I was curious to compare the roster of one of the 777 Capts in top bid for FEB, against my (bottom bid) roster. His...102 hours (of unwanted overtime). Block of 10 days off included in there somewhere. Mine, 71 hours, 8 days off, (albeit with a few days of vacation).
My point? What a load of crap claiming that it is to "balance the workload". Guys are sitting around on reserve doing sweet FA, while the top bid guys are flying their butts off, just to ensure that the top bid people don't get too many days off in a row. And of course, in this case, it costs the company a bucket full of productivity pay, just to ensure that our top bid Capt is completely screwed around.
Some of course would be happy with that sort of productivity pay, and that's up to them. But for those that don't want it, and don't bid for it, it's a complete farce.