 4 year furlough taught me a great deal about all of this. First, without this job, most will do just fine. For me, I made ends meet, kept my kids in the same house, same schools, same friends. That's all I wanted out of it. For others, some did extremely well-others not so well. As we see here in the east, very few are excepting recall from furlough because what is being offered doesn't motivate them enough to return.
My life on the outside also taught me that there are very few professionals in this world that would do what we do for what we receive in pay, benefits, retirement, and lack of lateral opportunities. Say you're a head hunter (a recruiter). You approach a lawyer for example. You say to he lawyer-hey-I've got a great opportunity for you. With your 20 years experience I can offer you an entry level position with a major airline. You get $85K per year, travel 100% of the time. Work weekends, holidays, and we will love you so much that we will even call you on your days off to fly. Of course, you will pay north of $400 per month for your healthcare, you will receive the smallest of pension, and should we decide to purchase another company-well we'll see how that all works out. Of course should the economy go sour, you'll have to kick in. Heck, we may not even be able to employ you beyond that. And if you loose this job-no matter how long you've worked for us, you'll have to take a job south of 40K as this industry operates under a seniority system.
It's not just LCC. It's the entire industry. We allow this to happen. You can't blame the money people for seeing this huge opportunity to exploit. Change is needed not only in our contracts, but in the manner in which we conduct ourselves inside of our unions. We are operating with 60s mentality in a rapidly changing, fiercely competitive, small margin, high risk marketplace. Lead by some of the most jacked up individuals you would ever dare entrust with your livelihoods. Yet when they blow it, we don't make the lateral move, we start completely over. Why?
Back to Jim's comments. You have to be willing to go the distance with these goons. Not only because it's right, but because trust me, they are prepared to go the distance with you. That's where a professional negotiator excels. No emotion, just the argument. But it's the rank and file that buts in and says "get a deal"!!!
Not just lip service.
