I hesitate to post....
To be honest, I post for two reasons. The first, it is fun. There are some very bright people that post on these threads and I enjoy the oppsoing view points. Second, I like speaking from personal experience and have been around to see the beast from the inside. I have seen unions from a different light than most people posting on this page. Nobody has ever written a book from the inside of the carrier out on what it is like to deal with a radical union. It's not an easy thing. I honestly believe that if anybody that is a staunch union supporter was to try and manage a pilot group from the inside, they would quickly change their tune. One must remember, that the same pilots that manage these large flight departments were once union members also. Unions will complain about "poor management", but they well never say that the same people they now complain about were also career pilots and former union members themselves. You need to ask yourself, why did they suddenly change? Why were these people that were once loyal union members now fighting against the union? Could it be that they now were living inside of the beast and saw the reality for the first time? I've worked in four large flight departments, and I've never worked with any senior management pilot that supported the union once they had to deal with it from the inside. I know that I can't be alone in this world on this subject, but I'm no longer handcuffed with my opinions because I don't hold the title of "Manager" any longer and I'm not in a union carrier. So, I enjoy the banter.
This union/non-union thread has all the earmarks of a Ford/Chevrolet argument...99% emotion.
I hesitate to even post, but B 19 has skewed certain facts in the above post and shouldn't go unchallenged. Just for the record, I am not a neophyte...I've been around the airline industry for more than 35 years and now work for a frac.
B19 maintains that union pilots who move up in management don't support unions. This may be partly true, but the larger truth is that pilots that get into management positions won't be permitted to move up if they support a union. Upper management would be stupid to pick anyone who doesn't sing from their songbook. Management looks for pilots who are willing to defecate on their fellow pilots. Once a pilot gets beyond LCA status, he isn't going to move up by being a pilot advocate. If B19 has the experience he claims he does, he got there by turning his back on his fellow pilots.
I had my fill of these management wanna-bees who would say or do anything in support of what they perceived as management goals. No morals, just unfettered ambition. It was fun to watch these guys fall on their swords when management pulled the rug out from under them!
I will tell you the truth. I don't like unions. I wish we could all work for enlightened management. However, industries where workers are paired with machines (assembly lines, mines, railroads, airlines, etc.) foster managements which treat the humans like they treat the machines.
Unions do not spring up because people naturally like to defy their employers. Unions spring up to counteract mis-treatment. Unions spring up because people like B19 are willing to do management's bidding without regard to what is "right".
Isn't it interesting to watch people who come from other professions...people who are initially anti-union, eventually come to recognize the need for unions and support their union after a short time at the airline?
Is it something in the cockpit air?
No, it is a sense of self-worth and self-preservation.
