It's that very same attitude that gave birth to MidAtlantic and it's obscene contract.
They'll suffer more by undercutting themselves out of a job. When they vote these things in, they keep creating thier own in-house competition (the juniors). By voting in these crap wages, at MidAtlantic and now at all of mainline, they are handing over the airline.
If they think the company is trying to get rid of them now, wait until they hear they can call back those MAA folks and top them out at $24, not to mention hire new people. They will be forced out, every last active F/A that is not on the new "C" scale. Just wait and see... US LOVES those MAA F/As and can't wait to bring them, the rest of the invols and new hires back to mainline.
Maybe in the long run it will be a good thing. The people who really want to be there and never had high expectations or enjoyed high pay will be happy to take over the airline, and the people who have been beaten down and were looking for a reason to leave anyway will move one. It's a sad situation for all, but perhaps in the future the second generation of F/As can secure a better contract that's more modern, since they'll be negotiating for themselves. When they do negotiate, they'll have everyone's interests in mind because they'll remember what it was like to be sold out repeatedly by thier co-workers.
