The underemployed

Us. The lower lineholders. The reserves.
Much has been made of the houly rate issue in our current contract negotiations but little has been said about the fact that many of us cannot make a decent paycheck because there is not enough work (or thanks to PBS, the senior lineholders can collect 90+hours per month and leave the rest swinging in the breeze). Our counterparts at Continental do not see this vast disparity. Only in our precious United culture do we see this. But that's bye the bye. Taking pot shots at those who have the opportunity to make money is a little disingenuous (kind of like ALPA members berating those who accept junior manning assignments). The fact is, the problem would not occur if management were incentivized to expand the airline. i.e. By knowing what their future costs were going to be. By having us locked in a contract. By creating more work, your 70 hr/month paycheck becomes a 90/hr /month paycheck, and with proper work rules that can be achieved in the same days (Remember the shuttle??). That's a 28.57% pay raise without touching the hourly rate. Now, given that management's original offer (I don't know if it's still on the table, after two years maybe they rescinded it) was what amounted to a 22% pay raise, a combination of these increases amounts ot a 54% pay raise. That's for YOU. The junior lineholders. The reserves that would become lineholders. As you can see, the United element of the "New United" has not seen any expansion since the merger, so don't expect any changes until a contract is signed.
So to all of you who are in this position, I say Make Yourselves Heard! You have a right to the opportunities that are being offered, and you owe nothing to those who would stifle those opportunities.