freedom you are correct about the 60 day rule. this company darn well knew they would lose a heck of a lot of folks with that alone. I believe they did away with that entirely. when the 08 contract went thru tthe west never had that though I could be wrong. we still have the crappiest shift in the entire industry. dougie knows it and i have a feeling that he wont do too much to increase it but if our nd team is ready for a fight, then I hope they have all the arms they need for the fight. this company has never ever treated their own employees right. Ive heard this airline should be called Moron Airways. I can only hope that we get improved wages, benefits, vacations, much better sick policy, gotta have scope and language protection I would also like to see a better 401k but....i dont think that gonna happen.
Well Robbed Again , I agree that we havent always been treated with the RESPECT that the first place finisher among the major airlines in MBR deserves …
Why just in recounting our union struggle I can clearly remember how when we voted on the new contract , there was a timeline when several of the stations on that list would be contracted out , but not until a certain date …. The company VIOLATED the terms of our agreement and outsourced those stations earlier than the stipulated date …. In the real world , thats whats known as a double cross …
This is not a company run by saints , look at how effectively theyve kept the pilots and FAs at each other for YEARS ..I dont see the company stepping in to try and mitigate the various disputes ..
Robbed again ,… I want to point out something you wrote in your prior posting
but if our nd team is ready for a fight, then I hope they have all the arms they need for the fight
I learned from some of the best here in PHX , and I remember when I used to say things like you just said … I was swiftly told that I had better stop hoping for OTHERS to fight for me , and to learn to fight for myself , because if we didnt do it , NO ONE ELSE WOULD …
The New Direction team is not going to get us wages and compensation on par with the SECOND OR THIRD best paid airlines in this industry , WE ARE …. YOU ARE ….
Ill tell you something , Im tired of seeing good paying jobs outsourced by this company to be replaced by service workers who make not enough to live on , and have absolutely ZERO pride in the job they do …Im DONE with outsourcing our jobs … if the company wants to completely close down a station , hey thats fine with me , but in my book our jobs from hence forth on should never be replaced by service workers ..
All of this bluster brings me to todays topic …
How are we going to achieve our goals ?
Having now been through a brutal contract campaign , Ive learned some valuable lessons …First of all , during our last round of talks we were at a disadvantage because we were divided , which allowed the company to offer substandard terms …we must ensure that we are never divided in such a manner again ..
I also heard from what I could gather , that the company negotiators were obstinate people , scheduling a meeting one week , and then canceling it the next …in other words , they jerked our guys around for the hell of it ..( most likely to soften them up because our union officials were under tremendous pressure to produce results )
Getting what we want in todays world is now more complex and hard to achieve then in the old days … As I once said in the future there will be lines of people stretching around the block to take our jobs ! and that is true , todays lousy economy has weakened one of the normal strengths of labor , which used to be the fact that there werent armies of people unemployed desperate for any job they could find .. Back in the day , a lot of people didnt WANT to be baggage handlers , perish the thought !
Now we are left with the reality that we cant strike , too many of our workers simply cant afford it , and too many others would fear losing their jobs … so we go back to the old playbook and look at option number two as far as gaining negotiating leverage at the table goes …So US airways , you like being number one as far as MBR goes do you ? Well then , we suggest you bump us up to the level of the second best compensated airline in the industry ! Or ELSE !
While I think that management enjoys having the MBR status , Im sure that somewhere on paper they have a number that relates to labor costs , and if being 3rd in baggage and last among the majors in worker compensation is what they had to settle for , they would be fine with that ..
PROTESTS ANYONE ??? Another tried and true tactic of unions , and one that I must honestly say I enjoy … I think getting out there on the street with your brothers and sisters and publicly protesting for what you believe in is a fantastic way to build solidarity among the ranks , and at the end of the day it leaves the worker with a feeling of accomplishing something ! However , short of having 300 person protests , the actually effectiveness is most likely limited .. Who hasnt seen people standing on the side of the road with one of those big red banners reading SHAME ON XYZ CORPORATION , WORKER DISPUTE … sometimes I honk when I read the banners , and I think in my mind , good luck ! But after I drive another whole block , I completely forget their issue ..
The art of negotiating has advanced so far that these days both parties now play psychological games during the course of talks , where the meetings will be held , how the seats are arranged , the length of the meetings … on and on and on … such things bore me to tears …how any of this leads to contract improvements or more leverage for one side or the other , I dont know ..
What I do know is that rule book that unions play by is far far too old … even the rail road labor act created in 1926 is beyond ancient ( they didnt even have cell phones back then !!!!)
I feel that difficult times require creative counter measures …Remember , I was educated in the ways of unions here in PHX , a location that couldnt meet direct force with direct force ( case in point black magics disdain at hosting the vote here at the airport )…
The first Rule in the new playbook should be overwhelming force …. looking back at the last contract , if we had taken things more seriously , more urgently and given 110% from day one , we might have saved ourselves an entire YEAR of lost wages at a lower pay scale …Think of it like how the United States fights Wars …. We may not have more troops then the countries we invade but we have complete air and technology superiority , in other words DOMINATION ….
The next time we sit down at that table , instead of the company men jerking US around , it should be WE who jerk them around , and THEY should be the ones under tremendous pressure to codify a new contract as quickly as possible …
Rule number two : make it personal ….its one thing to have self interest in the results of a new contract , its another to be emotionally involved …
If your gonna pick a fight , then your gonna have to get angry …. We MUST provoke emotional responses from our membership … It will soon be time to PAINFULLY remind all of our forced transfers of their new situation in life …. Yes I know that many of you have been effected by the station cuts and out sourcing and to this day continue to suffer , but for the sake of greater union power , it will be necessary to dig into your wounds .. (sorry !)
Fear is also a powerful motivator … if we must exaggerate , we should be prepared to do so … who knows , maybe the company is thinking about shutting down the remaining stations , completely outsourcing LAS , or worse yet , getting rid of the ENTIRE ramp …
Im a nonchalant person , I dont care what It takes to drive the machine ……. as long as we ignite the fire …
and let us remember the worlds oldest rule written by Sun Tzu which is to known the enemy ( figuratively speaking of course ) …..
HOW do the people in the executive branch think ? What drives them , and most importantly what are their fears ?
All too often we as lowly ramp workers deal with a very structured world , clock in at a certain hour , work in a certain zone all day , complete XYZ tasks , clock out , plan shift trades for the next week etc …. The people making 500,000 a year at this company are not charged with performing routine tasks day in and day out .. Their paid to be creative , have foresight and handle any problems that might arise on the fly …
I wonder what their general day is like … we can assume that their duties involve interpreting political events , for instance , obama care , will it raise taxes at this company , and if so how can we avoid the extra hit to the bottom line ? Their probably monitoring the pilot and FA situations , is there any change in the general long term out look for either of those two groups ? will we have to factor in increased costs for new combined work groups with better barging strength ?
Then of course theres the fun stuff like good will …The united way campaign is one of them , along with most of the other charitable events that have our companies name on them … Image is important , thats why we have a host of goals at this company to improve on time performance , MBR and customer complaints …
In a way I can understand their great push for better image , I remember when I was part of an airline that was regarded as little more than a cattle car with wings … now things are different , I can feel a subtle pride not only on the ramp , but throughout the entire company .. And when I happen to go two and fro before or after work in my uniform , I no longer hear stories of lost baggage or angry this or that , but what a great turn around weve had and what a great experience a passenger has had flying on us ..
But back to the issue at hand …. So these guys think about a lot of things , and like any group of insulated people who are under continuous pressure to prepare for any out come , fear is constantly with them …
Fear that oil will spike to 200 dollars a barrel , fear that the US economy will double dip and passenger demand will dry up , and yes it was fear on their part many years ago that an agitated ramp would scuttle the super bowl …
To best them in contract discussions were going to have to play on their fear ..and I dont mean personal fear mind you … Im not advocating for a return to 1970s union tactics of slashed tires and threats …
Im talking about adapting to the times and using THEIR self imposed constraints …. Letting them construct their own prisons of the mind ..
I know that some of you will vehemently disagree with what Im about to say , and thats fine , to each his own …but I believe that the management at rio salado is terrified of the economic boycott of all companies based in this state due to the issue of illegal immigration (SB1070 ) … My proof to you is the letter that our CEO signed which was sent by the chamber of commerce to the state senate of Arizona effectively killing further immigration enforcement efforts ..
Now its not hard to see the reasoning behind such fear , the other side makes a VERY loud noise , chanting, screaming , threatening , and they do have an awful lot of politicians on their side .. And SEVERAL conventions were cancelled in this state , along with all the other publicized pull outs of tourists and what have you …so there is REASON to fear ….
Until events unfolded as they did , I never dreamed that we would have the ability to capitalize on the most passionate issue in this country in the last 20 years ..
But thanks to the cowardice of our companies management , I can now smell their fear …
Certain people in my state are on edge …
A taste of Fear , click here
They can be pushed OVER the edge …
But we will save the discussion on how to provoke emotional responses in the general public and link them to the causes of our choosing for another day