Let's see, in my personal career,
EAL strike...failed
Pensions....gone
Age 65
work rules...gone
shall I go on? I think I like many of my piers have earned the right to "piss" on ALPA
All Valid points, including the TWA issue. However, let's be honest with ourselves...
EAL, Does ALPA have the right to physically block Picket line crossing scabs....NO
Pension failures...Talk to Congress and the vulture CEO's who capitalized on BK laws. What power does any pilot union have over BK laws...NONE
Age 65. Congress voted UNANIMOUSLY to pass it. Has everything to do with the PBGC being stuck with Billions of dollars in failed pensions and ZERO to do with the concerns of ALPA or SWAPA. No pilot union had any discernible influence over age 65. The PBGC wanted to force guys to work another five years so they could save on the extra 5 years of payout.
Work Rules: Say hello once again to the Bush Administration and the use of BK laws to gang rape transportation workers. Again, No pilot union has any leverage, legal or otherwise, to stop a business from doing anything in BK. Look up the PBS show "Frontline" regarding UAL. It's educational and disturbing.
TWA was closing their doors. Their CEO said as much on Capitol Hill. Whether it's 100% true or not will never be known and it doesn't matter. With that statement, in front of those people, any leverage ALPA could have had disappeared.
All of this is big business bending the laws to F-over labor. Again, you guys have totally misdirected your anger. Unions have no power because it has been legislated away.
Go ahead and keep pissing on ALPA or whatever union you like. Just stop operating under this delusion that the RLA doesn't exist, Unions are omnipotent, Congress cares about Labor, and BK laws are there to protect the workers.
ALPA and all unions are weak because of the above not because of total incompetence.
You failed to mention a successful pilot union.
WHY???!!!
Because...They don't exist, that's why.