ALPA, like any good union, is a master of spin.
MLT put part of it in perfect perspective:
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As I stated on a previous post, ALPA claims to have suffered a 46% cut in wages and benefits; yet, when anyone mentions the last parity increase of 17% associated with wages, ALPA immediately cries foul because the increase was only in effect 2 months. So with that reasoning the total cut is actually 29%. Still a lot, but proportionately within the range of all groups.
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So, despite the number of rounds of concessions, ALPA is still on par with everybody else from a percentage basis. (this business about 10 percent of the workforce taking a large raw dollar value of cuts is bunk--the pilot group started out making dollars orders of magnitude higher than any other group on the property).
Further, this business of claiming that the terminated pension is funding others' pension is the biggest line of hubris of heard out of any union in the airline business. Ever. ALPA represents a majority (darned near 2/3rds) of U's outstanding pension balance. In fact, if you terminated all the other pensions on the property, the airline still would not make up the shortfall in the pilot pension fund.
By ALPA's logic, I could claim that the decreate in benefits I have as a VFF are going to fund the IAM pension. Nice try. Any good MEC has a good propoganda officer to stir the troops into a feeding frenzy, but this dog won't bark when you think about it for more than two seconds.
The business plan is not viable for the ATSB loan, RSA, or the creditors if it funds the ALPA plan. BTW, I find it interesting that the MEC propoganda officer proclaims that "ALPA is funding other's pensions" yet neglects to mention that half (or more) of the ATSB loan, for which all groups took several hits, will be used to pay for the "new" ALPA pension.
Nobody, including the U pilots, deserves the hit they are going to take on the pension issue. However, coming off as a group of arrogant and entitled throttle jockeys that are funding everybody else's pension will not generate any support from anyone (perhaps even including the judge who will rule on the matter). Something to think about.
For the record, I don't think all pilots are arrogant or entitled. That's the perception I get from reading what the U MEC publishes, tho.