Security at Astar

[Whistlin' Dan]

walmart prices with union wages? from what Ive seen, almost everyone wants walmart prices but only THEIR wages should be union, everyone else is just a lazy future welfare slob who should be happy making minimum wage and happy servicing them.

"Wally-World prices with Union wages?" Not hardly. I absolutely detest Wally-World, and the "Wally-World-ization of America. So much so that I make a point of NOT shopping there.

However, I DO believe a company should be required to have it's own employees. Especially a company that receives it's charter from, and operates under the auspices of, a Cabinet-level organization such as the Department of Transportation.

Think about the irony in this...we, as pilots, must be trained and certified to standards set by the federal Government. Our trainers must be so certified as well. We have to prove our physical fitness to the Federal Government every six months, and our technical proficiency to them at any time they so deem, but at least once a year.

Because our jobs are so safety-sensitive, we have been asked to forfeit any number of our Constitutional rights. We must now prove to the government, upon their command, that we have NOT committed the crime of ingesting drugs. They own our urine and the by-products of our digestive tract, 24/7.

Pretty heady stuff...

Then along come companies, who create shell companies, who create even more shell companies, and the whole system of accountability is compromised. None of these companies would exist but for the business offered them by their corporate sponsor. Look at the FedEx long-haul truck drivers, the DHL and FedEx delivery drivers, ACMI air carriers, and the guy who hooks up your cable TV. They're all "Independant Contractors" yet all have but one, or at most a couple, of "customers."

The "customer" calls the shots, right down schedules, the color of the equipment and the color of the uniforms their operators wear, yet assumes NONE of the responsibility. "Ees noh my yob..."

"You say one of our 18-wheelers ran you over? Oh no, that wasn't ours. Don't let the paint job fool you...that was one of our subcontractors..."

"You say we are responsible for the fact that one of our planes took a nose-dive into the Everglades? Oh no, it was one of our subcontractors who fouled up. We had nothing to do with it"

I just wish I could pay my Federal Income Taxes with the same degree of diligence and oversight....

"Hello, IRS? You say you didn't get the canvas bag with the $40,000 in it? Well, as far as I'm concerned, I paid them. You'll have to talk to my subcontractor, Juan. I gave the money to him to give to you, which he assured me he would. You can rest assured I will discipline him...if and when I find him."

Even Wally-World, probably the most tight-fisted corporate employer in America, routinely uses "subs" in many of it's day-to-day operations. How low they can go is anybody's guess, but it's just one more reason not to shop there, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Meat n the Seat]

Ok, the industry is no longer what it once was. Neither are a host of others. Quality has been compromised for price across the board. Pride in a job well done has been replaced by the American Incompetance Movement (AIM). I'm still not convinced the public is ready to strap their collective bottoms into a Walmart Airlines airplane. So what is the solution? What do we do to stop the degredation of our profession? Not an easy task nor an easy solution given the roots of the problem may be simply a symptom of the new American culture. Anyone have viable ideas, strategies or solutions?