Oskeewowow

I'll admit that full retro pay is out of the question. The company doesn't have enough cash. I don't think anyone is asking for that anyways. A significant signing bonus should be in order however. If the company can give $5000 for a new hire, they should be able to give something to the people who made the company profitable year after year. There has to be some consequence for 5+ years of negotiations.

nbecca

I can (and do) support the RAH pilots in their quest for a reasonable and fair contract.

I believe that one of IBT National and especially 357's major mistakes was to set their member's expectations too high and give them false hope in the Mediation process.

jetBlue+ was never going to happen and CM said repeatedly that an impasse, cooling off period and strike were just around the corner.

These things are not fair to the membership. So, when I say there isn't going to be any retro pay, I believe that's accurate and true. And, I believe that 357 should have stated that fact as well.

Oskeewowow

You've been around long enough to know how negotiations work. Each side starts with a ridiculous number and slowly work their way to the middle. If our NC really wanted Jetblue rates, our initial proposal would have been Jetblue + 20%. If we wanted sub-par rates, we would have started with industry average compensation. Thanks to 36.62, you can read all of the NC's recent communiques. In them, "industry average" is a consistent theme. I don't think there's ever been a mention of "retro pay", except that we could take the company's 12 million offer in that whole form. I've been paying attention from the start and do not feel misled. I would like much more information, but definitely not misled.

I don't know if you're trolling, ignorant, or just plain on management's side.

nbecca

Of the three option given, I guess I'll have to chose "ignorant." Bummer.

Actually, I have been around long enough to believe that the strategy of - Each side starting with a ridiculous number and slowly work their way to the middle - is seriously flawed.

We set more realistic expectations in our negotiations, communicated those goals to the Company and the Membership and came away pretty well every time.

The concept you describe only forces each side to begin at unreasonable and hope each side becomes reasonable sometime during the process.

It sets an adversarial, confrontational and antagonistic tone to the process from day one, which does nothing to speed the process.

Maybe that's why pilots are calling for a new NC, the team started off poorly and it devolved from there. I don't know that a new team, with a new strategy would make any difference at this late date, but it may be worth a try...

Good luck.

3662forlife

1-23-13: Negotiation Update on Pay Rates

Not a thing worth reading.

sizzlechest

New session scheduled for February.

babs

These so called "sessions" have become a joke...when will the rah pilots stand up for themselves? It's been nothing but one stall tactic after another. How many years will you let the company drag their feet? Wake up people! Rant over...

Emb170man

Ok babs...enlighten me as to what I should do to end this? Do only my job, to the T and by the book...been doing that for a while now, hasn't had any effect....so what brilliant idea do you have to make both the NMB and management come around and get us the contract we deserve?

SD3Dog

+1 ...... Probably more like + 2400 or however many guys we have on the list right now. We can all thank the antiquated RLA for this log jam.

mattanah

I don't know. Didn't AA have a sick out? Didn't they cancel a bunch of flights? Didn't they get thier managment to the table in a month or so?

Not blaming you, its up to the union, but W T F is taking so long?