Originally Posted by
Check_Thrust
I think you will find that most of the NJS pilots that voted in favour of the agreement did so not because they felt that it was a "good agreement" but because they faced too much long term uncertainty if they voted no and the agreement was rejected. Essentially they were coerced into voting yes.
On the outside looking in it is easy to say that the race to the bottom continues thanks to NJS voting this agreement up (or any other pilot group when it is their time to vote), but when a person is operating an aircraft that is due to be phased out and is not in a position to easily uproot and move to a new job due to things such as age or family, to me it is understandable that an agreement like this can get over the line.
No, it does not help other pilot groups, but when your head is on the chopping block it can be hard to stand ground for the "greater good" when the consequences can have a severe impact on your life. Things may have been different if the NJS pilot group were not operating an aircraft that is being replaced and had more things in their favour but unfortunately things were stack against them and management was able to utilise standover tactics to force this agreement through.
I would not be surprised to see an exodus of pilots from NJS that are in position to move on to greener pastures and I hope there will be sufficient amounts that do so so that managements behaviour bites them in the butt regarding crewing, but that may be wishful thinking on my part. I also foresee that a lot of goodwill will be lost and doing things such as extending or accepting duties that don't need to be accepted will decline resulting in more delays and/or cancellations. Whether management will notice and understand why will be another story.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but you have taken the words right out of my mouth. I'm sure the majority of NJS Pilots voted yes in shear desperation.