I'm having trouble ginning up much sympathy for workers at United Airlines. I just can't seem to forget this quote:
Rick Dubinsky, until recently head of United Airlines' pilots' union and board member of UAL Corp:
"We don't want to kill the golden goose. We just want to choke it by the neck until it gives us every last egg."
Well, guys, you choked it a little too hard.
Too bad - you did all this to yourselves.
"Well, guys, you choked it a little too hard. "
Yeah, I saw that quote too. Amazingly stupid, and a union mindset that has to be broken.
I'm not a defender of unions, but I do see the human part of the equation. There are innocent members of the rank and file who are getting caught in a bad situation.
And because the union is stupid, and greedy, does that justify management plundering? I would say no. I would say, pay the management in accordance with their value to the company. Did this management team oversee augering this company into the ground? Did they commit the blunders and enlist help for tasks that should be completed by a competent management team?
If the answer is yes, then I don't see how rewarding them with stock is the right answer.