Pilots, White Collar or Blue Collar

[jetflier]

With our new concessionary contract at NWA placing the pilot group at the bottom of the pilot food chain, a few pilot buds and I got into a discussion .

The debate was weather we, as Airline Pilots were considered white collar or blue collar labor?

I have always felt that our job was a white collar profession, requiring a higher level of education, and continous speciallized traing.

We are always responsible for the lives of our passengers including many white collar executives and government officals.

IMHO, untill ALPA places our job classification as a white collar profession, we will continue to reach lower levels of pay and benefits.

 

[shooter]

taken from an online interview....

"In this exclusive interview, Barbara Ehrenreich talks about the thin line between the middle class and the working poor and why she wants to slap the next person who insists on the power of positive thinking.

In general, I think it's easier for liberal affluent people to be concerned about those who are chronically poor. Harder to have compassion for the IT person down the street who may be heading to the working poor. And by and large, I found the white-collar people more withdrawn and depressed. Even if they had a job, they were terrified of being laid off. The white-collar person might be only six months away from being in a blue-collar job, if they have a job at all. But part of being in the middle-class is absorbing certain prejudices; white-collar workers may believe they are smarter and more hard-working than those in blue-collar jobs and so this shouldn't happen to them."

Not to start a Bush bashing, but he is killing the middle class...and guess where Pilots are on the class scale. If anyone thinks it goes up from here needs a pee test. The downward spiral is in full motion.....HOLD ON!

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

You can search this board for this discussion.....

Look at it this way.... How does management and Wall Street view airline pilots?

We are blue collar all the way. But we are unique. Unlike most blue collar workers we show up to picketing and strikes in Caddy's and BMWs.

When it comes down to negotiations we function just like all the other blue collar workers. Hammering out hourly rates, work rules etc...

Perhaps when this profession was born it should've been defined as salary?

The trick is to present ourselves as professionally as we can.

So the next time you pass a maid cleaning rooms in your hotel, know that Air Line Pilots have much in common with her than white collar workers.

Respectfully, with Air Mail on the wings, and 75 years of expereince I'd think this would be known......

ALPA was in court to define whether we were a profession or a trade union. The power players in this country think you are blue collar.



A good book is "The Air Line Pilots: A Study In Elite Unionization".

I was written by Hopkins. His work was noticed by ALPA he was asked to write Flying the Line. As you know Flying the Line and The Air Line Pilots are not pro ALPA.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=George%20E.%20Hopkins&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/103-4660626-7463029

 

[michael707767]

Not to start a Bush bashing, but he is killing the middle class...and guess where Pilots are on the class scale. If anyone thinks it goes up from here needs a pee test. The downward spiral is in full motion.....HOLD ON!

I agree. His idea of a great country is the rich getting richer and damm everyone else. IMHO, it is the middle class that has made this country great, that fights our wars and drives our economy. Sadly, we are on our way to becoming like many Latin American countries......5-10% wealthy, a small middle class, and the vast majority working poor. Something needs to change.

 

[AVDAD]

White Collar

I believe they are White Collar as long as they don't post degrading remarks about fellow pilots on Flightinfo.

One dad's prospective.

Fly safe,

AvDad

 

[bestpilot]

The debate was weather we, as Airline Pilots were considered white collar or blue collar.

Dude!

Dats eeezy!

Jet Blue dudes gots dem Blue Collers

Dem military peeps gots dem Green Collers

Da Trannies and da Deltoids and like all dem udder peeps gots dem White Collers.

Duuuude, dat wuz like pretty fun, you gots any more stuff like dat?

 

[climbhappy]

jetflier

you last of point of ALPA needing to do something or lower pay and benefits for everyone.

since when is ALPA a body that can influence world oil prices? capacity? trends like the way people buy tickets? and other external factors.


in the 60's pilots were white collar, today it's white collar at a major airline,

regional pilots are reduced to glorified bus drivers.. bus drivers make more in most big cities.

 

[Gummo]

I don't mean to be a butthead about this, but a plea to be considered a white collar worker might be more persuasive if you made the effort to spel write; you know put that higher education and "continous speciallized traing" to use.

 

[SoCentralRain]

The debate was weather we, as Airline Pilots were considered white collar or blue collar labor?

It's the whitest blue collar you'll likely ever wear. ::sigh::

SCR

 

[YourPilotFriend]

We move up based on longevity, not politics. We are blue collar all the way. We just had the best blue collar job around, now we are soon to have the worst. Even below the guy that pumps poopy out of the port-o-johns.