Originally Posted by Poopdeck90210
I think the NW mechanics should do the same. They should knock off all of the flight delay strong arming tactics and make sure that their skills are good enough to be retained by NW to do the work, or to perhaps help manage the new vendors in Singapore and other areas who will be taking over most of the major engine repair work. That would be a sign that they recognize the world has changed around them and they elected to take the high road.
-Alan
Well, one of the historic values of unions were to guarantee a certain quality. Look at the ads in major cities for the plumbers/electrician unions...while the labor may be more $$, work should meet a certain standard. While many unions no longer have a period of apprentaceship (spelling??) to guarantee a quality product, some do.
I assume that making sure "their skills are good enough to be retained by NW to do the work" is moot. I would hope that every mechanic at NW has skills good enough to do the work, and has been for as long as they have been working. Higher skills will not keep any of them around any longer than someone who meets the minimum required to be satisfactory. Furloughs are by senority, as their is no "objective fair" way to evaluate all the mechanics systemwide against each other. If the NW mechanics do as they are told, they wil llose 53% of membership and the remaining 47% will have 25% less at the end of the day. If you look on the senority list, and see that you have the median seniority, you are gone, period. Working harder, faster, better will only get you furloughed on the same day as working "safe" slow, and defering nothing.
When faced with a no-win ultimatium, sometime you must think along a different path. Anyone ever watch Star Trek 2, The Wrath of Khan? It is the Kobishaimaroo test. Only way Kirk passed the computer simulation that had no solution was to cheat, think outside the box, and reprogram the computer. NW has given the majority of mechanics the same test....a no win situation. If taking a time out, and forcing a changing of the rules seems like their only option, why shouldn't they do it? If you had 20 years in a job with little chance of an income anywhere near what your lifestyle requires, and then only after uprooting your family to go elsewhere, I would hope that you tried everything in your power to try to get your employeer to change their mind. You owe it to your family, so do they. The most dangerous dog/cat/rat in the world is one whose back is against the wall, and the no sutible options are presented....that's when the fight comes out.
In a democratic system (as a union vote is) I cannot ever recall where a group voted in majority to eliminate a majority. It would take every single person whose job was to be saved, and some of the people whose jobs were to be eliminated to do this, and who is going to vote themself out of a job?