I think you start at the bottom of the payscale for AMT and you have zero senority. You keep your vacation through company senority. We had a guy in BOS come over with 17 years in cargo/res and he is very near the bottom for bidding. I know his pay is new hire also, which is how it should be. Let's face it he is a fresh AMT. He has a lot to learn about being an AMT. He shouldn't be at top of scale or bid ahead of me just because he's been with the company longer. For the record he is ok with that. It is all his doing, he went to AMT school years ago but didn't get his ticket until recently. He did keep his vacation through company senority.
This could all change though. Without a contract the company can change the rules at any time. Case in point, Tech Helper used to give you half time senority on the AMT list. Fair enough by my view. These were techs that did not need an A&P and did not sign for their work. Only the leads they work for sign for the jobs, changing carpets and such. During their jobs they are gaining some exp working on aircraft. Not as much as a new hire AMT.
Last fall the powers upstairs declared all tech helpers get full senority when they move over to AMT. In many cases this doesn't really mean much. In ATL all the new hires for the past four years have been Tech Helper. In LGA they have been hiring AMTs off the street for the past four years. Now there are openings in ATL. Who gets the job the guy that has been working Line Mtc in LGA or the guy that has been changing carpets in ATL. Say there are enough positions for both. Who should get first pick of shift, offdays?
I was very pro union before 9/11. I still am, but I just don't see it happening after the merger. The number of yes votes was close pre 9/11. After that it took a dive below 50%. Now with the NW s.., err.. replacement mechanics, that has number has really dropped.
