Your statement about pilots being the most important employees in an air carrier is egotistical. My statements are geared specifically at those that have never been in a union and think that it's the answer because there is some other union member forcing Kool-aid down their throat. It's not. You guys in unions are stuck with them. Enjoy them right up until the bankruptcy or furloughs. Then you can continue to blame management because they weren't smart enough to be profitable when saddled with an unreasonable contract that they were forced into by union tactics.
The FLOPS guys voted the union in and are living in the predictable nightmare leading up to the first CBA and all the problems of implementation once there is a TA. As many as four or more years is normal. Handcuffing and threatening the company with a union isn't the answer, it ALWAYS creates pushback, you asked for it, you got it. Be careful what you ask for. Four years is a long time in this industry, and the economy of aviation can change on a dime. If there were more guys on these threads that took the time to point out some of the crap that unions have pulled to continue to educate those before they get into something that they can't get out of, I wouldn't bother. Every now and then others show up, then I become quiet as I'm not the only voice.
I'll never support a union, and busting a union isn't my game. To me, the only good union is one that stays off the property to begin with.
Those companies that don't have unions give safe haven for guys like me that have been continuously screwed over by unions. Thankfully there are still a lot of them out there. There is a lot to this industry that is behind the scenes, and I can tell you right up front from first hand experience that I've never been involved with a union that had anything in mind except to pillage the company for every last cent of profit the company has and placed the company at risk of safety and economic hardship.
I'm no more of a journeyman than any other aviation professional that was laid off due to a union action. It's part of the business unless you stay away from air carriers with unions. By going with a non-union carrier, my career is in my hands, because I'll be damned if anybody (especially a union) is going to speak for me.
Oh come on now, B19!! Really. Fearmongering is a typical management tactic, not union.
"Can't get rid of a union"?. Puh-leeze! Have you even bothered tp research what went on/is going on at NJA? All it took was a bunch of p!ssed-off pilots to vote our old union out, and a new one in. What's that you say? But see, we STILL have a union? Of course, because the group decided we were still better off with representation than without. But make no mistake, we could have EASILY gotten rid of the union altogether had we wanted to. It really is nothing more than a vote. And you know, when it looked like our old local 284 was going to lose power, I don't recall anyone showing up at my door with a baseball bat threatenting to break my knees if I didn't vote their way.
A union is a detriment to safety?! Based on what, might I ask? Thanks to our union at NJA, we can call fatigued without any fear of disciplinary action. We can actually write discrepancies up without fear of retribution. And our UNION has been pressing hard for NJA to educate its pilot force about past and ongoing incidents and problems in the fleets, whereas management's position has always been to keep us in the dark so we can never learn from anything that happens.
UNIONS push companies to bankruptcy? Come now B19. First off, when times are good, why shouldn't the employees share in the bounty? As for the vagaries of the economy, it's hard to predict the good times and bad in aviation. But when times are bad, I notice that unions (at the airlines anyways) do give plenty of concessions. Now the next thing out of your mouth is that they only give concessions when FORCED to by management or bankruptcy proceedings, but I would counter with not any more than the management that has to be FORCED to share the bounty when times are good. By the way, for the most part, rich people will be rich regardless of what the economy does. It could happen, but it's unlikely that the fractionals will follow the same cyclical patterns that the airlines do with the economy because we have a clientele whose fortunes don't go completely bust with the ups and downs of the economy. In other words, a much more stable base for the fractionals.
I'm not sure about the airlines, but at the fractionals, the pilots ARE the most important employees. Not only do we fly the planes (safely and efficiently) from point A to B, but we are the face of the company that the clients see. We are the providers of the top-notch service actually occuring on the road. We are the real-time problem solvers that makes are clients' experience with us a good one. Management can provide us with the tools to make it happen, but make no mistake, the pilots are the ones that make it happen.
I actually agree with you that unions aren't always the answer. But once you've exhausted the avenue of talking and asking and even begging, with no result, where do you go? Jump from company to company hoping to find a good one? What a lousy way to spend a career. And I wonder if some of the good companies that are non-union only treat their employees well because they're afraid of a union coming on property. A nice indirect, but positive, effect unions have on the industry.
So what if it's a long, difficult fight for that first CBA? It certainly was at NJA, but you know what? It turned out to be well worht the fight! You think a union shouldn't be present because things will be difficult? What a defeatist attitude! Of course it'll be tough! But few things worth the fight aren't!
By the way, with our 'plush' new contract at NJA, I can't help but notice that we're making bigger profits than ever. Our union pushing our company to bankruptcy?! Do you do ANY research before making your posts?
I haven't posted here in a while, but I couldn't resist countering the tripe you're spewing. You aren't, by chance, related to FamilyGuy are you?
