Cliff, There are a few things being thrown into the mix at the moment, such as a profit share/bonus scheme, that might make it a win and might make the changes worth voting for if you are willing to speculate.....
The two biggies that have got tongues wagging is firstly a proposal to move from Bidline in it's current iteration to a system known as JSS, which I believe our colleagues at United are using. I think the big big difference is that you'll be bidding for preferences on a seniority basis, e.g days off, preferred destinations, rather than bidding for predefined lines (that the company may then alter under the present rules). We are only just getting more info from the reps, maybe one of the smarter guys can fill in massive gaps in my knowledge.
Secondly the other big concern is that there is a proposal that we will get rid of the fixed "flying pay allowance" and revert to some form of hourly (flying hour/duty hour pay.), which by definition will vary from month to month depending on duties, sickness. BA BALPA fought a long battle to get as much pay as possible fixed, so to me a a bit of a strange step and most definitely a massive U turn, though I guess it might make sense to some financial whizz kids who look at the spreadsheets and reckon they'll gain somewhere else in the deal....personally I'm not convinced. Those negotiating with lenders for mortgages and/or loans are saying the drop in the fixed element in the pay could them cause big problems. I think for many it's simply a financial risk they can't take and I feel this issue alone is a deal breaker for a lot of the junior pilots- they need the fixed allowance. Then again I'm sure others here have more info and perhaps a different POV.
It is all being debated now, there will then follow a vote on whether to change or stick with something approximating to the current system.
Last edited by wiggy; 3rd Feb 2016 at 14:16.