IAHERJ and RANK&FILE
IAHERJ,
Dunno how it is that "genitalia" entered into this, that is not at all an answer to the questions that I posed. I also didn't bring my company into this, that was the work of your deranged coworker, and I merely addressed HIS comments... His stalking, for the record, goes back nearly a year now... when he started in on Commutair and I was defending them (as a former Commutair pilot myself). So... Your suspicions about my paranoia aside, I am trying to get at the root of what YOU were saying, and you can choose to either answer the questions or you can choose to jump on me and use penis references. Your choice. Ultimately this thread is about unions and I am trying to talk about unions and what it is that they can "do" for you, so no need to tell me if I should or shouldn't be here.
What I was trying to understand is why you brought up your $25k issue in the first place. At first I was just trying to find out how much it is that your FO's make in the first year, and I didn't think it was $25k. If your point is that none of us should be subjected to pay below the $25k point in the first year, well, you won't find ME arguing with that. I also won't argue that third-year FA pay at any company should be less than that company's first-year FO pay. However... When you bury those comments in the middle of a paragraph about why your friend is choosing to stay with EJ in the rear of the airplane instead of going over to Commutair in the front, I hope you can see where it appears you are making a judgment on the CA pay scale... And the suggestion by your including that number is that CA FO's should make $25k per year.
In any case, I think it's a huge stretch of the imagination to hope that ALPA will increase pay scales at Commutair. First they need to haul more people, and this new Cleveland operation is the first step down that road. I'm glad to see that Continental is finally allowing Continental Connection to actually CONNECT to Continental.
And one of the reasons I am so suspicious of Unions is illustrated perfectly by the post by "Rank&File", with the "why haven't you chosen to educate yourself" comment... Presented matter of factly is a statement that can only be read as "if you don't think unions are the bee's knees then you are a drooling troglodyte."
Well, Rank&File, the answer to your hypothetical situations is that I came from an ALPA carrier where three of those five things came to pass. Even with ALPA representation, those situations remained unresolved. ALPA also didn't keep people from being furloughed OUT OF SENIORITY ORDER (instead by equipment), which I would think is a pretty big deal for the union to try to stop. Problem is, the union leadership was more interested in saving the top of the company than the bottom, which is antithetical to the entire CONCEPT of a union. I guess it was "all for one and one for all, unless you are in the bottom 40% of the company, in which case you don't matter since you aren't excellent like we are". Thus, my comment that you have to watch your reps, as they will do what they want to do if you don't keep an eye on them.
Furthermore, after I was out on the street in the post-9/11 world, ALPA (my union) totally forgot I existed, except to ask me to update my address information (in september), which I duly did. Then 7 months without a peep passed. Finally, I got a letter explaining how they were campaigning on my behalf to get my job back. However, at that time, I had found another job. Oh how funny it was to finally start getting the ALPA magazine, in MAY of 2002 after being furloughed in September of the prior year! I'm afraid my fellow furloughees were similarly ignored.
I stand by what I said before, as relates to Union representation doesn't fix everything that's wrong. Especially in the smaller companies, they can only do so much... If you want them, then you want them, I am just trying to point out that they aren't the only option. I AM educated on what the union can do for me, and also what it can't.
This man's opinion? Do what you want, but don't expect the moon.