MM,
I don't believe there was a rush into this. Our leaders have been hinting for quite a while now that this was coming. Yes, it's happening now and the rank and file has much less time to think through it than our leaders did, but they are very receptive to questions and I don't think any of them would shy away from giving you the answers you seek.
Which of course makes me wonder why you're posting these concerns on FI. Our own message boards, as well as contact info for ALL our leaders, is on the union boards.
But back on point. I had some questions myself, but they've been answered. And like I said, this has been thought through for quite a while by our leaders. I don't think they're taking rash or hasty action.
There is a certain commonality to all labor in this country. That can't be argued. But there are enough differences between the different working groups that I don't believe any one group can represent them all. Heck, ALPA can't seem to represent the interests of both the mainline and regional pilots who are members. How are IBT supposed to support our needs vs., say, the airlines that they represent. As has been mentioned before, the airlines and their members are probably best served by supporting user fees, while the fractionals, charters, and pure 91 operators will be taking the opposite stance. How would IBT reconcile these differences in representation?
Just read our own message boards and the posts from our leaders and you'll see many many times where we've asked the IBT for assistance and it simply was never given, and no explanation forthcoming as to why they wouldn't help. Bill Olsen himself has said the IBT really doesn't even understand our part of the industry, and doesn't seem to have any desire to educate themselves about it. While pilots, truckers, mechanics, and such have many labor needs in common, there are simply too many differences in other areas of our needs for the IBT to be able to effectively represent us all.
True, it might be nice to have their political connections (do they honestly have any these days that are effective?), but I truly believe they need to start by showing they're receptive to our immediate local needs, before they can stand up for us on a national scale. So far, they've failed miserably on the micro scale and I personally have no confidence in them on the macro scale.