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A Tale of Two Letters

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Source: Archived Content

Date: May 28, 2001

It seems that every time we open our mailboxes these days, there's another he said-she said letter from either the company or the union.  Our latest surprise double-set of letters attempt to explain the recent UAL/AFA Wage Arbitration decision.  You know, the one that recently netted us $0.00 in raises.

What I ought to do is instigate a Jumpseatnews contest to determine who's the better author: Linda Farrow or William P. Hobgood (aka BILL, as he appears to want all of us to call him).  The latest batch of letters cover the same topics, are about the same length, and attempt to explain to flight attendants what's been happening in the world of UAL/AFA relations.

That's where the similarities end, however, because their writing styles are vastly different.  Linda Farrow's letters generally tend to encompass more emotion.  Words like 'mad as hell' and 'fight' prevail throughout her paragraphs---written in a style not unlike we're going to war and the pleasantries are over.

Bill's letters tend to be more indirect, using his patented 'It is Possible to Disagree without Being Disagreeable' motif.  This is easily accomplished in the spirit of one comfortably not having to be stuck with a $0.00 wage increase---you know, the kind of paycheck/inflation annoyance that rears it's ugly head every time you fill up at the $2.00 per gallon gasoline pump.

Regardless, both letters suffer tremendously from the same ailment: they both leave you with an empty feeling in the pit of your stomach.  Linda's letter feels a bit incomplete to me.  It promises that our next step is to continue the CHAOS campaign, i.e., we'll keep informing the public of our dispute with United.  Stick together, wear your pins, etc...

Bill tries to end on a positive note.  His letter attempts to tie things up nicely with what he's trying to say, and yet demonstrates a lack of understanding of our workforce.  This is apparent almost immediately in the 2nd paragraph where he mentions that some flight attendants complained about the "time it was taking to resolve pay issues."

Using words like 'complain' is not smart employee relations---especially at a We-Just-Got-$0.00-To-Look-Forward-To time like this and especially for the Senior Vice President of the People Division!  Although the average dictionary defines the word 'complain' as meaning 'to express dissatisfaction'---out there in the real world (especially in the airline business) the meaning of 'complain' is quite different.  It's almost likened to being annoying or worrying about trivial things: see whining.

One can complain about having to get stuck in seat 41E on your deadhead segment.  One can complain about the busted audio jacks on the 767.  But I am not complaining when each month I have to balance my checkbook register vs. my outgoing bills to be paid.  I'm concernedConcerned about my career.  Concerned about the proposed U.S. Airways merger and my loss of seniority (read: money).  And concerned about the future of this airline.

Stop saying that we're complaining.  This isn't the 1960's anymore. 

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