Hey Pineybob,
How''s it going? Thanks for the comments on my comments. Some I agree with, some I don''t, some I have nuanced differences on, but hey, spice of life!
I will comment on just a couple things, cuz there was just sooooo much there.
1) You are absolutely right. The standard business model of unions will fail in the face of the savage restructuring the airline is undergoing, especially with folks like Jerry Glass and his merry gang of union-busters.
Unions will not be able to meet any of these challenges unless we function more like a movement for justice (rather than like an insurance agency). Our dues are not a fee we pay to have someone else take care of us. Our dues are oneof many ways of pooling of our resources together. They are just the beginning of an opportunity to balance the power in the dictatorship of our workplace. If we don''t actually involve ourselves in the life of our unions, we end up with situations where our resources are squandered or worse. Hey, as the game show used to go: "This is YOUR life!" Don''t be a spectator, be a participant!
The real question is, can we pool the resources of our time and energy? Can we get outside of the box of the standard business or service model of unionism? It''s the only thing we can do that will balance the playing field here.
2) If we''d taken a hard line, would the company have liquidated? Dunno. Maybe. Maybe not. If we''d stood together more strongly, been involved more in our unions, we would''ve been in a stronger position to decide our fates instead of being stampeded in a confused mess. The balance of power in the negotations would''ve been different, no matter how real the liquidation threat was. It might have only meant the difference in the details on contract language, but as we are seeing now, those details make a big difference. Management is taking advantage of the fact that things were stampeded in Concessions I and the Concessions II (the Lightning Round). Pineybob, you know well enough as a business person, that even under the worst circumstances, it is better to negotiate from a position of calm collected strength rather than one of panic. Even if you agree with the premise that some sort of concession needed to be made.
3) I''m glad you liked the Ben Franklin tribute. Here''s my JFK paraphrase:
It''s not a question of what your union can do for you, but what we can do for EACH OTHER. Note I don''t say "what you can do for your union." That''s because to me, it''s about a community of people looking out for each other. Our union is a vehicle for doing so.
''Nuff for now. Go cockroaches!
-Airlineorphan