PinnacleFO

I have always tried to remain positive on this place but it has come to an end today. We failed to reach an agreement with our contract by the deadline and it was because Management would not give in to another 20 million dollars. For those of you who do not know, that is the price we bought Colgan for. Attrition is about to go even higher. I now fully expect Mesaba to be operating 17 crjs by the end of the year at 3 per month. Why? We wont be able to handle them. I really think this was planned all along by NWA and Pinnacle Management. Lets get these 17 planes flying, stuff them down pinnacles throat, knowing that they wont be able to staff them, then we will take them away and try and force them into signing a contract. Mesaba just recently announced that their 900 deliverys are slowing to 1 per month for awhile, perfect for the delivery of 3 200's per month.

I have to say I am proud of our union for not excepting this bull$hit from management and giving in. This contract will not be done for a long time now and we should all be prepared to be in it for the long run including a possible strike.

cruiseclimb

Good job you guys. This is exactly the example that needs to be set. Unfortunately it may lead to a little sacrifice... the long term benefits are what counts. Thank you for your efforts

ctd57

Where did you get that info from. From the email that I got from MEC, it sounded like they were making up some ground. I don't really care about the 17 CRJs because we can't staff them anyway.

PinnacleFO

From the same email and just from knowing how phil tranery acts. Yes there was some good news about the scheduling section of the contract with some big improvements but the have reached a bit of a standstill with Pay, and now they are requesting the mediator again. I dont care about the 17 rjs either. I think managment thinks we do but in reality we just want better QOL, and those 17 planes and the inablility to staff them are taking away from our QOL.

ctd57

I am just curious how much money the pilot negotiators are asking for. You hear Phil talk, and then guys like Wake Gordan, and they are at 2 totally different ends of the spectrum. I just wish that we all knew exactly what is going on because this contract is all of ours. This contract doesn't just apply to MEC or any of the ALPA reps. I think it is bull that they don't disclose on how they stand, it is not like they are talking about top secret classified info here. That is what gets me the most. We can all just sit here and speculate and start or hear rumors, but none of us really know for sure until a contract does come out. I really don't agree with just a few representing all 1200 of us. Because there are surely some ideas that I heard from Wake Gordan and some of the other radical union guys that I personally think are a little bit ridiculous. But lets all hope that this thing gets signed within the near future, I don't think that mgmt will let it get to the point where anyone strikes.

XtremeF150

Well, I too am glad to see a pilot group with some balls. Now if the rest of us can follow suit mngmt won't have an out for placing any jets.
I really think that ALL of the mngmt types out there are starting to see where their BS tactics have led them, and I think the gears are finally starting to turn making them wonder how will we ever be able to staff these aircraft.
The mngmt at Mesa is starting to get desperate as well and we haven't even started the long fight Pinnacle has endured. All the same guys, if we are ever going to make some leadway on all these contracts I think now is the time. They are short of peeps, and they know it.

fosters

Think about it this way fella's - with 17 more aircraft you will still have a crappy QOL, low days off, and low pay if you were to sign that contract right now to keep those planes (that is, of course, assuming they won't give them to you, which is BS IMO). Might as well use the aircraft as a negotiating point on YOUR side. If management wants 17 more airplanes (added revenue) then they'll get 'em on your terms. No reason to take a pay cut (or a reduced pay advance) for growth. Luckily your MEC seems to know what it's doing.

ctd57

We have already got most of the planes from what I have seen. We don't have the pilots to staff all of the airplanes. We have been cancelling flights left and right because of lack of crew members. Most of us don't care about the other planes. It would just bring us back to where we were a couple of months ago. A pay cut, who is talking about pay cuts. Have you looked at our pay scale recently. It isn't that we won't get a raise with the new contract, mgmt just doesn't want to pay what the pilots are fighting for.

fosters

What I mean when I said "paycut (or reduced pay advance)" was that the MEC was trying to be bullied into signing off on the TA. Your raise will be much bigger if you hold out for more (like you are doing) than if you would've just accepted what management wanted as a carrot to get those planes.

ctd57

Okay, that makes sense.