To valuesrok:
Are you seriously "beyond fuming" because I had the audacity to invoke THE most fundamental maxim of organized labor--seniority--something that has been missing from the lives of reserves (like me) who have been working under this intolerable system for the better part of a decade now? Is it your position that to prevent someone hired today from ever having a day off taken away, at twelve years service, it is incumbent upon me to sacrifice my seniority vis-a-vis trip selection? In my "career," a day off was taken from me exactly twice, and this even during years of existing in the darkest dregs of the system seniority list--and I mean YEARS without a glimmer of hope that the quick-calls would someday stop. Implicit in the idea of seniority is some measure of "dues-paying," i.e., you start at the bottom where you will likely be required to accept some of the worst assignments, but you do it because you have some assurance in a seniority-based system that conditions will improve incrementally over time as some retire and others take your place at the very bottom. We have been forced, yes FORCED!, to suspend those ideals indefinitely in the reserve kingdom because seniority amounts to nothing and Lord Parker doesn't cotton to the plebes exceeding a minimum guarantee. And I was under the impression that "golden days," the equivalent to "inviolable days," (you call it corn, we call it maize), were just that, and not subject to the caprices of the scheduling department. I have hope, though waning now, for a contract that is fair and live-with-able for everyone, but it all starts with unmitigated, unmolested, transparent seniority; why would any of us continue otherwise? Think of it...someday it could be you or me smearing pilfered Camembert onto a fancy wafer cracker as we survey our Europe-bound charges from the CSD command center, understanding, finally, the meaning of nirvana as we settle into a roomy reclining first-class seat for a three-hour nap.
Dismiss seniority at your own peril, because the day will come when you are "beyond fuming" that someone newly arrived on the property is soaking up Caribbean sunshine on a long overnight (well, perhaps we shouldn't kid o, those layovers don't exist, but you know what I mean) while you're doing five legs a day for three days with short double Newark overnights, all because you were available for three days while she was only good for two. The thing is, it's not "either/or," because I don't like four-day trips doesn't mean that you will be forced to work on a scheduled day off. That's not the only solution to trip coverage, though management would have you believe that it is. In any case, allowing any exceptions to a seniority-based system is a slippery slope toward granting the company carte blanche to tweak and twist and manipulate the contract as they please.
