Stansdead I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you weren't in grasp of the facts, I was simply trying to explain that, even though no formal negotiations are in place or imminent, the pilot workforce and BALPA are constantly in public discussion about the wants, needs and desires of the pilots, and that thus any preparations for negotiation are already well-informed. There seems to be no comparable dialogue between the CC and their Union, which has hampered the Union's efforts to relay its membership's feelings to the Company. That needs addressing well before any future negotiations.
vsfm As I said in an earlier post, this is not a dispute between the pilots and the CC. Far from it; many of our number have CC partners and are getting this almost at first hand. We also spend much time trying to explain the various deals and ramifications of those deals, particularly to the younger, less knowledgable CC. From these discussions, it seems that your Union reps have been giving conflicting advice; indeed, it would seem that some have been openly in disagreement with the Union, which is hardly helpful for the membership - the time for disagreement is behind closed doors. Once a Union policy has been agreed, all the reps should publicly back and follow that policy. That seems not to have happened.
As for part of our pay being profit-related, that is true. But so is yours - all of it!