Lay down your burden

freedom

Veteran
Feb 15, 2006
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With this new contract no one loses .

So here we now sit , a splintered union striving to return to what we once were before the 2001 terrorist attacks that devastated the airline industry .Our brothers on the east have endured an unheard of TWO bankruptcies to keep their company alive , and we on the west have worked for YEARS at sub par wages going just a little longer to see the job through .

We have now crossed the threshold and In terms of strategic thinking This contract is a watershed . What our negotiators have done is take nothing less than three distinct work groups , merged them together as one and given each group a pay raise without taking away anything of significant importance to any particular group .

We have lost profit sharing … Tell me , how many of you before you read this contract had enough faith in this company and it’s leadership to assume that we were going to get profit sharing for the next 4 years ? While profit sharing was nice , no one would be crying about giving it away right now if we hadn’t made profit this last quarter .A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush , and if our JNC had to give it back to the company in order to get our pay raises so be it ..

When it comes to our future we shouldn’t gamble . I like many in this world would rather take a sure thing over chance any day of the week . I’m speaking about the east’s arbitration award outcome . Now that this company ‘s offer has been presented to our membership we are in a unique position . People have said that we need to use the possibility of a favorable court ruling in order to secure a better contract , well we’ve just done that ladies and gentlemen . If we now go to arbitration and LOSE the company will in all likely hood take something from this contract OFF the table . In my mind winning would have been unlikely because how many judges do we have sitting on the benches these days that take the WORKERS side ? I urge all of you to take a moment and remember the POLTICAL situation of our country , and that the disposition for the last many years has not been toward protecting or compensating the worker, Especially the blue collar worker .
Even IF we had won , the first thing this company would have done was inform it’s lawyers to start an appeal and tell them to push it as far ahead into the future as possible ,The next thing the company would then do is tell it’s negotiators to work even slower than before at any new contract agreement , constantly citing the fact that arbitration was in lieu . Do you know what the West side fleet workers would then do at this point ? Demand section 6 and the ability to strike , but unfortunately for them the EAST side fleet workers wouldn’t be interested in hearing of such a thing because now that they had won a court case they would all seek to hang on as long as humanly possible for that day in which they might get their “back pay†checks . They would tell us to “be patient†and to suck it up for the union , knowing full well that while our union stalls the west workers would continue on for years at sub par wages and that in the event of a final court victory that NO west worker would EVER receive any profit ,check or gain from such a victory .
In my view it’s better that we are divested of such a possible future outcome because this would have bitterly divided us for years to come .

I want to take moment to remind all of you why this is a GOOD contract and not a BAD contract , it’s good because it UNITES us as never before . After we pass this contract there will be no west workers , there will be no station two workers and there will be no east station one workers , there will only be US .While it’s hard for each of us to see this as a huge plus from our own different self interests, it’s awe inspiring for the next time talks come around . Do you realize that our negotiators have had to bargain with a company that has probably come back with a response of “ well we’re giving your west workers and your station two workers a raise , why should we give the east workers one as well! Do you know how much money we’re spending ??†We cry because our sick pay is at 50% but would you rather we get it at 100 % yet our east workers in the class ONE stations get a negligible raise ? We are all getting those two things which are the most important to any worker , job SECURITY AND PAY .

I now want to speak to the matter of time , I talked about arbitration before , and as you all know in any event it would have taken a lot of time , but we should also be mindful that it will take further time for this company and our union to put together a new contract for us to vote on . To my west brothers and sisters and to a large part the east station two workers , how much longer do you want to go on getting paid crap ? I mean honestly , we complain about portions of this contract , but we are going to get what we want ,MONEY baby ,lots and lots of money … Do any of you really want to delay this contract any further? Shall we push back the end result another year only to make an extra 30 cents at each pay level ? Because that’s about what it would amount too , remember that in order for us to even GET this contract proposal we had to have outside mediation to help us . Some say we need to push this company , push it hard ! Well who among you feels like striking eh ? I have the feeling that we talk tough , but when push comes to shove it would dismaying to see how many would cross the picket line , and do you want to know what the response would be of those who would cross “ I have to feed my family “ . A strike with the west workers would never have succeeded because they never would have had the economic means to hold out .Furthermore if any of you have been paying attention to business news you’d see that it appears we are heading into another recession , Striking workers are easily replaced during economic downturns .

We don’t have what the East had before 9/11 , but then most major airlines don’t either .So calm down , take a breath and remember why you chose a job in the aviation industry . Enjoy a few days off and go somewhere , then tell all of your friends who don’t have airline jobs how great it feels to just “fly “ . To my east station one workers , I want to speak directly to you now , I know you’ve lost a lot through these two bankruptcies and that since the merger the hope of not only going back to the pre bankruptcy wages but also getting back pay has kept you going . That’s a hope that’s hard to let go of , I know if it were me I’d want to hold onto what could be my “ticket “ to the very end , at least emotionally I’d want to do so . But you need to think about yourselves for a moment , I mean think about what’s going to be best for you and your families long term health .Is the stress of the arbitration case REALLY worth it ? Watching it getting battered around in court for years and then maybe losing and thinking to yourself what could have been ? What do you think would be best for you, long term right now ? Waiting to see which way the case might go , or accepting an offer that has considerable advantages for you right now ? Your gonna get more money , that means more food for your family and more dough in your pocket , that sounds like a good deal to me . In fact , in many ways , what your now faced with is a lot of like the game show DEAL OR NO DEAL , if you haven’t watched it , take a moment and check it out (it’s got some hot models! Oh yeah!) . Are you going to walk away with the 300,000 or the 1 cent ? It’s up to you .



Finally if I’ve read this contract right it does something that I think needs to be done ASAP , it rights a tremendous wrong , a sin of one union brother against another . With this contract we can finally recall our union brothers that we expelled ,home with their pay and seniority at the time they were cast away .It is time to pass this contract and wipe away this horrid sixty day rule . Take a moment to Remember your friends that are no longer here .

I cant’ see what’s coming , and neither can anyone else , but we can plan using the information that we have at hand .Our boy doug LOVES to merge , so who knows , maybe this time next year we will be calling ourselves united instead of US AIRWAYS .. I don’t know about most of you , but I’m now tired of fighting the good fight , for me this offer is now a chance , a chance for me to lay down my burden , won’t you ?



Your union brother
Freedom
 
Freedom there is more to this than the pay raise.The company will continue to make a profit , especially if this contract is approved ! Lookat what Southwest ramp agents are topping out at , $ 24.00 an hour and there contract is up for renegotiation in 2008.The company has put it to us twice in the past 3 years , why not take a chance with the arbritrator , it can't be any worse !
 
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sorry it took me a minute to figure out what you ment ....

After seeing what has happened to the EAST pilots there is no WAY i would want to entrust my future to an arbitrator .. once again , i don't belive in taking unnecessary risks ....
 
sorry it took me a minute to figure out what you ment ....

After seeing what has happened to the EAST pilots there is no WAY i would want to entrust my future to an arbitrator .. once again , i don't belive in taking unnecessary risks ....
What we need are risk takers...without risk there is no reward
 
After seeing what has happened to the EAST pilots there is no WAY i would want to entrust my future to an arbitrator .. once again , i don't belive in taking unnecessary risks ....

And management thanks you for that! If you are not willing to take a risk, you end up working for a crappy company. Oh wait you already do so where is the risk??????????????????????????
 
sorry it took me a minute to figure out what you ment ....

After seeing what has happened to the EAST pilots there is no WAY i would want to entrust my future to an arbitrator .. once again , i don't belive in taking unnecessary risks ....

The pilot situation is a whole differant ballgame,its the past that came back to haunt them,without knowing the whole story you cant judge by what they got.

If your negotiators cared about you so much,why do they use you to get the AGC's space positive travel.( duhhh ).vote it in they get it,some reward,you will be paying for it.How many holidays do you have now freedom,ask the east how many they have.Cause thats what you will have.

Oh ya those swaps,youll never see 16 hrs pay.
work 2 shifts on your days off hoping for double time for 16,you wont see it. youll pay the company .5 hrs for the privelidge to work 16.Youll give em .5 for the priveledge to swap...oh ya you just dont know it.we do it all the time.
 
Sorry to inform you, but the 1999 FSA agreement did not bind the AL/PI factions. The company and IAM exploited that division, which led to the shameless results for fleet during BK - CWA and AFA got a much better deal. This contract will not bind East/West, where the divisions are even deeper than AL/PI. Only when management treats fleet with respect (unlikely) will the divisions heal.

This contract should bring fleet up to the industry average for fleet. Anything less should be unacceptable, but given management/IAM skill at exploiting fleet, I'm guessing it will pass.

A word to junior employees: I know it's unbelievable, but you will be senior before you know. Envision your needs when you are middle-aged, and then envision your needs when you retire. Vote accordingly.
 
Freedom, I think it is either time you become management or an Iam leader and join the rest of the memberships betrayers. What a WEAK disappointment you are to your fellow co-workers system wide. What will you get out of this outrageous T/A that others won't? Thats how the big boys make their money, they take RISKS. Sure, you might end up losing a little but you keep your dignity.
 
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Freedom, I think it is either time you become management or an Iam leader and join the rest of the memberships betrayers. What a WEAK disappointment you are to your fellow co-workers system wide. What will you get out of this outrageous T/A that others won't? Thats how the big boys make their money, they take RISKS. Sure, you might end up losing a little but you keep your dignity.

Is that the best you can do ? Call me names and say i don't like to take risks?

I'll have you know i've been supporting this union out west for a long time now , if we've had a rally or protest i've BEEN to it ...

There are two things i'm not going to do here , risk OUR future and sell out my co-workers.... and i'm proud to say that .

You want to talk of dignit philly rocks? tell me about dignity when your making pathetic wages ..... maybe you should educate yourself and get a copy of the TWU pay rates for west fleet workers , then tell me about dignity , NO we are moving FORWARD to the new payscale and a unified UNION ... it's time to wipe away the past and start anew...

If you want to disucss what i've posted above then by all means please do , if your going to call me names don't waste my time .
 
"What a WEAK disappointment you are to your fellow co-workers system wide."

The question I have...is this the same WEAK disappointment that was exhibited when you voted BK II contract and YOUR class 2 stations were outsourced. Hmmm...a bit hypocritical I ask?
 
With this new contract no one loses .

So here we now sit , a splintered union striving to return to what we once were before the 2001 terrorist attacks that devastated the airline industry .Our brothers on the east have endured an unheard of TWO bankruptcies to keep their company alive , and we on the west have worked for YEARS at sub par wages going just a little longer to see the job through .

Your union brother
Freedom

Freedom I feel bad for you.
Have you never negotiated anything in your life or do you just walk in and pay full price for everything.
YOU NEVER TAKE THE FIRST OFFER!

Everybody has recovered from 9-11 but the hard workers at all airlines, you seem to have forgotten that we the heart and soul of any airline are what got those fat cats their big pay days. The boys at the top are buying new houses, boats, cars. Etc. all on our sacrifices and now you don’t even want to fight for what you deserve.

YES FREEDOM I DO FEEL SORRY FOR YOU……
 
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Freedom I feel bad for you.
Have you never negotiated anything in your life or do you just walk in and pay full price for everything.
YOU NEVER TAKE THE FIRST OFFER!

Everybody has recovered from 9-11 but the hard workers at all airlines, you seem to have forgotten that we the heart and soul of any airline are what got those fat cats their big pay days. The boys at the top are buying new houses, boats, cars. Etc. all on our sacrifices and now you don’t even want to fight for what you deserve.

YES FREEDOM I DO FEEL SORRY FOR YOU……

Doc are you a fleet service memeber ? Are you aware what the West FSA's have been dealing with for years??

Yes i do know something about negotating , and if things were different i might even advocate that we say no to this , but there are some powerfull facts that necessiate a yes vote in my mind .

First , union power is derived from SOLIDARITY , right now our union is split into three groups , the west , class one stations , class two stations ...

Secondly another aspect of any contract or negotations is COMMON cause , we don't have that right now , let me tell you what each side wants .

The west wants to get a decent pay check and wants job security and the East wants their back pay , which could esure that the west remains improvereished up to another two years....


Some of the best aspects of this contract are that it UNITES us ... and protects our field stations and class two stations to a greater degree than the last contract .


Our union is a mess , not just the leadership but the membership as well , union brothers and sisters don't trust each other ...This contract will give us the time we need to strighten out .
 
There are two things i'm not going to do here , risk OUR future and sell out my co-workers.... and i'm proud to say that .

If I've read your T/A correctly, a "yes" vote sells your co-workers in COS, TUS, and LGB out right away, with the possibility of several more cities in short order.
 
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If I've read your T/A correctly, a "yes" vote sells your co-workers in COS, TUS, and LGB out right away, with the possibility of several more cities in short order.

yes these cities COULD be farmed out , but i'd like to think that the quality of our work is such that the company would rather keep things inhouse rather than sell it's self off .

This TA is alot better than what the East currently has as far as station protections go , and if we turn down this contract and win the arbitration the company could begin farming out alot more stations to recoupe their losses , just a thought .

look the JNC all agree on ratification of this contract so it can't be that bad nor put that many union jobs at risk , because any union jobs lost is dues lost to the iam , am i right ? isn't that how they think ? Besides if our man who represents the west says it's a good contract then i belive him . I don't know any of the other union leaders and i know you don't trust yours , but i trust mine because i've worked with the man , seen he's honest and that he truly cares about his fellow workers.
 
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