Much as I hate the patronising tone of CF above, he does make a valid point in that we will, however unwelcome it may be, have to fight to get anything out of EK. What he fails to mention is that the arena he fought in had rules and legislation based in a democracy and not an enviroment of 'make it up as you go along to suit the company' in a dictatorship. Whilst I don't underestimate the fight he may have been a part of, they used gloves. What he fails to mention is that once he fought his battle, he left his collegues who followed to fight on their own. What he fails to see is that as a DEC he is also part of the problem.
We have no respect from the company as we have always 'cooperated' with whatever they see fit to impliment. We are successfully divided, weakened by threats of dismissle and job insecurity...perfect, no Vaseline required.
To me it is a question of pride; pride in my profession and all the hard work I have put into it and whilst pride doesn't pay the bills, surely there must be a point where enough is enough?
There are things we could do. Some will think that they are ironically unprofessional, but the truth is that if we do not get our own house in order we will watch the T&Cs wear away even more. As for our main incentive to behave in anticipation of the profit share; we will be made to pay for the hike in oil, fog, increasing training costs etc. so how much do you think it'll be worth?
What can we do? We can start by voicing our opinions here and get the message out about what is going on here to potential new recruits. We could boycott any pilots meetings which are everything but 'open forum'. We could organise a group 'offshore' and attempt to affiliate with an organisation which could offer help and legal advice...just some thoughts.
It is such a shame that we are being treated with the contempt that we are, I sincerely hope that the tide will turn one day soon.
Last edited by Shake; 23rd October 2004 at 16:39.