135 Scabs

[hawkerjet]

We have a guy in my company that is doing this and I told him about it and also brought it up in our quarterly meeting. While i share no angst to the guy, i don't like what he's doing. I fault both he and my boss and have spoken to both at great lengths about my feelings. I told my boss that he needs to be given a raise to be brought up to a least the lowest captain pay in the company for that aircraft. I also showed all the turmoil it was costing the company in morale and retaining employees.
it's one thing if you go to work for an employer that pays low wages, you know what you are getting into and made a choice to do it. But it's another thing altogether, when a potential employee comes in and offers to work for less. As the airline climate changes we may be seeing a large number of pilots retiring early and joining our ranks too.
As far as the term " scab " goes, I said in my first post that this is how i felt , and could someone come up with another term that fits the situation. I didn't mean to use the word to expand it's meaning.

 

[Spooky 1]

We have a guy in my company that is doing this and I told him about it and also brought it up in our quarterly meeting. While i share no angst to the guy, i don't like what he's doing. I fault both he and my boss and have spoken to both at great lengths about my feelings. I told my boss that he needs to be given a raise to be brought up to a least the lowest captain pay in the company for that aircraft. I also showed all the turmoil it was costing the company in morale and retaining employees.
it's one thing if you go to work for an employer that pays low wages, you know what you are getting into and made a choice to do it. But it's another thing altogether, when a potential employee comes in and offers to work for less. As the airline climate changes we may be seeing a large number of pilots retiring early and joining our ranks too.
As far as the term " scab " goes, I said in my first post that this is how i felt , and could someone come up with another term that fits the situation. I didn't mean to use the word to expand it's meaning.

I congratulate for broaching the subject with your boss. I assume that this guy was offered the job at a certain salary and he knew it to be low for the position? If that's case, shame on him. If on the other hand he was semi clueless then he might not have realized the message that this was sending. Don't know anything about you company, and don't want to either but if they have an HR department, mybe that would be the next step, other than the guys quiting, which of course sends the strongest message yet.

Still looking for ideas?

 

[avbug]

So now that we acknowledge the problem, how do we stop or discourage it without creating some further debacle that only exacerbates the original problem?

I don't know.

I flew a Lear for a company that hired an individual with former lear experience, but no type. The individual had money; he had no need to work. He approached the company and said he was seeking something to do, and would pay for his type and work for nothing, or a minimal wage, if the company would see clear to keep him. The company readily agreed, and though he was perhaps the closest to incompetent of any pilot I've yet met (I flew with him on several occasions, and took the aircraft from him twice), the company jumped at the chance.

I sought employment elsewhere, and left. What do do about the problem? leave aside the pilots who engage in that behavior, and boycot the companies that support it. I do.

Okay.....I go back to my last post and at the same time agre that the word Scab should be deleted from this post competely as all it does is exacerbate the problem and further alienate the guys that are participating in this practice. Maybe I am naive, but I bet some of these pilots don't even realize what they are doing to the rest of the profession.

Ignorance is no excuse, and "scab" may not be far from the mark. While union loyalists see "scab" as a term that deontes one who will cross a picketline, the truth is it denotes one who undermines his fellow pilot, who lowers the bar, and who works against the others in their efforts to succeed. This is what happens when a "scab" crosses a picket line, and this isn't far flung from those who lower the bar by accepting low or no wages on the premise that they have another income...so all others be damned.

I've met more than a few pesons who had their training bought for them by the masses, who felt no shame in buying a job...after all, they reasoned, they could afford to, and it's just a rating, just a way to "accelerate" themselves in the working world.

This is the justification of defecating in one's bed, of vomiting in one's stew. Filthy the bath for the rest and don't look back. It's reprehensible, it's wrong, and one who does it deserves no more quarter than the oft vaunted "scab."

So many hate the scab...I hate the term and have far more sympathy for the one who pursues his job without being deterred by the masses than one who buys his job and lowers the bar. In the end, however, there's little difference between the two, and the term applies in full context to both.

When my life depends on the person alongside me, and the fate of my employment depends on the high standard of professional experience that represents me and those around me, I don't really care where the other guy came from, his ideals, his hopes, his dreams, or his union membership. It's all meaningless to me. Who he is, how he flies, and weather he can do the job counts for me...and the one who couldn't get employed except by buying his job doesn't merit high on my support scale.

The term isn't that far off the mark.

 

[CFIcare]

hmmm...not SCAB....maybe SCUM?

 

[Ace-of-the-Base]

...who sees the job as mere intertainment...

I think you mean entertainment

But on a more serious note: most of you don't want to hear this, but you (we) are a big part of this problem. I mostly sit back and read these post without answering. What I hear is a group of pilots looking to make the most cash while working the least and always looking for the next gig. Guess what net effect this has. Yup, it makes it quite attractive for our bosses to look for a cheap way to supplement the full time staff with less expensive options. I work for a great corporation with great pay, benefits, schedule, work environment, etc. and in the years I've been here, I've seen more than a few pilots get hired, get typed, get moving expenses paid, and then leave over greed. One, a few years back, begged and begged our CP until he finally recommended him. He moved out, got typed, and left 3 months later for $20,000 more per year.

We are not the whole problem, but we are part of it. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Look at your own resume and ask yourself how many jobs you've had in the past 10 years, ask yourself if you would leave for $20,000. Then you'll see why the guy who walks in the door with a type and a pension is so attractive. From what I've seen these guys are high time, good pilots who are used to working hard and staying in one place. I'm sure each one of you bought the computer that you're reading this post on at the lowest price for the highest quality. The corporations that operate Gulfstreams and the like, are not cheap, but they aren't wasteful. They don't buy Jet A at the most expensive FBO, they probably negotiated the h#ll out of the plane they bought, and they don't hire pilots that want to work less and make more. That's what America is built on. Show your worth by doing you job better and longer than anyone else, not by trying to eliminate the competent competition.

Ace

 

[avbug]

But on a more serious note: most of you don't want to hear this, but you (we) are a big part of this problem.

You're absolutely right. All of us...which is why when Spooky1 asked what we do about it, my first thought was "I don't know." The problem is us...we have met the enemy, and he is us.

I will say I've had several offers while working for companies over the years...offers from outside that were worth considerably more than what I was making. I turned them down as a point of honor, either because I didn't feel appropriate leaving my employer in the lurch due to circumstances, or a gentleman's agreement based on training received. Not everyone is without honor.

However, I've met a lot of folks who take the money and run, and such are indeed part of the problem. I worked at one company that sent a number of pilots through flight safety, and never got work out of them...several never even came back. Took the training and moved on. After a while, the company quit typing pilots. Tough deal, I couldn't blame the company for being gunshy.

I've seen the trend more among pilots who have had their training and early career handed them, than those who've had to work and pay with sweat and double jobs to get where they needed to be, but generalities are deceiving...dishonest pilots hurt us all, whatever their background or ilk.

 

[leardawg]

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who has a company pay for their type rating, with the intention of then bolting for another job, is a thief, plain and simple. It's no different than taking the company credit card and spending the same amount of money on a wild weekend in Las Vegas, or breaking into the company offices and stealing items to be sold to a fence. It's un-ethical, dis-honorable, and the mark of a low-life!

 

[81Horse]

As far as the term " scab " goes, I said in my first post that this is how i felt , and could someone come up with another term that fits the situation.

Open Running Sore?

Joking. Actually, an Open Running Sore is one of your own guys who crosses your picket line.

 

[Spooky 1]

Open Running Sore?

Joking. Actually, an Open Running Sore is one of your own guys who crosses your picket line.

I would leave the name calling out completely and work on the inside to eliminate as much of this as possible. Probably never going to end all of it, but there is no reason for it to exist at any company with an HR department..... I think?

 

[81Horse]

It was a joke!

Aviation hoors are not the same as scabs and open running sores.