bell47 said:
hey Hugh J. I guess I just don't understand it.
You guessed right. You don't understand it.
bell47 said:
If you don't like your job then QUIT.
I love my job. You haven't heard me complain about it. I can't imagine what my job would be like if it weren't for the collective bargaining agreement under which my company and I operate.
bell47 said:
If things at the company are so bad, and everyone who worked there started quiting and finding other jobs, and they could not find replacements for them because of these bad practices then sooner or later they would go away.
Sure, that's an option. Another option would be for the 4, 5 or 6 thousand workers in that group to organize a representative entity and sit down with the company and negotiate terms of employment agreeable to both.
bell47 said:
I don't need any collective barganing where I work because it's a small company. If I don't like something I(me, not some union rep. who has to speak for me) go to the boss( either the director of maintenance, chief pilot, or general manager) and look them in the eyes and tell them "that's bull$h!t".
That's great for you. I'm not sitting here telling you to do otherwise. What do you propose a group of workers 6-thousand plus do when things are "bull$hit"?
bell47 said:
We discuss the issues and come up with a plan that is good for everyone.
Again, that's great for your small company. What about the group of 6500 pilots?
bell47 said:
Also if I screw up or don't do my job then I'm accountable for that. I don't need some union guy to speak for me. I'll explain my own actions.
That's great for your small company, but some people in some large companies are treated unfairly and it's just not realistic for a pilot group of 4000 to have every swinging organ who is accused of screwing up heading to the chief pilot's office to defend themselves.
bell47 said:
Besides if someone screws up then maybe they don't need to have that particular job. Maybe they should be fired.
That's right. The union's job is not to prevent terminations, but to prevent
wrongful termination and ensure equal treatment. It works both ways, by the way. The Union also polices itself with a Professional Standards committee designed to nip problem children in the bud before they even show up on managements' radar scope. Some people need to be talked to and often times it's the Union folk who fix things before they become problems. Not always, but it's helpful and certainly not perfect.
bell47 said:
Oh, and if you don't see your wife and kids enough, then you do need to find another job, or get scheduled differently. I mean really what's worth more, flying that shiny jet with your "brothers" or your kids?
Again, how do you propose a group of 5000 pilots achive such an end? Your way won't work. It has, however worked for many organized groups who exercise a little solidarity come negotiation time.
bell47 said:
People need to stand up for themselves and be accountable for their own actions. What is wrong with that?
Exactly, what is wrong with a group of workers standing up for themselves? Sheesh.
Look, this thread isn't about union vs. non-union places. Big groups of workers need to organize and have representation. That's just the way it is. But the point of this thread is the scab's role in all of this. The only real power the Union has is solidarity. If the group has no unity, it has no power. Those who cross lines undermine what the representative group is trying to accomplish as a whole for the good of the majority of the group are the scourge of the process. The folks who don't get it and are on the fence will fall to the wrong side when you treat scabs with indifference. If you treat them like the scum they are, then perhaps some who might otherwise fall into the cesspool of line-crossers, might think better of it. For sure, ALPA has failed us by letting scabs back in. But they will always be on the list. They will always be scabs. Even when they are dead. NEVER FORGET.
