Some clarification please....
Was chatting to a colleague last night about this. He is still at AI as a contract pilot. I am interested to find some unbiassed FACTS from what rumour and gossip he passed on to me. I DO NOT state anything that I have written is pure fact. Hence I ask for your advice to clarify things.
All figures and dates are speculative at best! I am seeking your input to correct me where I am (will be) wrong.
AI break the Union some years ago by telling the Cmdrs after 6 months (?) as a Cmdr you get an extra $2k USD per month by gaining a "Managment or Executive" title. That salary top up is called or camouflaged as a "productivity bonus" / allowance.
As I saw on the AI pilot list, nearly EVERY Cmdr is a manager of something it seemed. (?)
New CMD comes in, ruthlessly lowering moral as quick as possible and says he is doing it to save costs (eg duty travel in coach / economy class), etc. He sees all these management pilots and executive pilots getting a base salary of XX and a "productivity bonus" of YY. He says.... "WHAT productivity!? We are in debt $? BILLIONS of USD and they are getting PRODUCTIVITY BONUSES?!" (One may be foregiven for seeing his point?) So, he cuts the productivity bonus since (obviously) no productivity can be shown.
So, sell your soul for some money at the cost of a stable, strong and supportive union (if THAT is possible with the many, many self interest bodies at AI / NACIL). Reap the rewards for a few good years. Times change, economics and the world aviation inidustry changes, a ruthless man without conscience takes the reins and the soul that was sold is now all paid up and he takes advantage of this.
And now people are crying bloody murder.
Now, I may be (in fact I am sure I am) wrong in facts and figures as I am admittedly passing on information from an unreliable source who got his information from rumour and gossip.
Someone who can give an unbiassed REAL account of the history of the union breaking, productivity bonuses, management/exec titles and what has transpired then I [and others] would be most interested.