I am sure I don’t see the big picture even though the TWU has made enormous efforts to keep us all informed.
First of all I wanted to say that if I had the opportunity to vote on our last contract offer I would vote no all over again.
The measures we took in 2003 were extraordinary and still we find ourselves having to feed the monkey. You can never satiate the beast. As long as we keep yielding they will come back again and again and again for more and more.
In order to keep the numbers up the TWU will give, and give and give.
There comes a point where workers need to not give and give and give or what you have eventually is something not worth fighting for.
Even when times were better we were still forced to feed the monkey. In 1989, if memory serves me right, union members agreed to a TWU recommended “improved” flexible medical plan in which the workers began pitching in on medical costs and their costs grown larger and larger each year.
In 1995 we locked into a 6 ½ % over 6 years contract and the airline went on to make millions and millions while we were locked into that “iron clad” contract. Also at TUL and AFW the mechanics gave their approval to a SRP (now OSM) program in which they gave up a whoppin’ 25% of their own AMT positions even though the company was beginning to make money hand in fist. The company attempted to man more than the 25% of these lower costs (semi-skilled) positions and from what I understand the threat of a lawsuit by the TWU prevented this from happening.
In 2003 it was time to feed the monkey again and we traded pay and benefits for jobs (a formula I believe we’ll soon see again). Now after giving up so much in less than two weeks to save the company it is again time to feed the monkey. They must be terrible at managing an airline or we must be incredibly gullible because here it comes again. I have no doubt the company will begin to make record profits once more but somehow the work group will be locked into another "iron clad" contract and by 2018 it will be time to feed the monkey again with either pay and benefit cuts or more outsourced work.
I voted no in 2003 and in 2008 and I’d vote no again. Call me an A-hole, don’t care. I’m sure I don’t see the big picture so label me naïve.
Now to the point of my posting, we have thousands of employees that are sick of this pattern (and the “valid” reasons for feeding the monkey) that they can barely stomach this any more. They are looking for ANY excuse to jump off this tilted merry-go-round. Why not sprinkle a little fairy dust their way (early out incentive) and allow these already noxious people to jump off?
Thousands of higher seniority workers are eagerly wanting to jump off, they are tired of feeding the monkey, why not give them the push they need? Why not take advantage of this situation and allow our younger, less seniority people, who are no doubt at this point in their lives establishing families and need a good job and some security to keep their jobs. Thousands want to jump off this ship…let them. Cut from the top not the bottom.
Dennis Hayes
SEA
First of all I wanted to say that if I had the opportunity to vote on our last contract offer I would vote no all over again.
The measures we took in 2003 were extraordinary and still we find ourselves having to feed the monkey. You can never satiate the beast. As long as we keep yielding they will come back again and again and again for more and more.
In order to keep the numbers up the TWU will give, and give and give.
There comes a point where workers need to not give and give and give or what you have eventually is something not worth fighting for.
Even when times were better we were still forced to feed the monkey. In 1989, if memory serves me right, union members agreed to a TWU recommended “improved” flexible medical plan in which the workers began pitching in on medical costs and their costs grown larger and larger each year.
In 1995 we locked into a 6 ½ % over 6 years contract and the airline went on to make millions and millions while we were locked into that “iron clad” contract. Also at TUL and AFW the mechanics gave their approval to a SRP (now OSM) program in which they gave up a whoppin’ 25% of their own AMT positions even though the company was beginning to make money hand in fist. The company attempted to man more than the 25% of these lower costs (semi-skilled) positions and from what I understand the threat of a lawsuit by the TWU prevented this from happening.
In 2003 it was time to feed the monkey again and we traded pay and benefits for jobs (a formula I believe we’ll soon see again). Now after giving up so much in less than two weeks to save the company it is again time to feed the monkey. They must be terrible at managing an airline or we must be incredibly gullible because here it comes again. I have no doubt the company will begin to make record profits once more but somehow the work group will be locked into another "iron clad" contract and by 2018 it will be time to feed the monkey again with either pay and benefit cuts or more outsourced work.
I voted no in 2003 and in 2008 and I’d vote no again. Call me an A-hole, don’t care. I’m sure I don’t see the big picture so label me naïve.
Now to the point of my posting, we have thousands of employees that are sick of this pattern (and the “valid” reasons for feeding the monkey) that they can barely stomach this any more. They are looking for ANY excuse to jump off this tilted merry-go-round. Why not sprinkle a little fairy dust their way (early out incentive) and allow these already noxious people to jump off?
Thousands of higher seniority workers are eagerly wanting to jump off, they are tired of feeding the monkey, why not give them the push they need? Why not take advantage of this situation and allow our younger, less seniority people, who are no doubt at this point in their lives establishing families and need a good job and some security to keep their jobs. Thousands want to jump off this ship…let them. Cut from the top not the bottom.
Dennis Hayes
SEA
