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What is the Purpose of Airline Pilot Unions?

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I remember it being there to get pilots,who for example--drive the plane through a ditch to get to the gate because they were in a hurry, out of trouble and in a job. Landing with the parking brake set--they kept their job..and the list goes onandonandonandonandonandon...

It is an organization that HAS to be in place because you would invariably have pilots fired for refusing to fly into a level 5 TS if unions were not in place. The unions are there to protect the pilots from management, but sometimes the reasons are rediculous.

We need the unions to kick the ASS of CEO's that continuously lose millions and even BILLIONS of $$ and still get multi-million $ salaries and rediculous bonuses. But, that ain't going to happen.

Back to football!
 
Good article Paul ( ? :) )

Not sure what the APA has really done effectively, except the pension, which is huge..., otherwise the APA is not that good of a union...

However, the article clearly shows not why ALPA is the best union, but why all pilots under one union is best....

Oh, the pension. Thats all. Gee whiz. ALPA would never bother with such trivialities as a pension, except for the president and his men who already make over 400K and don't need a pension like the pilots who still know how to fly, pay dues, and took 60% paycuts.

The only reason you think APA isn't a good union is because their pilots don't pay dues to ALPA fat cats who do have their pension.

But other than that we could be great friends.:D
 
Oh, the pension. Thats all. Gee whiz. ALPA would never bother with such trivialities as a pension, except for the president and his men who already make over 400K and don't need a pension like the pilots who still know how to fly, pay dues, and took 60% paycuts.

The only reason you think APA isn't a good union is because their pilots don't pay dues to ALPA fat cats who do have their pension.

But other than that we could be great friends.:D


Naw, I don't think the APA is that great of a union becuase left ALPA over ego's. and they won't come back to ALPA for ego's.

One could argue that by not being ALPA that the APA could do great things....

if so..... what? sick out fine? Treating TWA pilots like second class citizens? The B scale?

Again, I am not saying that ALPA is great, just saying that AMR pilots not being part of one union give management an advantage...
 
However, the article clearly shows not why ALPA is the best union, but why all pilots under one union is best....
The article said it all...job security. Now, a reason why ALPA is not the one to be under: Comair and the transferring of aircraft to Mesaba.

Another downside? Being held accountable to the AFL-CIO. Hopkins points out that " If American’s pilots had remained within the embrace of ALPA and the AFL-CIO, public perception of them might be more favorable." Why? Because ALPA would have taken the position of non-flying workers into consideration in the first place, and quelled any attempts to strike.

YMMV
 
Naw, I don't think the APA is that great of a union becuase left ALPA over ego's. and they won't come back to ALPA for ego's.

One could argue that by not being ALPA that the APA could do great things....

if so..... what? sick out fine? Treating TWA pilots like second class citizens? The B scale?

Again, I am not saying that ALPA is great, just saying that AMR pilots not being part of one union give management an advantage...

Yeah, TWA pilots know all about the ALAP advantage. Too bad APA didn't accept the sacrifice and pay homage. They should have promised someone in APA that they could be president of ALPA if they brought them back into the fold.

I'll buy you a beer if ALPA puts that story in "Flying the Line". Whats to hide?
 
I'll buy you a beer if ALPA puts that story in "Flying the Line". Whats to hide?


I don't think that will be an issue... do you?


With copy of Vol II in hand turn to page XII of the Preface.

Hopkins, the books' author writes






JJ O'Donnell [then ALPA's president] asked me to write another history commemorating the unions 50th anniversary. With the understanding that I would give ALPA its history "warts and all," I agreed.

The result was Flying the Line; the First Half Century of the Airline Pilots Association, published in 1982. My interpretation of ALPA's history was not censored. I work for Western Illionis University specifically and for an abstraction called history" generally. Although frankly nervous about the book, O'Donnell understood that prettified "court history" praising the King (so to speak) would be worthless. If pilots were to derive insight from my book, it had to be free to go wherever truth took it.


Hopkins placed his academic career on writing the truth and not being a chump.




You can read about how pilots showed up for work, only to be met by an armed guard who escorted them to a company official. This company official handed the pilot both a resignation and an employment application....at a lower wage! (Vol I, chapter 6, page 48)

Coming to work nowadays isn't so bad.


Need more? Read 'When the Airlines Went to War' In this book you will read how Air Line Pilots disregarded thier labor contracts during WWII to 'transport the army and navy' and how the airlines trained Navigators, Pilots and mechanics by the thousands. The required rapid mobilzation of America's Air Power would have never happened if it wasn't for the US Airlines.

You'll earn a new respect for Airports like LGA and DCA, commonly refered to as sh1tholes by the ignorant. LGA and DCA have more history, culture and character than most of us....

Pride in being an Air Line Pilot is not popular right now, but you'll find it in these books...
 
.. escorted them to a company official. This company official handed the pilot both a resignation and an employment application....at a lower wage! ...

No one is denying that ALPA had relevance and met the challenges for a couple decades at the beginning, but what have they done in the last two or three decades.

ALPA discovered the escort business pays better. Any "union" that collects dues from multiple seniority lists with competing interests is a group of hucksters.
 
No one is denying that ALPA had relevance and met the challenges for a couple decades at the beginning, but what have they done in the last two or three decades.


What do you suggest then? USAPA?

ALPA discovered the escort business pays better. Any "union" that collects dues from multiple seniority lists with competing interests is a group of hucksters.

Again what do you suggest? Sure it sounds good to slam ALPA for representing multiple carriers, but not is worse, unless you can provide a logical alternative...
 

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