livin'thesim
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2005
- Posts
- 926
ALPA is an association of unions.
Their power to effect any serious change is actually limited.
The best attorney in the world can't keep you from losing a lawsuit if the jury or court decides against you. Competent representation can only help to minimize the losses in such a case.
The economic factors are arrayed against the regional pilots right now. No one says you have to like it, but if there is another regional willing to price lower, then your opponent is that pilot group that is working for those wages, even if many of those individual pilots did not want to agree to that wage.
Let us take an example from the recent housing crash.
Many people, upset that prices in their neighborhood were plummeting, took to the internet and DEMANDED that something be done. They wanted everyone in their neighborhood to simply refuse to lower their prices, that way buyers would have "no choice" but to pay the price the sellers wanted.
Problem is, why should anyone cooperate? Buyers were not going to be bullied into overpaying. Besides, there were other neighborhoods where no one was suggesting such price-fixing silliness.
It is regrettable that the pilots who fare the worst in pay and QOL are now finding themselves in the hot seat for concessions while legacy pilots are getting large raises. I was a regional guy, so I understand. However, economic forces are like water. They can't be dammed up.
As long as there are multiple unions represented by an association, this exact problem will continue. It is insoluble until there is some sort of national union to which all pilots belong, who negotiate as a single group, and who go on strike all at once.
I suggest that some of you check out a game-theory concept called "prisoner's dilemma".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's27s_dilemma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma
In theory, it seems that all we need to do is stand together. But without a universal enforcing effect to keep such unity in place, it won't work.
Now, I know there are a lot of grey heads at the regionals, and to them I give my utmost respect.
However, there are a ton of young pups there too, and many who allow themselves to turn pay and career negotiation into a emotionally-charged bout of name-calling and huffing demands that "something be done".
None of you have it anywhere as bad as your forebears who flew in the days before ALPA, before saftey standards, unions, turbine engines and glideslopes, for that matter.
Man up, please, and accept that right now the tide has turned against your position. You need to remain unemotional and look for opportunities to exploit rather than ways to shout about your grievances.
Did I make you mad? Too bad, you lose again. Until you learn to control the emotion and stay focused on getting what you want, you will get played. Despite their coldness, most management types don't let it get personal. It's all business, all the time. That is why they win so much of the time. Do you really think they want to make your life miserable? That they hate pilots?
Hardly. They don't think about you much differently than any other component of the system. You're a part number.
Know what? That does not bother me that much. Because I have thick skin, good financial instincts, a propensity for saving, and at least two career fallback plans.
In other words, I am my own management. I don't look to my employer as some sort of giant cash teat that I need in order to survive. The #1 thing that most employees do to disempower themselves is to be bad with money, have debt, and be beholden to their employer. Welcome to 21st century serfdom. As long as you are looking to your employer to be your ultimate guarantor, you are positioning yourself as a serf. Want to be a King? Then get to work on it.
Ultimately, you need to take action to secure your life situation, look for opportunities and know how to negotiate and turn poor field position to your advantage as much as you can.
Sometimes you will lose ground, and that is just life. You can complain, or spend that energy looking for work-arounds.
At the end of the day, people who want high wages, big pensions, job security and not to have to ever worry about their safety or security should consider a job in state or local government. There is also always the postal service, Cliffy.
Most human beings on this planet do not have even one of those things, let alone two or three.
Get what you can and stop complaining that you can't have it all.
Their power to effect any serious change is actually limited.
The best attorney in the world can't keep you from losing a lawsuit if the jury or court decides against you. Competent representation can only help to minimize the losses in such a case.
The economic factors are arrayed against the regional pilots right now. No one says you have to like it, but if there is another regional willing to price lower, then your opponent is that pilot group that is working for those wages, even if many of those individual pilots did not want to agree to that wage.
Let us take an example from the recent housing crash.
Many people, upset that prices in their neighborhood were plummeting, took to the internet and DEMANDED that something be done. They wanted everyone in their neighborhood to simply refuse to lower their prices, that way buyers would have "no choice" but to pay the price the sellers wanted.
Problem is, why should anyone cooperate? Buyers were not going to be bullied into overpaying. Besides, there were other neighborhoods where no one was suggesting such price-fixing silliness.
It is regrettable that the pilots who fare the worst in pay and QOL are now finding themselves in the hot seat for concessions while legacy pilots are getting large raises. I was a regional guy, so I understand. However, economic forces are like water. They can't be dammed up.
As long as there are multiple unions represented by an association, this exact problem will continue. It is insoluble until there is some sort of national union to which all pilots belong, who negotiate as a single group, and who go on strike all at once.
I suggest that some of you check out a game-theory concept called "prisoner's dilemma".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's27s_dilemma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma
In theory, it seems that all we need to do is stand together. But without a universal enforcing effect to keep such unity in place, it won't work.
Now, I know there are a lot of grey heads at the regionals, and to them I give my utmost respect.
However, there are a ton of young pups there too, and many who allow themselves to turn pay and career negotiation into a emotionally-charged bout of name-calling and huffing demands that "something be done".
None of you have it anywhere as bad as your forebears who flew in the days before ALPA, before saftey standards, unions, turbine engines and glideslopes, for that matter.
Man up, please, and accept that right now the tide has turned against your position. You need to remain unemotional and look for opportunities to exploit rather than ways to shout about your grievances.
Did I make you mad? Too bad, you lose again. Until you learn to control the emotion and stay focused on getting what you want, you will get played. Despite their coldness, most management types don't let it get personal. It's all business, all the time. That is why they win so much of the time. Do you really think they want to make your life miserable? That they hate pilots?
Hardly. They don't think about you much differently than any other component of the system. You're a part number.
Know what? That does not bother me that much. Because I have thick skin, good financial instincts, a propensity for saving, and at least two career fallback plans.
In other words, I am my own management. I don't look to my employer as some sort of giant cash teat that I need in order to survive. The #1 thing that most employees do to disempower themselves is to be bad with money, have debt, and be beholden to their employer. Welcome to 21st century serfdom. As long as you are looking to your employer to be your ultimate guarantor, you are positioning yourself as a serf. Want to be a King? Then get to work on it.
Ultimately, you need to take action to secure your life situation, look for opportunities and know how to negotiate and turn poor field position to your advantage as much as you can.
Sometimes you will lose ground, and that is just life. You can complain, or spend that energy looking for work-arounds.
At the end of the day, people who want high wages, big pensions, job security and not to have to ever worry about their safety or security should consider a job in state or local government. There is also always the postal service, Cliffy.
Most human beings on this planet do not have even one of those things, let alone two or three.
Get what you can and stop complaining that you can't have it all.
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