SWA Dispatchers Mediation Ruling

[lineguy43]

All of you who think dovetail is bad are not trade unionists.

Are you all that selfish that you want to screw the FL workers?

Not that I agree with you much but here I do.....I know the pilot group usually doesn't do it but every other group usually does straight DOH.

 

[700UW]

Well pilots are always a unique breed, as their pay is based on what they fly.

Ground workers can work any plane and the pay is still the same.

 

[[email protected]]

Once again Congrates on your pay raise and what u got in arbitration.

 

[OPNLguy]

Have you all heard about this? I don't have exact numbers but here is the just of it. Dispatchers voted down companies first offer, company made worse second offer, they filed and went to mediation.

FYI, the only "vote" taken was the on the one (and only) T/A that was just ratified 180-2. You're probably referring to some very early proposals that went over like a lead balloon, and never made it into the T/A that was indeed voted upon.

 

[OPNLguy]

That's pretty good money for a job that could pretty much be done with a cell phone app.

Pretty stupid statement, not unlike someone opining that AMTs are just overpaid Pep Boys mechanics, or pilots are just overpaid bus drivers.

How about some respect for someone else's profession, of which you apparently really know little about?

 

[OPNLguy]

I hear you brother.

..and you as well...

 

[OPNLguy]

Which is precisely what dispatchers are a tiny group..Why do you think they command such a high salary and CASS jumpseat priviledges on all airlines that participate in CASS for essentially a 6 week 200 hr course? When mechanics have a far more and longer trek to get our tickets? We are a large group and we as mechanics are not as "protected" in the eyes of the FAA as the pilots and dispatchers meaning that un-licensed personnel can also work on a/c. But we as mechanics who have A@P's are the most vulnerable to losing our tickets in that when a pilot or dispatcher is done with a flight they are done. When we work on an aircraft it has the potential to always come back to bite us if we did not do our jobs correctly. I have never bought into the mantra of strength in numbers the industrial unions like to preach. A skillset that you ABSOLUTELY have to have a license for or special skill that is hard to attain in a smaller group has the best chance of negotiating good wages and benefits.

The reasons that dispatchers (at any airline) are such a tiny group relative to their airline at-large is that they operate in, and are a centralized function.

You may not be aware of this, but specifically, a SWA dispatcher is twice as productive as the typical dispatcher at any other airline. That also means that we have all the more potential legal exposure as it concerns the flights that we operate.

 

[OPNLguy]

Well, I do know that some companies use contract dispatchers.

Part 121 Domestic/Flag airlines cannot contract their dispatch offices out, so you must be referring to Part 121 Supplemental ops, Part 135 ops, Part 91 or 91K ops, or some other types of operators (like corporate flight departments) that hire people with ADX certificates, but who are not "dispatching" as in the same Part 121 Domestic/Flag scenario.

 

[lineguy43]

The reasons that dispatchers (at any airline) are such a tiny group relative to their airline at-large is that they operate in, and are a centralized function.

You may not be aware of this, but specifically, a SWA dispatcher is twice as productive as the typical dispatcher at any other airline. That also means that we have all the more potential legal exposure as it concerns the flights that we operate.

At SWA I am sure you are I think SW gets more productivity from all their workgroups with respect to other airlines..Hence the better pay and bennies as it should be. ..Oh and I have an ADX also just haven't worked as a dispatcher..Kinda wish I had jumped to your side years ago..I am a Maintenance Controller now for the last 6 yrs just getting sick of the maintenance side of the house. The dispatch side gets much better treatment than we do in MX