beagle pilot
Airline Pilot
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2003
- Posts
- 110
I've seen on other message boards and in the crew room that some people are preaching doom and gloom in 2013. I don't believe our fate is sealed nor that we are all going to be "toast" in 2013. OTOH, what I do believe is that we will have a better contract in 2013 if we stand together as opposed to fighting each other for company crumbs.
"Unity is strength". The company is unified by the fact their jobs depend upon following the orders of the company president. They must all comply or they will be replaced. It's that simple. OTOH, our union pilots do not have to comply with our union leadership. We're a bottom-up organization run by volunteers. We elect our leadership. The only obligation for each member is to pay dues. If that is all they do, then our union is weak. If a few, say 4%, of the members volunteer to do the work, then that helps, but the results are not as pleasing to the membership as if more members actually participated in their own union.
BTW, 4-6% is about what we have at the moment and for the past several years. The remaining 94-96% sit back and bitch if not actively work against our own Union. This is their right, but it isn't an optimal solution for negotiating the best contract possible against a unified company. Worse, when we fight each other or actively to deprive each other of rights, we are actually making the company's job easier for them.
I'm not preaching that we'll be screwed in 2013. I'm saying that we won't maximize our gains if we don't have better unity, cooperation and activism on the part of our membership. There's a difference.
The recent opportunistic move by some of our members and leaders to sacrifice 500+ Union pilots for the betterment of the remaining 2300 pilots is detrimental to unity since even those who gain from the move would lose trust in an organization which preys on its own members.
There are many lessons to be learned from our mistakes:
1. Educate our members on what unionism means and how it works. Too many think it's like going to Burger King. That, by virtue of paying their dues, they can "have it their way". A union isn't service even though it does provide some services. We must work as a group while respecting the rights of the individual.
2. Minimize rumors and false ideas by more crew room visits and teleconferences.
3. Union leaders need to treat members like adults and not patronize, or worse, ply them with false hopes about where the industry is going. People don't like being told the truth when it hurts, but adults appreciate it more than being misled with "happy thoughts" which will never happen. Tell'em the truth straight up and don't sugar coat it.
4. Union leaders need to act less like politicians and more like UNION leaders. Union members need to start acting less like customers and more like UNION members.
A few Aesop's fables to illustrate the main points of why it is important we have a strong union for 2013:
The Father and His Sons
A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the bundle into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it. He next opened the bundle, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons' hands, upon which they broke them easily. He then addressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."
The moral of the story: There is strength in unity.
The Lion and Three Bulls
Three Bulls were grazing in a meadow, and were watched by a Lion, who longed to capture and eat them, but who felt he was no match for the three so long as they kept together; whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them.
So he began by false whispers and rumors to cause jealousy and distrust among them. This method worked so well that at last, the Bulls grew cold and unfriendly, and finally avoided each other, and fed each one by himself. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon ate all three.
The moral of the story: The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes.
The Trees and the Axe
A man came into a Wood one day and begged of the Trees the favor of a handle for his Axe. The Trees voted to sacrifice a young ash sapling.
The Man made the sapling into a handle and fixed it into the axe head, and soon set to work cutting down tree after tree. When Trees realized how the Man was using their gift, they cried "we have only ourselves to blame. The little we gave has cost us all: had we not sacrificed the rights of the ash, we might ourselves have stood for ages."
The moral of the story: Those who sacrifice the rights of others deserve to lose their own rights and often do.
"Unity is strength". The company is unified by the fact their jobs depend upon following the orders of the company president. They must all comply or they will be replaced. It's that simple. OTOH, our union pilots do not have to comply with our union leadership. We're a bottom-up organization run by volunteers. We elect our leadership. The only obligation for each member is to pay dues. If that is all they do, then our union is weak. If a few, say 4%, of the members volunteer to do the work, then that helps, but the results are not as pleasing to the membership as if more members actually participated in their own union.
BTW, 4-6% is about what we have at the moment and for the past several years. The remaining 94-96% sit back and bitch if not actively work against our own Union. This is their right, but it isn't an optimal solution for negotiating the best contract possible against a unified company. Worse, when we fight each other or actively to deprive each other of rights, we are actually making the company's job easier for them.
I'm not preaching that we'll be screwed in 2013. I'm saying that we won't maximize our gains if we don't have better unity, cooperation and activism on the part of our membership. There's a difference.
The recent opportunistic move by some of our members and leaders to sacrifice 500+ Union pilots for the betterment of the remaining 2300 pilots is detrimental to unity since even those who gain from the move would lose trust in an organization which preys on its own members.
There are many lessons to be learned from our mistakes:
1. Educate our members on what unionism means and how it works. Too many think it's like going to Burger King. That, by virtue of paying their dues, they can "have it their way". A union isn't service even though it does provide some services. We must work as a group while respecting the rights of the individual.
2. Minimize rumors and false ideas by more crew room visits and teleconferences.
3. Union leaders need to treat members like adults and not patronize, or worse, ply them with false hopes about where the industry is going. People don't like being told the truth when it hurts, but adults appreciate it more than being misled with "happy thoughts" which will never happen. Tell'em the truth straight up and don't sugar coat it.
4. Union leaders need to act less like politicians and more like UNION leaders. Union members need to start acting less like customers and more like UNION members.
A few Aesop's fables to illustrate the main points of why it is important we have a strong union for 2013:
The Father and His Sons
A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the bundle into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it. He next opened the bundle, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons' hands, upon which they broke them easily. He then addressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."
The moral of the story: There is strength in unity.
The Lion and Three Bulls
Three Bulls were grazing in a meadow, and were watched by a Lion, who longed to capture and eat them, but who felt he was no match for the three so long as they kept together; whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them.
So he began by false whispers and rumors to cause jealousy and distrust among them. This method worked so well that at last, the Bulls grew cold and unfriendly, and finally avoided each other, and fed each one by himself. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon ate all three.
The moral of the story: The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes.
The Trees and the Axe
A man came into a Wood one day and begged of the Trees the favor of a handle for his Axe. The Trees voted to sacrifice a young ash sapling.
The Man made the sapling into a handle and fixed it into the axe head, and soon set to work cutting down tree after tree. When Trees realized how the Man was using their gift, they cried "we have only ourselves to blame. The little we gave has cost us all: had we not sacrificed the rights of the ash, we might ourselves have stood for ages."
The moral of the story: Those who sacrifice the rights of others deserve to lose their own rights and often do.
