I disagree there. If the choice is between a terrible contract, full of concessions, approved by 50% +1, and a term sheet that's just slightly worse than the approved contract, that the employer imposes because a judge said it's OK to impose, as an employer, I'd much rather have the employees blaming the slim majority for their plight. People only have so much energy and time for anger and hatred, and I'd rather have that half blame the other half. That might keep the workforce from burning down the place.
We agree as far as the the companys motives for 50% +1. But Ream tried the line vs base thing yesterday and nobody bit, and the guys made it pretty clear they were blaming the company, not Tulsa, and they were not afraid to burn the place down. One guy even told him point blank that even though we can do an engine change in eight hours, now they are lucky if they get it in three days. They also made it clear that they didnt care if the Judge abrogates, didnt care about any of the threats, "just do it. We know we will land on our feet. Like I said, all thats needed is a well timed spark and up it will go. The fact is our guys know that Ream had met with the Tulsa on several occasions and ignored the Presidents from the five cornerstone cities because I told them. In our counter each group was given their share of the "ask" , Line Title 1, Tulsa Title 1 and Title II. The company refused to even look at what the Line proposed for the line, they simply presented their take it or leave it proposal.
Whats on the table was not negotiated, Trying to blame Tulsa for what's in front of us simply was not going to fly. Tulsa was OK with a $2/hr GEO pay, they suggested it and said it would be easier for Tulsa to accept than a $2/hr increase in Line pay, the company flat out refused to consider ANY GEO pay whatsoever.
Burdettes comment the first day is widely known, "We are not here to renegotiate, we are just going to tweak it enough to get the 600 votes we need. Ream said pretty much the same thing in New York. The guys know what the company did and what their objectives are.
They held three meetings during the day, one at LGA and two at JFK and decided to cancell the afternoon one, we heard they also decided to change their plans and fly out of LGA instead of JFK. JFK only has one trip, LGA has many.
Nobody here is afraid, they are angry, and they are angry at management.
When they went to MIAMI nobody would talk to them, when the area director grabed a mechanic who was passing by and introduced Ream and Durst to him the guy said, "What did you come down here to say hello to people before you hand them their layoff notice?' and walked away. They are hitting ORD next, then either LAX and DFW. I suspect they will get pretty much the same reception. I just hope that nobody gets suckered into the Line vs OH debate. The fact is if the company had wanted to offer the line more than the base they could have, especially under these circumstances, they chose not to, they chose to ignore the Presidents from the five cornerstone cities and now they are trying to spin this as Tulsa's fault before its even voted on.
Tulsa did not put this offer together, management did.
At the conclusion of the last meeting yesterday I told Ream that he needed to listen to us and not the International because as he just heard we speak for the members, he said "Thats your opinion" the guys in the room corrected him.
Several of the guys who Voted YES for the Last Last best and Final Offer because they wanted to take their $40gs and go told me that they are voting NO this time, they decided $40gs wasnt enough to screw guys theyve worked along side of for decades (especially when they heard UAL gave $75K).
