I agree w/ you MC especially concerning the small group favoritism being shown to a select few. The problem, as I see it, lies in the fact that in order to be considered an 'insider', (and thus be treated w/ special favor), one's got to suck up, lick boots, bow down, (however you want to paint it), to management guys that seem to be not nice to people who have done nothing to provoke them. But if one does bow down and somehow manage to break into the inner circle, he can do no wrong in the manager's eyes.
Sorry to say , but that's the way it works. At my barn and my experience and I've seen this; pets get the good runs while non pets get tossed out of good runs. One guy ,non pet, asked, "Why you taking me off my favorite run and giving it to a him,(a pet)?" The FOS said something to the affect, " It's all for the best, trust me". Is that showing the non pet respect??? What kind of an explanation was that?
On a more positive side note...things seem to be changing for the better of late. Management seems to be working w/ us to give us certain peddle areas according to our choice along w/ our start time choices for our peddles not based on favoritism but rather senority . Maybe what Tony Brooks preached in St. Louis at the 'Operations Summit 2015' video short is taking effect. TB's idea in this video was "winning as a company and retaining respect for people is not mutually exclusive."
Once again , we'll have to wait and see what kind of real RESPECT is shown toward us dsr's as time goes on cause we have no shop stewart or BA to fight for us.