http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?t=79326
WOW... in less than five minutes one can see this is clreary an anti union
website. With gushing claims of the great non union Jetblue.
http://www.airlinesafety.com/Unions/ALPAIrrelevant.htm
It seems the incredibly successful SWA and thier heavily unioinzed labor force
is quite the annomoly. I guess SWA's management stinks and thier union is
really really great.
Number one Rule Brian.....
Air Line Pilots Do Not Run Airlines.
Yet you write your article as if they should. Well they can't and won't and shouldn't and couldn't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
it has become clear to me that ALPA,
and indeed all AFL-CIO unions, are far more
interested in acquiring and projecting
political power than they are in representing
the long-term best interests of their members
Brian, ALPA and the AFL-CIO are political organizations They are very much interested in political power. Did you know that the ATA, airline managements own political force, was created five years after ALPA,
in 1936, in part to counter ALPA's political effectiveness?
Now if you meant personal political power, that
is a different story. You may have a point, but I don't think it is as severe as the uninformed would like to think....
And if the common member wants to address too much personal politcal
power, then the member must get involved politically to take back his power. In addition that is a corrupt leadership issue, not a organizational issue.
More on this later....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
Unfortunately, post-deregulation, it is no longer the case that unions can indirectly drive customer purchasing decisions, nor that operational costs no longer matter----since the customers now have free market choice.
Please explain the SWA effect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
ALPA fits that post-deregulation description perfectly; it continues to live in a 1976 alternate reality, trying the same obsolete approaches that have no place in the 2006 reality. It is as much ALPA who has its head in the sand, as it is management.
Brian, they key to a successful airline is todays market is productivity.
The only way to increase productivity is to tear down departmental walls,
create a culture of teamwork and eglitariansm. The legacy carriers are too
entrenched in heirachy, big ego CEOs and the blame game. No where in your
article to you address Corp Elite compensation for poor productivity. (example, their golden parachutes)
If ALPA is too blame, them blame them for not being more effective in driving
managmeent toward this ideal. But as I said before Air Line Pilots don't run
Airlines. If they do mention ideas they can get shot down has being union bias.
Why? Becuase unlike SWA, where unions are partners, at the legacy carriers (and thier feeders) unions are adversaries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
ALPA National provides us with "financial experts" who inform our local leadership as to whether our companies can afford our contract demands and they were very good at it - as long as they don't have to look ahead more than one or two years.
Brian, how can you expect ALPA to forcast beyond two years when Airline
management can't. Heck, the airline analysist can't. Please be realistic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
First, power has to return to the rank and file. That requires a rejection of mandatory union membership, the elimination of mandatory dues payments, and the option for the rank and file to quit their unions. Such policy changes will make union leadership more responsive to front line members.
Brian, I'm glad you offer solutions, otherwise your article would be nothing
but a complaint.
Did you know that the most powerful group at ALPA is the general membership? The problem is no one attends the mandatory quarterly meeetings. I don't know what you expect the ALPA leadership to do if no one will come to meetings? How can the Rank and File control thier rightful power if they don't attend the meetings? Is it ALPA's responsibility to physically place members at the meetings? Most members are right.. ALPA isn't a democracy...because only the leadership is at the meetings.
As you know, members can quit the union but they will pay a contract fee. If ALPA didn't have money, then the complaints and effectiveness would be even worse. Money talks, BS walks. You can't have it both ways, either you have dues paying members or you have no union. You don't call for a total ALPA shutdown, so I take it you still want a union.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
Second, Congress should pass legislation, which requires unions
to reveal their financials, at both the national and the local level, of the bargaining unit. How can you exercise control over your representatives, when you have no idea what they are doing with your money? Today, union spending is a big secret to the rank and file members; there are no provisions in the ALPA constitution to hold union leadership accountable for how they spend member dues.
Actually, you don't need Congress to pass this type of transparent financials.
First at the local level just ask your LEC/MEC SEC/Treas to look at the books.
If he/she says no, then you have a problem with your leadership and not ALPA.
Also, the Bush Admin has created a huge union reporting rquirement called LM-2. It has made union financial reporting a momumental burden costing thouands in union dues money. But no dues paying member seems to mind. What this has done is attracted attention to union salaries..and boy have unions members been pointing out these red herrings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
Third, the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and the policies of the
National Mediation Board (NMB) desperately need overhauling.
Now we are talking!! How do we overhaul federal code? It could take an act of Congress!! How do we, as Air Line Pilots, get Congress to do what we want? We use our political power! We've two sources of political power. ALPA National and our Politcal Action Committee or ALPA-PAC.
An effective way is thru Congressional hearings and one-on-one visits. Now we need a guy who is politically savvy enuogh to address a Congressional Hearing or office visit. Who could that be....??
Just one guy,... a point man... Who could do this for us.......???? Maybe we need an ALPA President? Oh wait we got one! (note: I am only pointing out the title of ALPA President)
As far as ALPA-PAC goes, we are never going to overhaul the RLA and NMB if we don't get more members involved. (Do you, the reader, contribute to ALPA-PAC?)
Brian, something you sort of understand. We live in a very free market and capitalistic society. Better, faster, stronger and cheaper comes at a price. The free market system is not an ALPA problem. You are really addressing a monolith of huge proportions and yet you don't realize it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
It should be required that all activities related to negotiations,
be totally transparent. Today, unions, in the guise of "representing"
the rank and file, poll their members periodically during negotiations
and then keep the results of that polling secret from those whom they
deign to represent - it is quite simply an abuse of their leadership
provisions to do so, and is a common example of union corruption in action.
Brian, sounds like you've got a leadership issue. ALPA isn't broke, you just
need better leaders. But you also need to understand the negotiating process.
If ALPA published the results of the poll, then management will know what
to expect. Not too smart.....
The NE Patriots don't send their opponets thier playbooks.
If you don't trust your leaders than get one whom you can. Or trust yourself...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brian
The RLA must be modified to require mandatory arbitration,
if there is no contract agreement after two years of negotiating. The contract issues would then be resolved within one year, by an
independent arbitration panel, made up of industry experts drawn from
labor, management, and financial institutions. Such mandatory
arbitration would eliminate the need for unions to go on strike,
so the revised law should outlaw strikes too. The airline industry is such an important part of the national infrastructure, that union activists should not be allowed to shut it down, or even to slow it down, as did the American Airline pilots in 1999.
Brian, not sure if you remember CESTA. But they would've loved you
over there. CESTA was a political power lobby group set up by airline
managmeent to install "baseball" style arbitration. Last best offer stuff.
That is great when you are ball player and the difference is between Derek Jeter buying a house in the Hamptons, NJ and Florida or just one house.
But when you are talking about a Mesaba pilot trying to feed his children I take offensive exception to your comments.
Continued.....
