Giggleswick, FYI,
Very thoughtful posts from you both, thank you. If you read some of my other posts on this and other threads, I actually didn't say I would vote YES, only that I was asking 'why' I should not vote for the pay rise offered now. I do in fact agree with both of you that the offer is sorely lacking. I still feel however that there is always an inherent risk in rejecting any gain offered, no matter how meager. In this industry, it doesn't take much for a downturn to hit, and overnight you go from feast to famine! The ongoing tumult in the US and world markets has much more to come i'm afraid, and the eventual consequences could be far worse than anyone predicts. A US economy screeching to a halt will drastically effect the aviation market, and could very quickly put our management back in the ascendency. As I mentioned earlier, we would all then be regreting not taking the raises on offer now. I do however agree that as it stands, probably best to vote NO.
My main issue is with people like ACMS who seem intent on reducing the potential top level of pay in the company. That seems like a suicidal attitude towards your own profession. The higher the top scale, the better chance of the rest of us seeing better increases.