Why scope is not an issue

Because your union sold it. That's right. We had a great scope clause and Mike Glawe et. al. sold it. For those of you not on the property in December '97 I will explain. For those that were, I will remind. For those that chided me at union meetings and in flight ops with "You wanna fly RJs or 747s??" I will chastize, because it was you idiots that got us where we are today.
United had THE scope clause in the industry, because at one time we were the only major with a jet commuter (Air Wisconsin/BAE 146s). Summer '97 management wants relief to compete with Comair in the monkey-see-monkey-do logic of airline planning and so they come to ALPA. All 12 LECs vote no. We are at the mid point in the ESOP contact and due for a mid term pay raise. Management has offered us a paltry 1.5% this year, 1.5% next. We are not impressed. The maximum the arbitrator can allow is 5% this year, 5% next. That's it. Come December a cryptic, one page letter comes from our union explaining why we cannot afford to fly the RJs (it included bogus costs structures and also a holy mandate that no captain should be paid less than an F/O. 747 F/O s were making around 130K at the time, Comair captains about 65K. No contest. Revote at the LEC level yields 11 out of 12 LECs rolling over (Hawaii held out because they could read the writing on the island wall) and granting management the go ahead. Hey presto, the following week management authorizes a 5% pay raise, followed by another 5% pay raise, followed by the restoration of the B fund. i.e. MORE than an arbitrator could have awarded. I did query a representative and he assured me that the B fund was restored because "Gerry Greenwald had promised Mike Glawe it would be so". So I put him back on his turnip truck and bid him a good day. So the "Do you want 747 or RJ" protagonists got their way. And now 55% of our domestic flying is not being done  by us.  1400+ are furloughed who would not have been had it not been for your union's desire to cater to senior members at the expense of everyone else. And now they want you to pay with your jobs. Make no mistake, the 90 seaters ARE coming, and you can choose to fly them. or not.
Fast forward......
2002 and I am in Narita with the then NY LEC chairman who is explaining to me that we can'y fly the RJs because the going rate is simply not enough. i.e HE decided what the 2100+ guys then on the street were/were not willing to accept. And this is what will happen this time. Your negotiating committee will surface with long faces, a brave air, and a story of tireless effort and how "management simply doesn't want us to fly them"  ( and of course, we ARE at the center of the world and so management doesn't want US to fly them simply because mangement sees a way to piss US off and that's ALL they care about. Not profits or economics or any of that business stuff. It's all about Us.....right?) You will not get to hear what we demanded, and what our counterparts found uneconomical. What pork we attached to it. What benefits we demanded. Let's face it, nobody on this property right now will be in the right seat of one of those things. It is a left seat (pay raise) opportunity (Skywest captains are at about 110K a year now) for many F/Os. It is a removal of a future threat, and a disincentive for management to finagle off-balance-sheet accounting practises using shell corporations. It is a ticket back on to the property for all furloughees. It is of immense benefit to the company for us to fly them. It allows for seamless schedule adjustments to maximize load factors, cover for out-of-position equipment, and a much better quality control situation so happier customers. Management has an incentive for us to fly them. AT THE RIGHT PRICE. Your union has demonstrated in the past that it does not wish to be in the RJ business. ALPA wants to fly RJs at mainline rates, and  that is simply not economical. Management has every right to refute the gesture. This company MUST be profitable for you to have a stable future. There is no other way to slice it. I believe your union is still of that expensive mindset no matter what they say. They are not demonstrating otherwise. The attitude that "The money is there/they are just hiding it/can't believe the accounting/ it's all lies" does not create an environment where ANY deal can be reached. IF you buy into that mindset, you'd better be prepared to gamble with your career because that's where this thing is going.
 So tell your officers what you expect. Demand transparency and quit accepting the mushroom treatment. This is YOUR company, not your union's, not management's.