Since when has company image mattered in these issues? Whether pilots stike for higher wages...better conditions...has nothing to do with image. The problem is that of a management that is unable to maintain a reasonable dialogue with its employees....any hope pilots have of acheiving their goals is to stay the course and not give in short of success.
If all the pilots at Bristow and Scotia work together in this you cannot fail. Just where are the replacement pilots going to come from? I can assure you they do not exist anywhere now....Americans are getting their raises and still cannot man the operations on the Gulf Coast. Air Log is running 15% short of the numbers needed to crew their aircraft now...they have 30 pilots each day working over on their time off now. PHI has the same problem. The company is desperately short of pilots overseas and cannot man the operations sufficiently to avoid time and duty hour problems. They cannot draw from overseas operations to replace you. The management ranks have been reduced to minimum...now is the time. If the oil patch slows down the company will be in a position to hold down wages yet again.
When PHI increased pilot wages 40%, they immediately raised rates 30% and lost not one contract. Do you think the North Sea is any different? If Scotia and Bristow raise rates then the oil company has no choice but to pay up.
The only issue with which I see a problem is the pension funding issue and I see the pilots being able to work that out with the company. The sticking point as I see it...is the old Bristow management dictatorial attitude in action here. They fight change and refuse to go along when it is someone else calling the tune for a change. They are in a position to greatly improve the lot of the employees by passing the costs along to the customers...just this time they cannot take a piece of the action when they do.
The old Bristow does not exist anymore...nor the loyalty that Mr. Bristow had for his people....this management has proven what they think loyalty means...ask the 52 pilots that got shifted a while back for being more than 53 years old. They don't give a stuff for you...so why do you worry about the image of the company.
The overseas pilots support your aims on the pay issues....don't look for us to come to the North Sea and replace you....we have our own axe to grind over pay , pension, and living conditions.
