Hey Worldport just to give you some of our history since I'm still learning yours. After we gave our concessions in 03 management at that time tried to start a program called "Pull Together, Win Together" They even touted up as an example Harley Davidson which at the time was having fantastic employee relations and were in a partnership with their workers.
It was a great idea but it only lasted about 1 year. Management wanted or expected instant results and were so unconfident of themselves that it just went back to the same old same old. From there all it did was get progressively worse. To me the absolute worst slap in the face though was when they started to force us to go and pick up our little AIP bonus checks instead of direct depositing them. One of those checks I think was $50.00 and with going to get that check they gave out a small $100,000 grand chocolate bar. It was a psychological spit in the face.
And there are tons of other stories too that are burned into my mind on how they behaved. Anyone who's not glad these people are gone have some serious short term memory problems.
Fast forward to today. I DO honestly think Parker and his team are trying to mend the wounds. But he is NOT doing enough for the Association workgroups. there negotiators COULD easily turn around Monday morning and present our negotiators a decent comprehensive proposal on all remaining articles. but they haven't. And until that happens there is ZERO chance he's going to be able to get past the animosity we're living with every day.
“We have to be out working to find ways to positively surprise our employees,” Parker said. “They still don’t trust us. It’s not their fault they don’t trust us. They don’t trust us because of what they’ve experienced. They haven’t experienced trustworthy things. Not because the people they work for are necessarily not trustworthy, simply because the people they worked for couldn’t live up to the promises they made. … They’re still gun shy from it.”
“The American team has lived in that old world of management-labor tension for so long, and changing this culture requires them to understand the industry is now a different place, and they have to get past that. We all have to get past it,” Parker said.
American made $7.6 billion in profits in 2015. Mechanics and ground workers have not received raises as they are in negotiations for a new joint contract.
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/aviation/sky-talk-blog/article64805002.html
I'm waiting to see Doug "Surprise" us too?