Yes. It is a sore issue.
Should be DOH and that's the way it should be. Unless you are on some sort of specific business (company or union) it should be your Board Date (which is your date of hire) IMHO, if you would take an informal poll, I would think that ACTIVE employees would ride before retirees. We'll know how it would go, sometime in the far future.
As far as the IBT, (with the mechanics) I just wanted to ask, is there a lot of furloughed MX on both sides waiting for recall? And would "fencing" be the best solution (at least temporary), since our (CO) MX are negotiating a new contract.(Are the UA IBT members contract up yet?) I just read the IBT newsletter saying that our ramp contract is going forward, and they are starting to put together a contract. Since the operation side of this merger isn't going to happen for about 2 years, I'm guessing that would be the length of the contract. Plus the IBT are claiming victory for the stoppage of the closing of our 7 outstations. (BTW: anybody knows how many stations that UA has below wing?) That may add some good graces for the IBT. But let's see how this first contract turns out, and what happens afterward.
I tell you, things are going to get very interesting over the next few months. I just hope that there will be some informal (and/or formal) meetings between the workgroups on both sides. (and not just the Pilots) so we can bounce some ideas and suggestions off each other to make this merger work. Comments on this board don't tell the whole story, and I think that there are a lot of things in common that we share and we all know that our wages and benefits have taken a beating. Just sayin'...........