NJASAPPresident
New member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2015
- Posts
- 2
Unionization in professional aviation is vital for numerous reasons, the most important of which is this: You take control of your career. Pilots spend tens of thousands of dollars preparing for a career in professional aviation, and this kind of investment demands insurance. You could think about it like this: A collective bargaining agreement is to an aviation career what a warranty is to a new car. You don?t necessarily expect anything to go wrong as you drive off the lot, but if it does, then you have coverage.
For longtime union members, it is unnecessary for me to extol the many benefits of having access to a professional labor advocate and the security it provides. However, for those who have never been a union member or who have had a bad experience, you are understandably skeptical. Some have suggested a union does more harm than good, damages the employer-employee relationship, and does not give a management team time to make good on its promises. I would like to take a moment today to quickly address each of these considerations.
Voting to organize under the Teamster banner is one of the best decisions you can make in your professional aviation career. With the impending merger and all the uncertainty and changes that brings, you need something upon which you can rely. A union is that cornerstone ? that foundation on which you and your peers can build something important and solid in the years to come. That?s because the union is you and your fellow pilots working together to protect your interests as professional pilots rather than relying on management to protect you when they are clearly focused on protecting their own interests.
A vote for the union is a vote for taking control of your career. Do you really want to give that control to someone else?
For longtime union members, it is unnecessary for me to extol the many benefits of having access to a professional labor advocate and the security it provides. However, for those who have never been a union member or who have had a bad experience, you are understandably skeptical. Some have suggested a union does more harm than good, damages the employer-employee relationship, and does not give a management team time to make good on its promises. I would like to take a moment today to quickly address each of these considerations.
1) Unions do more harm than good. It is easy to dismiss a union as a meddling nuisance, and this is exactly what management teams count on ? especially during representation elections. Making this conclusion, plainly stated, undermines your career and the profession. Aviation is the most highly unionized profession in the world for a reason: Labor advocates, and pilot representatives in particular, are all that stand between aviation professionals and management teams who will, more often than not, choose profits over people. This is a sad fact of the world in which we live. Profit margins are the preeminent consideration, not the people whose work creates them.
A union, however, stands up for pilots by demanding adherence to an established, agreed upon set of work rules as well as ensuring they have an advocate when they make safety-sensitive decisions that may impact the operational schedule. Unions ensure pilots receive consistent recognition for the professional services they provide. Most importantly, when pilots work together through a union, they not only increase their bargaining power with respect to pay and benefits, but also work to raise standards across our profession.
2) Unions damage the employer-employee relationship. Having a good relationship with the management of a successful company and being represented by a union are not mutually exclusive. Unions make good relationships better and are absolutely essential when the labor-management relationship temporarily sours. The recent history at NetJets demonstrates how critical a union becomes in that scenario.
Our former CEO abandoned an incredibly productive labor-management partnership, choosing instead to engage our group in one of the most contentious labor battles in recent history. His attack on our pay, benefits and working conditions was unprecedented. Without the protections offered by a strong union, the NetJets pilot group would have been subject to the whims of a CEO who made no secret of his contempt for both pilots and labor organizations. Absent the protection of a strong union and our collective bargaining agreement, there is no doubt we would have seen significant reductions in our pay, healthcare and retirement benefits. Absent a labor contract and a strong union to enforce it, that could happen to any pilot, anywhere, at any time. Do not let it happen to you.
3) Unions do not give management time to make good on its promises. I cannot tell you whether OneSky management will make good on its promises if the Flexjet and Flight Options pilots reject the Union. My question is this: Are you willing to take the gamble? Are you willing to bet your career and your family?s financial security on management?s word? Again, I do not know whether they will keep their promises. I only know the history of our industry shows that nine times out of 10, they will not. You could be the exception, but, more than likely, you will not be. However, if their promises are genuine, management will have no problem incorporating them into a collective bargaining agreement.
Voting to form a union should not be viewed as a vote against management. To that end, giving management a chance and choosing union representation are not exclusive. Quite the contrary, a union merely gives management the opportunity to put its promises in writing via collective bargaining agreement. A written contract defines important terms that have a material impact on you and your finances ? not unlike an agreement signed when purchasing a home or car. There is no reason the work environment should be any different.
It should be pointed out a union does not impede management from treating its employees well and a contract does not necessarily mean the relationship between the parties will be bad. The decision to form a union is business. It?s not personal. Management has legions of executives, lawyers, consultant and advisors working to protect and defend their business interests. And this begs the question: Why should you be any different wen it comes to something as important as your job?
A union, however, stands up for pilots by demanding adherence to an established, agreed upon set of work rules as well as ensuring they have an advocate when they make safety-sensitive decisions that may impact the operational schedule. Unions ensure pilots receive consistent recognition for the professional services they provide. Most importantly, when pilots work together through a union, they not only increase their bargaining power with respect to pay and benefits, but also work to raise standards across our profession.
2) Unions damage the employer-employee relationship. Having a good relationship with the management of a successful company and being represented by a union are not mutually exclusive. Unions make good relationships better and are absolutely essential when the labor-management relationship temporarily sours. The recent history at NetJets demonstrates how critical a union becomes in that scenario.
Our former CEO abandoned an incredibly productive labor-management partnership, choosing instead to engage our group in one of the most contentious labor battles in recent history. His attack on our pay, benefits and working conditions was unprecedented. Without the protections offered by a strong union, the NetJets pilot group would have been subject to the whims of a CEO who made no secret of his contempt for both pilots and labor organizations. Absent the protection of a strong union and our collective bargaining agreement, there is no doubt we would have seen significant reductions in our pay, healthcare and retirement benefits. Absent a labor contract and a strong union to enforce it, that could happen to any pilot, anywhere, at any time. Do not let it happen to you.
3) Unions do not give management time to make good on its promises. I cannot tell you whether OneSky management will make good on its promises if the Flexjet and Flight Options pilots reject the Union. My question is this: Are you willing to take the gamble? Are you willing to bet your career and your family?s financial security on management?s word? Again, I do not know whether they will keep their promises. I only know the history of our industry shows that nine times out of 10, they will not. You could be the exception, but, more than likely, you will not be. However, if their promises are genuine, management will have no problem incorporating them into a collective bargaining agreement.
Voting to form a union should not be viewed as a vote against management. To that end, giving management a chance and choosing union representation are not exclusive. Quite the contrary, a union merely gives management the opportunity to put its promises in writing via collective bargaining agreement. A written contract defines important terms that have a material impact on you and your finances ? not unlike an agreement signed when purchasing a home or car. There is no reason the work environment should be any different.
It should be pointed out a union does not impede management from treating its employees well and a contract does not necessarily mean the relationship between the parties will be bad. The decision to form a union is business. It?s not personal. Management has legions of executives, lawyers, consultant and advisors working to protect and defend their business interests. And this begs the question: Why should you be any different wen it comes to something as important as your job?
Voting to organize under the Teamster banner is one of the best decisions you can make in your professional aviation career. With the impending merger and all the uncertainty and changes that brings, you need something upon which you can rely. A union is that cornerstone ? that foundation on which you and your peers can build something important and solid in the years to come. That?s because the union is you and your fellow pilots working together to protect your interests as professional pilots rather than relying on management to protect you when they are clearly focused on protecting their own interests.
A vote for the union is a vote for taking control of your career. Do you really want to give that control to someone else?
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