Lewbronski

Just received the SWAPA SPC email about the slow-rolling of our own negotiations by management contrasted with the pace and tone of negotiations at Alaska after their filing for mediation and subsequent strike authorization vote as well as at Delta, which is in also in mediation and just announced that a strike authorization vote will be conducted.

I would add another point of comparison: United. They entered negotiations in March 2018 and never filed for mediation. Their MEC produced the infamous concessionary "Tumi TA" in June of this year after more than four years of negotiations without ever filing for mediation. The Tumi TA was so bad that voting on it was suspended last month a week before the close of voting ... at the behest of United management, not the United MEC!! From all indications, the United MEC is completely out of touch and is now experiencing multiple recall campaigns.

The SPC email made a point of telling us when both Alaska and Delta entered negotiations and when they filed for mediation. I think they're trying to tell the pilot group something without actually coming out and saying it.

The SPC email complained that, "Southwest continues to delay negotiations, resist our rewrite, and ignore the most competitive Pilot market in decades." You know what? So would I if I was CK or BJ. If I was dealing with a union that, after more than two years, hasn't taken the most basic step to build the most basic kind of leverage in "the most competitive pilot market in decades," I would also be slow-rolling the negotiations because I am being allowed to slow-roll the negotiations by the other side. How am I being penalized? Pilots are still showing up and getting the job done. Legally, they have to. They don't have an option not to. Only by filing for mediation do they take a step toward beginning the process that could result in them posing the threat of not showing up and getting the job done. But they won't even take that step. They seem like they don't even want to. So, from my perspective, as CK or BJ, what's the rush? I would be lol'ing and high-fiving my fellow excec's at the good fortune I am experiencing in my negotiations against this pilot group.

One of our rep's very recently described the RLA as "sugar in our gas tank." As CK or BJ, I would be thanking my lucky stars every day that the pilot group thinks that way. What a break!!

The "sugar in our gas tank" is ourselves. Not the RLA. And not the company.

Excargodog

You know, the RLA has been around since 1926. You would think by now there’d be one of them how-to-ditch-without-a-hitch checklists. You know, if the management does ‘x’, we immediately do ‘y’, sort of thing. Because over 96 years, you’d think that it would be all worked out by now…

DownAndDirty

After reading the latest SWAPA SRC email, I immediately emailed my reps asking why we haven't filed for mediation.

RJSAviator76

Great post Lew. Well said. I do think we are gonna file for mediation at the next BOD meeting.

I think another problem is the reluctance on our end to go first with the contract out of fear of getting leapfrogged by the legacies. The problem is that their unions, except maybe Delta, have been so out of touch, it's borderline ridiculous. If our NC brings something even remotely resembling the Tumi TA, I'd want them recalled and replaced along with anyone who would support it.

Cyio

This concern can be easily worked around just like I think the UA deal had, a 5% grandfather clause in it, or whatever its called. Basically if any other pilot group comes out with a better contract in the next year the rates would match or beat it by 5%.

ZapBrannigan

Anybody else who was at USAir in the late 90s still gets the twitches when we think about the "parity + 1%" battle cry.

Cyio

I will admit, I was not around the 121 world in the 90's. Was this option abused, serious question as I thought it was a good idea, but always looking to learn more.

Mozam

UASAir. That is blast from the past. I cannot tell you how many times I heard from gate agents pilots and flight attendance how they are going to run SWA out of BWI . WN will regret they day they came to the east coast . All I wanted was a ride, not a full report of how USAir is going to crush SWA and how they are going to do it .

nene

Just like Delta started express in late 90's to "keep SWA outta MCO".....I often wonder if CEO's look back and see how wrong they were about certain decisions....

Lewbronski

United's Tumi TA did not have any kind of "me too" or "leapfrog" clauses in it.

There's a couple of ways of looking at the United MEC's failure to file for mediation (and, IMO, it's probably a lot of both of the following):

• The failure to file is evidence of a union that's so out of touch and without a clue that they end up producing something like the Tumi TA.
• The failure to file is evidence of a union that presents so little threat to management (zero danger of any passengers ever booking away as the result of any kind of possible job action) that management can drag negotiations out for more than four years and then, after all that time, end up rightfully convincing union negotiators that the Tumi TA is the best they're going to get because whadda they gonna do bout it?