Let's Start a New Union at ASA

[BoilerUP]

Its much easier to be a keyboard commando than it is to actually participate & contribute to the benefit of a pilot group...

 

[WWEfan]

I don't know how you can click submit after typing something as idoitic as this statement. Whatever drugs you are on, you either took too much or not enough.

This is not idiotic at all. ALPA national only gets $2 million per year from the ASA pilot group. ASA ALPA spends over $4 million per year....even more during contract negotiations. You do the math.

Good luck running an in-house union on $1 million/year. Ever heard of the concept of "economies of scale?" ROFLMFAO!!!

 

[sunlitpath]

I have more faith in ASA pilots than I do in ALPA. There is nothing ALPA does for us that we can not do for ourselves. This change takes a lot of work and energy. That is why it has never taken flight before. It's not personal toward any Reps or the MEC. I just think it may be time for a change. Southwest pilots may be able to help with this also. I will research the components of an in-house union and see which elements may be of value to ASA.

 

[XPOO]

This is not idiotic at all. ALPA national only gets $2 million per year from the ASA pilot group. ASA ALPA spends over $4 million per year....even more during contract negotiations. You do the math.

Good luck running an in-house union on $1 million/year. Ever heard of the concept of "economies of scale?" ROFLMFAO!!!

If ALPA is not about the money, why don't they give all the pilots a break during these hard economic times and lower the dues from 1.9% to 1.8% then?

 

[sunlitpath]

Of course they care about our dues. Any union organization seeks to maximize its revenue.

 

[crj567]

I have more faith in ASA pilots than I do in ALPA. There is nothing ALPA does for us that we can not do for ourselves. This change takes a lot of work and energy. That is why it has never taken flight before. It's not personal toward any Reps or the MEC. I just think it may be time for a change. Southwest pilots may be able to help with this also. I will research the components of an in-house union and see which elements may be of value to ASA.

-I think I have sniffed this guy out already.... He is the one who writes an Anti-ALPA/Anti-Union letter to the editor to Aviation Week and USA Today twice a month.

-If this is who I think it is, he darn sure is not on our side-he is still trying to hose every last one of us.

 

[701EV]

I have never needed or used the legal/medical coverage at ALPA. I think most pilots never use it. So we are paying for services that are used by a few. That is an over payment right there. 1700 pilots multilpied by an average salary of $60,000 a year, multiplied by 1% (half of ALPA Dues) = $1,020,000. Yes, that is over one million dollars a year. ALPA is a scam. One million dollars a year buys a lot more coverage for medical and legal issues than ALPA provides. That tired old justification for keeping ALPA has expired. My god, that's a full time doctor and lawyer on call 24 hours a day! With money left over. Do the math. We are paying the bills for ALPA pilots at the majors. F those guys. They make twice as much. Let's start thinking of ASA pilots, We don't need ALPA

Sunlitpath,

Are you running for a union position at the next election?

Do you know what it cost to run a union?

Do you have Health and Auto insurance?

Ask a pilot who needed ALPA Medical or Legal help. In stead of saying "I think most pilots never use it."

Having a Physician and a Lawyer at your disposal 24hrs a day will cost you half a million.

Now having said that, ALPA is screwed up. Has National represented us fairly Hell No!

Right now I don't have much faith in our elected reps! It's time for ALL of them to GO.

It's time for a change top to bottom!

We need a Brad Holt in our own union leadership!

But I'm not ready to get rid of ALPA yet.

701EV

 

[Tarzan]

It's time for a change top to bottom!

We need a Brad Holt in our own union leadership!

But I'm not ready to get rid of ALPA yet.

701EV

Agreed 100%

 

[sweptback]

Of course they care about our dues. Any union organization seeks to maximize its revenue.

You should have thought about that before applying at a union airline.

 

[PCL_128]

If we have an in-house union, at least the decisions we make will be our own, along with any mistakes.

Your decisions (and mistakes) are already your own. ALPA national doesn't make decisions for you, as much as you wish they did just so you could pass the buck.

This is not idiotic at all. ALPA national only gets $2 million per year from the ASA pilot group. ASA ALPA spends over $4 million per year....even more during contract negotiations. You do the math.

Good luck running an in-house union on $1 million/year. Ever heard of the concept of "economies of scale?" ROFLMFAO!!!

Uh oh! Somebody who actually has facts! I'm sure sunlitpath will just ignore them, of course.

 

[Speedtape]

I am tired of lame old ALPA and their tired old game. Let's start an in-house union at ASA. The dues would be less expensive and the service would be better. How do you vote out a union? I will ask my friends at US Air and see what it takes. It's time for a change.

You are breathing good oxygen. Please stop. Or, are you?

 

[crj567]

You are breathing good oxygen. Please stop. Or, are you?

This guy has been writing this "screw the pilots-and their union" stuff for years. He is a training guy who has been trying to weasel his way into upper mgmt since he was hired. They don't want him any more than we do.

 

[XPOO]

Your decisions (and mistakes) are already your own. ALPA national doesn't make decisions for you, as much as you wish they did just so you could pass the buck.



Uh oh! Somebody who actually has facts! I'm sure sunlitpath will just ignore them, of course.

How much money has ALPA wasted, total, trying to schmooze the SkyWest pilots into buying their snake oil?

 

[sweptback]

How much money has ALPA wasted, total, trying to schmooze the SkyWest pilots into buying their snake oil?

They wasted a lot of money, sure, but it was based on the appearance of SkyWest pilots wanting a union. Turns out, they just wanted a pay raise by scaring management into thinking so.

After being burned a couple times over there, I don't think ALPA will drop everything and respond to the cries of pilots who want to unionize next time. Given that the pilots' compensation package at SkyWest is in direct correlation of how likely management feels unionization is a possibility, SkyWest pilots might find it's not so easy to get a pay raise next time.

 

[HoserASA]

This guy has been writing this "screw the pilots-and their union" stuff for years. He is a training guy who has been trying to weasel his way into upper mgmt since he was hired. They don't want him any more than we do.

BW? Wouldn't surprise me in the least if it were.

Even with the problems ALPA has, we're better off with ALPA than an 'in-house association', because that's all it would be. This association wouldn't have enough bucks to match the services we get from ALPA. ALPA, despite their negatives, still has a wealth of legal help for pilots, medical help for those w/ medical problems, and many other resources. ASA pilots actually receive more than we pay in.

If you want changes BW, why don't you run for office? That goes for anybody actually. If you're dissatisfied with our current MEC leadership team, they can be replaced if enough pilots get behind a change. Hey it worked for Obama!

Hoser
Capt Mark Scardino
ROLL TIDE!

 

[Bako Cap]

After being burned a couple times over there, I don't think ALPA will drop everything and respond to the cries of pilots who want to unionize next time. Given that the pilots' compensation package at SkyWest is in direct correlation of how likely management feels unionization is a possibility, SkyWest pilots might find it's not so easy to get a pay raise next time.

You are right. It took ALPA 8 years after their loss in '99, by only 8 votes, to try again for SkyWest. This time with a loss by 15%, I doubt that ALPA will even think about us again for at least a full decade.

 

[Flybywire44]

I am tired of lame old ALPA and their tired old game. Let's start an in-house union at ASA. The dues would be less expensive and the service would be better. How do you vote out a union? I will ask my friends at US Air and see what it takes. It's time for a change.

No... It'll be the same politics with a new name.

 

[crj567]

BW? Wouldn't surprise me in the least if it were.

Even with the problems ALPA has, we're better off with ALPA than an 'in-house association', because that's all it would be. This association wouldn't have enough bucks to match the services we get from ALPA. ALPA, despite their negatives, still has a wealth of legal help for pilots, medical help for those w/ medical problems, and many other resources. ASA pilots actually receive more than we pay in.

If you want changes BW, why don't you run for office? That goes for anybody actually. If you're dissatisfied with our current MEC leadership team, they can be replaced if enough pilots get behind a change. Hey it worked for Obama!

Hoser
Capt Mark Scardino
ROLL TIDE!

100% agreed....

Some things I really like about our MEC, but the fact that you NEVER, EVER see them in the lounge, talking to the actual pilot group in person makes them look lazy.

Let's see- How many times have Scott and Charlie (as much as I dislike that duo) come over to have little "Q&A sessions" in the last few years? How many times has anyone seen DN in the lounge?

-Sure doesn't look good to the average line pilot.

 

[JumpersAway]

100% agreed....

Some things I really like about our MEC, but the fact that you NEVER, EVER see them in the lounge, talking to the actual pilot group in person makes them look lazy.

Let's see- How many times have Scott and Charlie (as much as I dislike that duo) come over to have little "Q&A sessions" in the last few years? How many times has anyone seen DN in the lounge?

-Sure doesn't look good to the average line pilot.

I've only seen our MEC in the loung a couple of times.......but I've seen them at the Break Pad, in College Park, several times. My favorite was calling to talk to a representative about something serious, and hearing him studder and stammer through the responses, all with an XBox blaring in the background with a video game on.......

ALPA has it's faults, and it's certainly not perfect, but it's better than any in house union could ever hope to be. If you don't like what's going on, then you need to run for an office, Sunlit. Don't be bashful- stand up and lay it out on the line about what you stand for. After all, ALPA is an association made up of pilots, and it's only as strong as the pilots. If you think they are weak, vote them out and find replacement representatives. Frankly, I hold nothing against many in the MEC/LEC- I'm friends with many of them. But, it's time to cycle some new blood in there, in my opinion, anyway.

I think I'd rather have no union, than an inhouse union. And for the record, not all USAirways pilots are happy with USAPA- I happen to know this for fact, and not just the west guys either...........

 

[Puck Mugger]

Where's Lyman Killsome when you need him ?

Must be writing more anti-union rhetoric for some "safety" rag ?