is threatening to destroy Blue Star. "To squeeze" is to press or hold very tightly together. Present management may not be the worst scum of the earth, but they’re the guys who put you on this kamikaze course. "Scum of the earth" is an extremely negative insult to describe a horrible or very immoral person (Scum is the filth that collects on shower tiles). "Kamikaze" is a Japanese word for the pilots who agreed to commit suicide by crashing their planes into enemy ships. Pretty soon everybody will be scrambling for parachutes, only there is not enough to go around. "To scramble" is to move or run quickly, often in a desperate attempt to escape. "Parachutes" are the devices for jumping out of planes, or here, the huge amounts of money that only top executives get when a company is sold off, or when they agree to leave the company. If they throw Blue Star into Chapter 11, they’ll use the bankruptcy laws to break your unions, your contracts, and to throw you guys off the property. "Chapter 11" is the well known set of laws that allow a business to "declare bankruptcy," which allows the business to avoid paying debts that it still has, since it no longer has any money. What do you say we cut to the chase? If you "cut to the chase," you start to speak immediately about the most important or critical matter that needs to be discussed. I’m asking for a modest 20% across the board wage cut and seven more hours a month. An "across the board wage cut" means that every single employee in the company will be paid less. If we’re in the black, salaries go back to their present levels and we initiate an employee profit sharing program with stock. If a company is "in the black," it is making money (If it is "in the red," it is losing money). "To initiate" a plan is to start it, and a "profit-sharing" program is one in which employees get stock in the company. Effective inventory management through computerization will increase our load factor by 5-20%. "Inventory management" is a way for companies to have just enough inventory (goods or supplies), but not too much. This is Bud’s way of saying they can increase profits by 5-20% if the airline is more efficient. We expand our hubs in Atlanta, North Carolina and St. Louis. A "hub" is a an airport that serves as a major center of operations for an airline, from which planes fly to other less important cities. Cards are on the table; What do you say? :: It’s in the ballpark; I can take it to my people. If "the cards are on the table," the details of a proposal have been clearly explained. If the proposal is "in the ballpark," it is worth discussing since it may be acceptable (In this case, to union members). You’ve sketched some broad strokes. I would like to see the fine print. In this case, to "s
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