At the expense of being accused of stirring the pot, I would still like to see how EVERY local voted on last LBO...
Why have we not seen those numbers? Who is being tweaked? They are down to changing the minds of 600-700 memebers.
I would hope that the 2000 members who were too busy or didn't care enough to vote on the last one begin to care.
The Tulsa local is vehemently urging a YES vote trying to instill fear into its members that the once the line becomes the majority that they are somehow doomed.
I would too, however the International decided not to release those numbers to us, said they didnt have a breakdown.
Interesting because Reams comments in NY were trying to pin the blame on this bad deal on Tulsa. Over at LGA I was told that he said that we on the line should vote for it because then the company could outsource work at the bases. He then said at JFK that the deal is the result of the fact that with 6500 guys that OH controls whats discussed, and that the company wants its OH mechanics to accept what OH mechanics at other carriers get and line mechanics get what line mechanics get at other carriers but insinuated that it was the base dominated unions fault that the line was getting screwed. They had two meetings at JFK and were respectfully but not warmly recognized and clearly informed of where we stood. Even our Company Men were outspoken and direct. Later I was informed that Evie Rodriguez (Director from ORD) had told one of our guys at the Al Blackman ceremony that the line should vote to pass this because with the language changes the company was going to outsource so much OH that the Line would be the majority by the time, he didnt buy it. I was approached by a member of management who said "you guys need to seperate from the base". So, after reading some of the posts on this sight it appears that their strategy is to tell the base guys they have to vote yes because the line guys will screw them in abrogation if they dont and a YES vote is the only way to save jobs and they are telling the line guys that they need to vote yes so the company can screw the base guys and make the line the majority and bring them back up to their rightful place among their peers in the industry. So which way is it? Classic divide and conquer
Some are saying that if we vote this down there will be massive job losses, and yes, over the next several years thats probably true, but the same is true if we vote yes. Either way it wont happen next month, or even next year, it will take time, and as time goes on attrition will eat up most of the reductions. If we vote yes we give them six years to outsource as much as they can while we stay at the bottom of the industry. What about the wage adjustment? Well that only addresses the hourly rate, when other forms of pay are factored in we would still be at the bottom because of our vacation, holiday and sick time allotments.
Lets go back to 1995, AA posted a nice profit that year yet we were hoodwinked into accepting a six year deal. We were told not to worry about the end loaded 6 year 6.5% contract where we introduced SRPs because the Me Too Clause would get us whatever the pilots however the company knew that we would never see a dime from the me too clause when they negotiated deal, betrayed by both the people who pay us and the people we pay.
I forget the year but lets look at Supplimental Medical, a company plan where we could buy extra medical coverage, with a $5 million cap there wasnt much concern as far as active employee coverage but the coverage as far as retiree medical was not very much, so the company, with the support of the people we pay urged us to buy supplimental. twenty years later, after amassing around $78 million the company deceides to cancel the plan and keep the money. Tax laws require that they can only use the funds that are left over to pay their obligations for employee benefits with those funds, but that means that millions that would have otherwise been withdrawn from the general fund now dont have to, so guys who had paid in for 20 or more years becuase they were told that if they wanted the supplimental to the retiree medical they would have to pay for it when it was offered, they could not buy it when they retiree, simply lost their money. The company claimed they could do that because they said it was a term plan-the people we pay did nothing.
2003, we were told that if we gave concessions outside of BK that the courts would look favorably on it when the company filed. Well they were wrong, the courts didnt care.
2003, we were told "dont worry, we will get it all back in 2006 with the early opener clause", well its 2012 and we still didnt get any of it back, in fact the people we pay are now telling us we should agree to give up a lot more than anyone else ever gave up.
When will we ever learn? We have management telling guys on the line they need to vote yes so they can outsource enough OH to make the line the majority and we have either management or union in Tulsa saying that they need to vote YES because the line wants to screw Tulsa. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE VOTING ON!!! Is this what you expecvted when you enterred this industry? Do you find it acceptable to no just be on the bottom but to be so far below your peers that one would think you have a vdifferent type of occupation? Considering the past we have why would any of us believe either story? Lets stand together, hopefully with the Pilots and Flight Attendants, Vote No and tell both the company and the courts if need be that under any circumstances what the company is attempting to do her is unacceptable!!.
