Part 6
Appendix C
No Paid Holiday - The Real 49ers Stories
Most of us know that being a 49er is no “paid holiday”, but few of us outside of that circle have a real feel for what it is like. We asked 49ers to send us a brief and candid summary of their thoughts and the following is a selection of quotes from that input. I urge all of you to take the time to read each one.
“My kids keep asking my wife and I whether or not we can afford an item now that I am unemployed. My daughter's basketball team all bought T-shirts with their names on the back. A little something that brings a team together and a memento. My daughter was the only one that didn't want to burden us with the financial cost of buying a cotton shirt. The price was probably about 100 HKD, but she was prepared to sacrifice a team shirt when every other player was getting one. I was proud of her but at the same time, I was heart-broken that this is the position my family and I have been put into.”
“I can’t tell you how much it means to us to have the members support us through this. We couldn’t have done this without your help. I know we can all get back to work because you’re prepared to be patient. We also know how much of a sacrifice many of you have made. We can get by on half pay now, but I know there were times when 5% was a lot of money to us.”
“The rejection that my wife and I feel right now is almost unbearable. We feel as if we are being "kicked while we are down."
“I rarely get more than three hours of sleep at night and that obviously has a very negative effect on me. The stress is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. My wife was sick in bed for two full days last week, which I have never seen happen in 20 years together with her. She is getting better, but this got her behind the power curve and that 's not where either of us need to be right now.”
“I’ve gone through the full gauntlet of emotions, but one of the hardest to explain to a non-49er is pride. I’m not proud that I was fired or for some of the thoughts that run through my head on the hard days. I’m proud because my 49er peers include some of the brightest and hardest working and most able pilots I’ve ever met. I’m proud, because I’m one of a group that refuse to give up, that continue to fight for what they know they rightfully deserve.”
“It can get hard to smile sometimes, but I can’t help but crack a grin when I bump into someone I barely know who’s wearing a yellow ribbon. If we can hold together this strong after eight months and Sept 11, we can do anything. This thing isn’t over by a mile.”
“Our attitude affects the children and although they do not fully understand the situation, they think that their parents are not much fun to be around these days. "These days" is basically an ongoing nightmare that has lasted eight months so far. When is it going to end?”
“I had a friend tell me the other day tell me he didn’t want to stay if I didn’t get my job back. Nice sentiment, I said, but not very realistic. Then he pointed out that he’d be further ahead by going somewhere else than watching his contract get chopped to nothing and then getting fired himself in 5 years. He’s got a point; now I’m not sure who has more at stake here.”
“It can get pretty depressing being so far away from the action. Coming back to Hong Kong to do my two weeks in the TST office made all the difference in the world. To see how much was going on in the background and to see how much support there still is gave me a huge injection of confidence.”
“Imagine if you will getting fired, perhaps while on reserve, or in a hotel at an outport, or while on leave or maybe even just showing up for work, a TPE turnaround perhaps. You have done nothing wrong, no letters, and no interviews. Nothing up to that point indicates that your livelihood was in jeopardy. Now you are unemployed, no income, no benefits, no health insurance, nothing. It’s all gone. And you have done nothing wrong.”
“This whole episode has made me far more aware of the things that matter in life. I guess it is similar to bereavement. I have learnt that being able to spend more time with my young family is far more valuable than mere money.”
“I need regular reassurance that the AOA membership has not forgotten us. Just one or two phone calls a month or an E Mail or two is all it takes. I had a call from someone out of the blue last week. It was brilliant. He was someone who I just knew at work. I enjoyed his company at work, but we didn't socialise. I helped him out a couple of times over the years and that was it. Then out of the blue this guy phoned me up. He tried and tried. He left messages. Eventually he got through. I was and still am overwhelmed by what on the outside appears to be just a minor gesture of support.”
“I didn’t do anything to deserve what I got. I don’t want to move on - I want my job back. Only we as a union can make that happen. We have to, and we will.”
“Some said ‘find a job’. OK, I’ll give that a try. “Why did you leave Cathay?” Uh, erm, well you see there is this dispute and I, well, erm…. I got fired and… erm uh…. “ Oh, I see…. We haven’t got anything right now but we’ll keep you on file”.
“Its tough sometimes to think this thing has dragged out for eight months. But who would have believed we had the will to last this long and still be holding together? I think we’ve got a lot to be proud of.”
“You know most of us were surprised it took this long for a tragedy (Greg’s death) to happen. If anyone of you is surprised then you are underestimating what this is doing to the 49ers and their families.”
“Life as a 49er is a mix of good fired days and bad fired days. There are more bad ones than good ones. On some days it can be virtually impossible to function. This isn’t a paid holiday... I am sure many of you could get by quite nicely on the allowance we get from the union, but there are some that can’t. For one reason or another they are at a financial point in their life where they need all they can get. We have all been there. You want something really bad and for a few months, maybe a year or so you are prepared to stretch a little and get it. Then you get fired and that stretch becomes almost impossible on the allowance. Well if that allowance disappears, then we are talking bankruptcy…”
“Its pretty tough sometimes, but the support has been amazing. There’s a few guys I really never knew that well before July 09 who call twice a month without fail. To know that the bulk of the membership is prepared to stick it out means the world to us.”
“My wife is resistant to catching up with Cathay people because she doesn't like pity. There is an inclination for people to feel sorry for her rather than pledge they won't give up on her family and will never forget. She has had people say things like you poor thing, I don't know what I'd do if it happened to me. They are good people that don't know what to say - perhaps we should tell them. You say "we are all in this together, we won't stop until reinstatement, together we are going to make this right again, could have been any one of us".
“We’ll be back in uniform. I know we will.”