Here's my take:
Some might see the 4% bonus, when added to the 10.5% raise, as equivalent to a 14.5% raise. Okay, I'll concede that some might consider 14.5% a good raise. I wouldn't, but that's not the point. The catch is that the 4% is just a one-time deal. I, for one, do not like the idea of taking a 14.5% raise only to have the company take back 4% next year and be right back at Cato's crappy 10.5% in perpetuity. If we merge, the corresponding raise and when we get it is indefinite. If we don't merge, 10.5% is all we have until we negotiate another contract. We've all seen how smoothly that goes. I'm not satisfied with a 10.5% raise and being stuck with it for the next 5 years. I didn't just spend the last 2 weeks picketing in LAX, ANC and FAI only to approve a TA that is only slightly better than what the Company offered at the beginning of the cooling off period. We initially made HUGE concessions to avert a strike and they hardly budged. That was to AVERT a strike. Now that we've been at it for 2 weeks the price tag should go up. Let's get what we deserve now.
Three and a half months of retroactive pay adds up to 227.5 hours. The difference in pay (old scale vs. add'l 10.5%) for a 1-yr. FO/PFE is $5.94/hr. That FO/PFE gets a "signing bonus" of $1351.35, before taxes. A 10-yr. Captain's difference is $13.93/hr. His "signing bonus" is $3169.08, before taxes. Bonuses like this are annualized and taxed accordingly so you can safely count on getting only about half of it in your check. That results in checks for about $675 and $1600, respectively, for the two examples above. Sorry if I'm not getting too excited.
The 401(k) isn't bad but it isn't great, either. As it stands, the company matches 100% of your contribution, up to 2% of your gross pay. The new deal matches 50% of your contribution, up to 10% of your gross pay. In other words, 5%. The catch is this: If you currently just contribute 2% to get the company's match, now you'll have to put in 4% to get the same amount out of them. You want to maximize the company's match? You have to put in the full 10% to get their 5% match / 3% increase. There goes your big, fat 10.5% raise.
We've already come this far, and we've been extremely effective, so why put our tails between our legs and crawl for cover? So many things are working in our favor. Contrary to some opinions, I believe that we did stop a lot of freight. We're getting even deeper into the busy season. The clock is ticking on the Narita slots. Capacity in Asia is hugely affected. Fuel surcharges are catching up with fuel costs. The Company simply can not afford to have us strike much longer. If we vote down this TA we won't necessarily even have to go back to picketing. Maybe we would, maybe not. Even now, Cato thinks that we're a bunch of 'kitties' and that we don't have the resolve to fight for more than he's offering. But in the end they really do have much more to lose than we do.
The one positive thing that I can say about this TA is that it proves that the company's threats of selling the certificate, terminating and furloughing crewmembers, transferring aircraft, etc. are empty and meaningless. It was all bluffs. We will never have another opportunity to do this again. If we're going to do this, we have to do it now. It was all true 2 weeks ago before we went on strike. It is a proven fact. We have shown our unity and our demonstrated our resolve, now let's take our just reward.
We all want to get back to what we love. None of us wants to go back out on the picket lines. But now that the uncertainty is gone let's do what we came here for and take what is rightfully ours!
One crewmember recently suggested putting Cato's crappy 10.5% offer up to vote. Some opposed the idea, others encouraged it. Well, guys and girls, here it is. Any question on which way I'm voting?