I know. :angry:
I agree. As a crew chief on the ramp, I should be paid for the skill set I bring to the table. If that amount is X, then an AMT should be paid X+. The problem is that we as labor are always our worst enemy. Instead of fighting over how much more an AMT should make, we should all be working to raise X as the baseline.
Here's something xUT wrote a longtime ago that I think articulates it better than I can:
I hear this ‘coat tail’ crap ‘wayyyyyyyyyy to much’ without a justification for this type of mentality.
In fact, this type of mentality continues to divide ‘us’ and provides fuel for the pyre.
JMHO-
The people that believe this are delusional and in some respects are insecure as to whom they are.
Do you (meaning the individuals that adhere to this philosophy) think that by ranting to reduce the wages of others will somehow(?) put their(!) pennies in you own pocket?
(FYI, the ‘penny watchers’ are scooping up all of the pennies, not you).
Would it not be more logical to state that if a ‘pickle picker’ employee makes X then ‘I should make’ = X + (X*j) for my skills? And, if the value of X is raised, would not the formula of ‘I should make’ be raised as well?
For those that adhere to the ‘mantra’ to reduce the wages of those that you ‘deem’ below your ‘status’ in your misguided search for higher wages are not only belittling yourselves but your fellow workers.
If we work together to raise the value of ‘X’ then we work to raise the value of ‘I should make'.
Sure, a good portion of it was theater, but some guys AMT's really thought that way, and tried at every turn to convince the ramp why it was true. When the time came for AMFA to look for support, a lot of people remembered that. I should note that it usually was junior guys with dollar signs in their eyes. The more senior people appreciated AMFA for it's move toward professionalism of the craft and it's transparency, but were worried about the lack of strong scope language (and, yes, I know that they inherited some of it from the previous IAM CBA).
That said, it's been asked who AMFA still represents. I'm curious myself. I can think of WN, AS, and (I think?) XJ. Is there anyone else?