Eagle union politics and Contract 2013

[beagle pilot]

LOL. I see what you mean, DGdaPilot. He's so anti-ALPA he can't even see the other factors at play in Washington, DC. It is interesting to see he thinks ALPA has so much power. I wish more Senators and Representatives would believe ALPA is all powerful. Maybe we'd get more things done favorable to labor.

 

[WayBack]

LOL. I see what you mean, DGdaPilot. He's so anti-ALPA he can't even see the other factors at play in Washington, DC. It is interesting to see he thinks ALPA has so much power. I wish more Senators and Representatives would believe ALPA is all powerful. Maybe we'd get more things done favorable to labor.

Then maybe ALPA, PFT128 and Rez shouldn't pretend to have so much power, especially with that all important seat they have on "CapHill", because that's why they have it, right? It's that where all the big guys sit and get the work done?
According to you guys ALPA's new motto should be "Hey, we're really thinking about getting something done, but we just don't have that kind of power"

They should stick to producing aviation safety magazines and that's it. Charge for the subscription just like Sports Illustrated does. But I'm not sure they would sell a magazine filled with a bunch of middle aged, balding guys with mustaches as they hand each other "atta boy" awards...."Congrats to Captain Jack Meeoff for shutting the airplane down at BWI last night without setting it on fire for the third time!"

 

[beagle pilot]

You whine and complain a lot, WayBack, but I do not see any constructive criticism. What solutions do you propose to fix the problems?

 

[ualdriver]

You whine and complain a lot, WayBack, but I do not see any constructive criticism. What solutions do you propose to fix the problems?

He-he. His solutions involve rearranging the letters in "ALPA" in comical ways, and then typing out multi-sentence rants during the Reno 911 commercial breaks. If you're expecting anything deeper than that, you will be sorely disappointed.

 

[WayBack]

You whine and complain a lot, WayBack, but I do not see any constructive criticism. What solutions do you propose to fix the problems?

I know you mean well and want to improve the future of this industry, but it's not going to happen here.
You see it as whining and complaining. I see it as being sick of having to watch my back from not only management, but the "Union".
From my experience, our local was more pro-management than our management was.

 

[WayBack]

He-he. His solutions involve rearranging the letters in "ALPA" in comical ways, and then typing out multi-sentence rants during the Reno 911 commercial breaks. If you're expecting anything deeper than that, you will be sorely disappointed.

For deeper conversations, go to Starbucks or Borders, grab a cup of "Joe" and philosophize.
If you want Anti-ALPA ranting or jokes about pee, poo and farts...come to me.

 

[ualdriver]

For deeper conversations, go to Starbucks or Borders, grab a cup of "Joe" and philosophize.
If you want Anti-ALPA ranting or jokes about pee, poo and farts...come to me.

Like I said in post 24.....

 

[WayBack]

Like I said in post 24.....

Sorry it took me so long to reply to this. I had to go back and double check. I was pretty sure I quote your post #24, therefore you really have no reason to point out the fact that you've already said it.
That's unless you're just bored while sitting your 18th ready reserve that your ALPA reps negotiated for you.
You see, here in the 91/135 world, we don't sit ready reserves. We're given atleast 24 hours heads up. But seeing the plane is in MX, I have 3 weeks off.

I got paid on Monday, so now I can go look at that new Camaro SS. Just don't know where to park it, maybe an additional garage needs to be built, because I can't let both BMW's sit outside. Damn I miss those regional days of driving a 1984 Honda Civic, you could park that baby anywhere.

 

[ualdriver]

Sorry it took me so long to reply to this. I had to go back and double check. I was pretty sure I quote your post #24, therefore you really have no reason to point out the fact that you've already said it.
That's unless you're just bored while sitting your 18th ready reserve that your ALPA reps negotiated for you.
You see, here in the 91/135 world, we don't sit ready reserves. We're given atleast 24 hours heads up. But seeing the plane is in MX, I have 3 weeks off.

I got paid on Monday, so now I can go look at that new Camaro SS. Just don't know where to park it, maybe an additional garage needs to be built, because I can't let both BMW's sit outside. Damn I miss those regional days of driving a 1984 Honda Civic, you could park that baby anywhere.

A few points:

1) The "mine is bigger than yours" game is juvenile at best. Let me illustrate with an example. I'm a widebody F/O making 6 figures to sit at home and fly one or two 3 day trips a month, literally. That's what ALPA has negotiated for us at our airline. I don't know what "ready reserve" is and I'm not sure if I even have ever sat "ready reserve." I don't think we even have that at our airline unless it's known by some other name. Regardless, if what you are saying is true about your work schedule, you would have to agree that it is not typical for a pilot operating in the 91/135 world, just as my schedule is atypical for an airline guy. But I guess the point of your statement was, "Look at me. Look at how wonderful I am." Great for you, Wayback.

2) The references to BMWs and the Camaro SS are lame at best. To reference one's automobiles as some sort of status status symbol........? In fact, if you read a book like "The Millionaire Next Door," you'll find that most people with a high net worth drive cars that are relatively mundane and buy used, inexpensive cars. Perhaps you did the same, perhaps you didn't. But I suspect that if you're bragging about the type and brand of cars you drive, you probably didn't and probably waste several hundred dollars per month on car payments and/or waste the opportunity cost of the cash used to purchase new cars like that Camaro SS. Again, probably not the smartest thing in the world to do for a person who works as a pilot in ANY section of the aviation industry, but it makes you feel like a big man, I guess whatever floats your boat.

3) I'm sure the commercial break for Reno 911 is just about over and your attention span is probably limited to about that length of time, so you can stop reading here.

4) Sorry to the rest of you for the thread drift. I'll stop now.

 

[WayBack]

1) The "mine is bigger than yours" game is juvenile at best.

Yes, but obviously it got under your skin.
Wow, 6 figures in the right seat of a wide body!? Totally Awesome, Dude! You tell girls that at the bar?
Oh, wait! SWA FO's make more than that on that little 737.
Just think how much you'd be making now if you hadn't taken all the paycuts. But hey, your new MEC chair, she's going to try sugar instead of vinegar. That will win over management.

Sorry, I have to go now. Need to go buy a new money counting machine. The old broke because of all the money I was feeding through it. I would count it myself, but when your salary is like mine, you pay others to do the little work.

 

[beagle pilot]

I know you mean well and want to improve the future of this industry, but it's not going to happen here.
You see it as whining and complaining. I see it as being sick of having to watch my back from not only management, but the "Union".
From my experience, our local was more pro-management than our management was.

I'm not trying to improve the future of this industry, just my little slice of heaven.

Your negative attitudes towards the world aside, I see a pilot union as the best means to improve my lot as an airline pilot. The company is only interested in profit. Their concern about employees is limited to how much money those employees can make for them. Unions belong to us as I mentioned at the beginning of this thread. Unfortunately, like SecDef Rumsfeld said, "Democracy is messy". Similarly, Prime Minister Churchill said, "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

Unions are bottom-up organizations, not top-down like a corporation or a military unit. If the "bottom" doesn't present a focused agenda to their elected representatives or hold those same representatives accountable for their actions, then the union becomes a boys club for those in office. Unions, by themselves aren't bad. They aren't corrupt and they aren't evil. On the other hand, they aren't good and pure either. They're just a means for a group of people to use their combined efforts to gain what they believe is rightfully theirs. In this case, fair treatment and fair compensation for their work.

Complaining about a union makes as little sense as a cook making a stew then complaining about how it tastes. You get out of it what you put into it.

If people would spend more time organizing a grass-roots agenda in crew rooms and using their union as a frame-work for action instead of sitting outside and throwing rocks, they will see better results and a better improvement to their lot in life. Unfortunatly tossing rocks and whining a much easier than the effort and patience it takes to organize a group of people which is why so many people would rather sit on their asses and throw rocks.