I do find it odd that if the company had enough crew to run a near perfect schedule why they just did not go ahead and do that. By doing this they would have further weakened the union saved themselves several million in the process by not increasing all crews wages
Scooby, I don't think all companies are the exploitive evil empires that some union protagonists would have us believe. Is it not possible, that having worked the numbers to make a 4.8% deal affordable, the company genuinely wanted to offer crew that deal? Perhaps, like me, they understand that VS lags behind everyone bar bmi and plan to take the steps to bring them more in line - but it has to be done in an affordable way which allows the bean counters to absorb the cost without making drastic cuts in other areas to pay for it.
I still believe the boss is a visionary leader with altruistic tendencies - but above all he is a level-headed businessman who knows the importance of keeping costs lower than turnover.