jalves

Nothing to worry about here. Typical step in any union/management contract negotiation. Intended to make the union's position more serious so that management will consider their demands.

hotturnip

I've been in a union before. Strike authorization votes are part of the process. It's brinkmanship.

readywhenyouare

I remember being on the phone with a reissuing agent when the Delta pilots were all but certain to strike during bankruptcy. She was in tears as she knew that would be the end of the airline and her job. By all means, if you're unhappy with your pay and benefits, seek greener pastures. But don't take the others down with you.

readywhenyouare

I suppose my sincere response would be, why not have both sides start with realistic terms to begin with?

Or if the pilots know they hold all the cards, why give in at all? Hold firm to every demand.

jetsfan92588

If one side starts with reasonable demands and the other starts with crazy demands, and you meet halfway, where do you meet? What's half of crazy... I think it's still crazy.

DLASflyer

Not how the airline industry works. Seniority is everything. Working toward a better contract at your current airline makes way more sense than leaving and starting over.

readywhenyouare

I'm well aware of how seniority works. I'm not sure what that had to do with my post. Had the Delta pilots gone on strike in bankruptcy it would have been the end of the company. They were willing to put everyone at the company out of a job just because you want more money. I'm saying that doesn't sit well with me.

GagaPilot

I’m one of the few airline pilots out there that could care less about getting more money. Sure, it’s great, but what I would really like is:

Less fatiguing schedules. Part 117 is a complete joke and the general public has no clue how tired airline employees are. Much less how long they have been on duty.

Competent dispatchers and crew schedulers. They should be required to take more certification classes than what they do.

More time off to spend at home with family.

But DL pilots will never strike. There’s no way they would ever be released. It would be a major breakdown in transportation infrastructure. It’s all smoke and mirrors, just a typical negotiating tactic.

And no, I’m not a pilot for DL.

emma dog

Theres next to 0% chance they’d have had a complete, shut the airline down, strike. More likely they’d do work to rule, no OT, etc, because the pilots don’t want to kill the airline.

Kind of like the railroad contracts that were just signed… no one really wants to shut things down. But both sides want to make sure they have the most perceived concessions from the other side possible.

Your question about why not come in with a reasonable offer? That’s the difference between competitive and collaborative negotiations. Unless the labor group and management both see large potential upside by working together, it’s a competitive negotiation. That means it’s a fixed pie and any slice I don’t get is yours… again, you may come in with a reasonable offer, but the other side’s job is to get every last ounce of concessions possible to ensure they get the largest slice of pie they possibly can. Game theory states that the union has to have strike on the table, and the company has to drag things out under the old contract as long as possible… meaning they generally won’t settle until 11:59 on the last possible day of negotiations.

RobertS975

Put me down in the camp that a strike authorization vote is merely part of the negotiation process and entirely expected.

exwannabe

If I understand the process, it is really the only way the union can push a timeline for an agreement. W/o the strike threat the company can just negotiate in bad faith while the union gets paid on the old contract.

So yes, just an automatic part of the game.

N830MH

Uh-oh!! Here we go again!! Gosh! Hope not!

rylan

Well DL did cut back the holiday schedules in Nov/Dec...

hotturnip

Contract negotiations drove me crazy when I was in a union. Both sides came in with ridiculous demands that everybody knew were impossible. Then they had to go through this ritualistic process of "negotiations," with regular propaganda efforts on both sides, everyone claiming the other side was unreasonable, followed by a strike authorization vote, etc. Usually what happened was at the very last minute the union president would meet the company president at a diner for breakfast and they would hammer it out--without the teams' presence. Such a waste of time and resources.

And don't just blame unionization. Labor unions are a result of market forces. If you don't treat your employees properly, they're gonna want to unionize. It's just that over time they become ossified institutions just like corporations.

readywhenyouare

I'm curious to know why you think the union negotiates in good faith but the company doesn't.