Guest V1 Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Ive been away , seems much has happened since I left. I always wondered if the airline could manage without me. haha!! As the rumors start to circulate about what the company is really asking for it makes me wonder if a majority might just say screw this and take a chances and vote NO Maybe just maybe the company is just asking for too much and will once again shoot themselves in the foot. They have a great history of that. On the other hand , if adopoted, sabatoge the operation as we saw in early 2000. Milton knows nothing about people, But when you beat your enemy, as he seems to see us, you don't humiliate them too. Its a simple principle of the art of warfare and seems lost on this meglomaniac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Sabotage the operation. Now there's an adult concept. I see that you returned about the same time SARS did. Coincidence? If this is so terrible, whatever it is, just vote no and find another job. I am not being flippant or facetious, but if you "sabotage" the operation you will only put it under a few months later. I don't see the diff. Either way, the country can move on and re-allocate the international routes to someone else and you can get on with your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipped Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 I am an Army of One (or 2, or 300, ...) I am an army of One - A Captain in the Continental Airlines army. For years I was a loyal soldier in Gordon's army. Now I fight my own war. I used to feel valued and respected. Now I know I am mere fodder. They (CAL) used to exhibit labor leadership. Now they exploit legal loopholes. They used to enjoy my maximum. Now they will suffer my minimum. I am an army of One. I used to save CAL a thousand pounds of fuel per leg; finding the best FL, getting direct routing, throttling back when on-time was made, skimping during ground ops, adjusting for winds, being smart and giving the company every effort I could conjure. Now, it's "burn baby, burn". I used to call maintenance while airborne, so the part would be ready at the gate. Now, they'll find the write-up when they look in the book. I used to try to fix problems in the system, now I sit and watch as the miscues pile up. I used to fly sick. Now I use my sick days, on short notice, on the worst day of the month. I am an army of One. I used to start the APU at the last possible moment. Now my customers enjoy extreme comfort. I used to let the price of fuel at out-stations affect my fuel orders. I still do. I used to cover mistakes by operations. Now I watch them unfold. I used to hustle to ensure an on-time arrival, to make us the best. Now I do it for the rampers and agents who need the bonus money&.but this too may change. I used to call dispatch for rerouting, to head off ground delays for bad weather. Now I collect overs, number 35 in line for takeoff. I am on a new mission - to demonstrate that misguided leadership of indifference and disrespect has a cost. It's about character, not contracts. It's about leading by taking care of your people instead of leadership by bean counters (an oxymoron). With acts of omission, not commission, I am a one-man wrecking crew - an army of One. My mission used to be to make CAL rich. Now it's to make CAL pay. When they furlough more pilots than the rest, pilots that cost them 60 cents on the dollar - I will make them pay. When they under-staff bases and over-work reserves to keep pilots downgraded, down-flowed, or downtrodden - I will make them pay. When over-booked customers are denied boarding system wide, while jets are parked in the desert - I will make them pay. When they force pilots, who have waited 12 years to become captains, to be FOs again - I will make them pay. When they ask CAL pilots to show leadership at Express, and then deny them longevity - I will make them pay. When they recall F/As for the summer, just to furlough them again in the fall like migrant workers - I will make them pay. When they constantly violate the letter and spirit of our contract - a contract that's a bargain by any measure, and force us to fight lengthy grievances - I will make them pay. My negotiating committee speaks for me, but I act on my own. I am a walking nightmare to the bean counters that made me. Are you listening? This mercenary has a lot of years left with this company; how long can you afford to keep me bitter? I'm not looking for clauses in a contract, I'm looking for a culture of commitment and caring. When I see it, I'll be a soldier for CAL again. Until then, I am an Army of One&And I'm not alone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Blah, blah, blah. You'll be an army of one in the EI line. Big deal. Just vote no if you hate it. Be a man about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 You'll be an army of one at the EI office before long. Don't think CO. Think PATCO. What's to stop AC from doing a Crossair and shutting down mainline and shifting ALL your flying to Jazz. The company could shift the props to Tier 3s for additional savings, and make Jazz into Air Canada. For every member of your Army of One there would be a lawyer, accountant, consultant, labor lawyer, CIRB commissioner and politician happily beavering away to make that scenario work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JW Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 All the angst and agro may be redundant by shortly anyway if the decision is made for everyone. Cudda, shudda, wudda... JW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virtual Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 I assume that you'll be happy with a clause that includes 'profit-sharing' then. However, if your co-worker is also an 'Army of One' ... there may go your profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 You're certainly right. On that note, I am going to segue out of here for a couple of weeks on the road. I really hope that this all sorts itself out in a way that sees everyone get some clarity, if not closure. Rumors are often as accurate as a weather vane. They swing about and sometimes give you a hint of things to come but rarely are accurate. At least when you know the outcome, you know where you stand, and can make rational decisions and come to peace with things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Howdy V1. Good to see you still alive and kicking.... A few weeks ago, I would have agreed with you about Milton. But he's surprised me and I'm starting to think he might be a sly devil in disguise. I thought he was out of touch and clueless about people management and general psychology, but he's managed to impress me with a touch of insight I wouldn't have expected. I suspect now that there's more to the man than first seems evident, and he's quite possibly playing this fuc%ing game quite well. Better than we think. ...Maybe. I just wish it wasn't being played like a game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 Would you care to elaborate about your new understanding of Mr. Milton and his "insight", and your view of how he is playing this "game"? We peons really havn't heard much out of him lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fmrc3ame Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 This game he is playing WILL affect the lives and livelyhood of thousands of Canadians. Having said that no matter the result we will all lose whatever the result. All the while he sits in his Ivory tower collecting millions and PLAYING GAMES with REAL peoples lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp fa Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 What game? Milton told the unions months ago that the company was in trouble and they needed concessions. He even gave the unions the opportunity to come up with their own version of how they could save the money. Not one of them came up with anything that came close to a viable solution until late the night before the company went into CCAA. So now he hands the unions a "take it or leave it" list of concessions, and everyone is outraged that they didn't get a chance to negotiate. And those that insisted that employee concessions wouldn't work and they needed a new business model are now screaming bloody murder, because apparently it never occurred to them that the new business model might mean downsizing and getting rid of regional jets. The writing has been on the wall here for a very long time. It was written quite clearly, and in big block letters. Anyone who is surprised by how things are turning out here just hasn't been paying attention. If this is a game, it's called "career poker", and it's a pretty risky, high stakes game, best not played unless you have the funds to back it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GDR Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Jennifer, you are right on the money. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 That about sums it up... Tell me the union honcho's aren't involved -- as we speak -- in that high stakes game of poker with players from the company. Every move made and every word "leaked" is a part of that game. I heard the demand for serious chat, and I think I understand as well as anyone what the risks are, but I don't think honesty and up front dealings can come from a group trained and conditioned to play "the game". What I was saying there Jennifer, is that I think Milton may have a better read on the cards than a lot of folks give him credit for. ...and for him to win at it, the goal may not necessarily be what some are hoping it is. Time will tell. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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