Mitch Cronin Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 I recently had a chance to speak with Mr. Milton and I found him rather willing to speak. I was impressed with his willingness to take the time to speak with little old me... a lowly grunt, deep in the bowels of his organization, and he said he was willing to listen to any ideas... There have been many attacks leveled at him here, my own among them, and it would seem to me to be an ideal place -- and as it happens, an ideal time! -- for him to engage in some dialogue, open as open can be. Can you find the words Robert, to truthfully explain your company's position right now? Can you explain to me, for instance, why a 6 year contract was necessary? Why the hell should I vote to accept a contract that puts me below those at WestJet, for 6 full years? How am I supposed to believe that's anything other than a slimy scam, gratuitously attached to the emergency of the day? I told you myself I was willing to voluntarily give up 15% for a time, it's not as though any of us aren't willing to pitch in to help, but s i x years!!!? Unreasonable. It certainly looks to me as though the pilots have good reason to balk. The court is demanding results, the press is all over everything, any words spoken anywhere else will be instantly public anyway. How 'bout chewing some fat, right here? Mitch Cronin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest james Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Mitch: I take a little exception to your "below Westjet" comment. First of all, I am an ex-Air Nova, C-3 employee who has seen both your side, the charter side, and now I am a "Westjet" employee. In 16 months with "Westjet", I have been treated with respect, friendship, and most of all, comradery from my fellow employees. I have crossed seat belts, picked up garbage on the floor on a through flight with 80 "guests" watching me, shook hands, sang, danced in the aisle, cracked jokes, and most of all, had an absolute ball going to work, day in, and day out. I am flying one of the most advanced airliners in the world,and we have a whole wack more of them coming, I have bought company stock and doubled my money since I have been here, have received 2, repeat 2, profit share cheques in this period of time, and provided I live up to what is expected from me, should be a skipper on one of those magnificent 700"s within a year. Not bad for an old guy, eh. If you saw my t-4 for last year, and some of the t-4's of some of the senior people at "Westjet", you would have asked Mr. Milton, "Why didn't we do this years ago." A "senior" person at Westjet is about 4-5 years. I have great feelings for all at AC and what they are going through. I have been there. BUT, we are not your problem. You are your own worst enemy. We here at Westjet, certainly do not want to "raise" the bar to your level. We may go out of business if we do that. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GDR Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Hi Mitch Good idea, but I think that it would considered as by-passing the union and negotiating directly with the troops which I don't believe under labour law he is allowed to do. I'm sure someone will correst me if I'm wrong. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted May 31, 2003 Author Share Posted May 31, 2003 Hi James, you've interpreted my intent a little wrongly I'm afraid... I'm not a pilot, I'm an AME, and what I meant was that I'll be getting less than an AME at WestJet -- notable because Robert Milton has expressed a desire to adopt WestJet ways -- I have the highest regard for your company. I had a good hard think about joining WestJet just prior to their YYZ beginnings. For reasons too tiresome to detail, I chose to remain where I am. Partly because that's been my choice now through 3 employers, and so far, it hasn't done me great harm.... But I often wish.... Good luck with WJ I wish you all the best. Cheers, Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jimmy Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 James, I think you misunderstood what Mitch meant. Much has been made of the gap in wages between AC and Westjet, Canjet, etc. This was, in fact, a major selling point in the concessions demanded of labour at AC. If the same concessions put a long time AC employee's wages below that of a Westjeter with a max of 7 years something is very wrong. And remember you get your stock options, profit sharing, etc putting you even farther ahead. I've seen the documents and unfortunately the employees are being asked to make up for poor management, plain and simple. We are all willing to help out but at some point you wonder if you are helping or being taken for a fool. jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted May 31, 2003 Author Share Posted May 31, 2003 Hi Greg.... Maybe so, but my intent wasn't really negotiation... more like simple discussion and perhaps some high fallutin' desire to aim at a resolution to an impasse.... It won't get done without dialogue, that I'm pretty sure of. Cheers, and good luck. Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest James Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azure Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Mitch, I'm quite confident in predicting that all this will be settled and AC still flying on Monday morning....unless they extend the deadline again. Should I be wrong, I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding a place to park your tools at WJ. Here's a few timely cartoons to take the edge off. http://www.klydemorris.com/strips.cfm?strip_ID=1085 http://www.klydemorris.com/strips.cfm?strip_ID=1091 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kal Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Hi Mitch: It seems maybe we've (or at least I) have all lost touch with the purpsoe of this excersise. It seeems to me that the labour piece is primarily to convince the creditors that the Company will have a long term chance not just of surviving but thriving. They are the ones who after all are going to be asked to convert their right to real dollars to new paper ( stock). Unless they are convinced that that new stock going forward is going to be worth more that the breakup value of the airline we are all pooched. Six years may be overkill .. If we're all lucky it will be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CabinDweller Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Had a good chuckle with the links you provided. Especially having recently acquired “Airline Tycoon” (for a whole $0.27) Soon I’ll have a PC that actually has a disk drive. So in seven years…………………….watch out. (; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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