Union Resurgance

[800Dog]

You think you're going to get 70,000 pilots to all strike on the same day in an illegal strike? Good luck. I'd bet over half would cross the lines just because King George Dubya tells them to.

All 70k is not needed to severely impact operations/economy/commerce etc!

 

[Publishers]

"Simplistic and unrealistic is really about all we do here on Flightinfo"


The simplest and most realistic thing I have seen about what we do here.

 

[PCL_128]

All 70k is not needed to severely impact operations/economy/commerce etc!

That's what the PATCO controllers thought in '81, also. They figured their illegal strike would cause enough damage to get what they wanted, even if a bunch of guys crossed the lines. Didn't work out that way, did it? Tons of them ended up crossing the lines, and Reagan replaced the rest with military controllers. You think we can do better? I think not. It's a recipe for disaster.

 

[PCL_128]

I read that entirely differently, Lear. I read it as Management would be able to see who voted for Unionization . . . . and would be free to fire those who voted for a Union, or to vote for a stronger union.

TW

Incorrect. Management would never see the cards. Only the union and the NMB would see the cards.

 

[El Pobre]

Not workable...

What is workable... is a national demonstration on the DC Mall. There was one last year, but only 100 pilots showed up.... guess it wasn't that important and everything is really fine?

What do you think?

The problem with a national demonstration is that it would garner about 10 seconds of news coverage (if any at all) and maybe some news print coverage on page 12...certainly not front page news.

If somehow everyone called in sick the same day....that would be the lead story on ABC/CBS/NBC and CNN...the pundits would be talking about it for days....

Now...if they threw every pilot that participated in jail....then the whole system would REALLY be shut down.

It may be illegal, but so were the Solidarity strikes in Poland during the Cold War, and those guys faced way harsher consequences than we would (as I recall some were even killed).

Bottom line is it won't happen here, I just believe that in the grand scheme of things, a big demonstration would lead to nothing...

(now if every pilot took the day off of work to participate in said demonstration.....)

 

[El Pobre]

That's what the PATCO controllers thought in '81, also. They figured their illegal strike would cause enough damage to get what they wanted, even if a bunch of guys crossed the lines. Didn't work out that way, did it? Tons of them ended up crossing the lines, and Reagan replaced the rest with military controllers. You think we can do better? I think not. It's a recipe for disaster.

I'm fairly sure that in today's day and age, you couldn't replace pilots with pilots from the military...the military pilots are somewhat busy doing other things right now.

 

[gator_hater]

Wow... The end of secret ballot voting.

That means I can find out who the frak voted FOR T.A. 2 at AAI... SWEET! (Can't really, but it would put the pressure on for the next T.A.)

No more hiding behind your vote, boys and girls. BRING IT!!

(Why am I not surprised that McCain opposes it?)

That is the exact reason that there is a secret ballot. I think unions are a good thing for pilots and given the choice I would vote for one. That being said there should be a check against threats and pressure to join a union.

Judge the value of a union on the merits not on who has the bigger mouth.

SkyWest is the perfect example +50% turned in their cards, but when it came down to it only 35% voted to join. The secret ballot protects their DEMOCRATIC voice.

 

[PCL_128]

I'm fairly sure that in today's day and age, you couldn't replace pilots with pilots from the military...the military pilots are somewhat busy doing other things right now.

They wouldn't need to. Over 50% would cross the lines just because Shrub would tell them to. That's plenty to keep the economy moving long enough for him to break the unions. You can't win this battle that way. You're outgunned. You want to win? Vote pro-labor.

 

[pilotyip]

In the end...

In the end consumers will determine how many pilots work and what they will be paid. Management cannot do it, unions cannot do it and the gov't cannot do it. It seems those who posted in the past that the consumer would accept higher prices in order to pay the pilots more, have been wrong. Prices have gone up due to fuel and passengers buying tickets have gone down. We see it everywhere, lay offs, stopped hiring, airplanes being parked. It may down size to the point that only the rich fly on 10% of today's market and 95% of today's pilots will be unemployed or downgraded. But those who keep their Captain's seat; it will be the glory days again.

 

[Kharma Police]

Incorrect. Management would never see the cards. Only the union and the NMB would see the cards.

I'm sure they have ways of finding out.

 

[PCL_128]

I'm sure they have ways of finding out.

If they did, then they would already be able to do it, because Authorization for Representation cards already contain the employee's name and are already seen by the NMB and the union. The only difference with the EFCA would be that the representation cards would be used for the official certification of the union rather than a second phone vote.

 

[FmrFreightDog]

You want to win? Vote pro-labor.

I'm voting for Obama, just like you. However, if you truly expect him to be "pro-labor" then I think you will be sorely disappointed. Obama's administration will turn just as blind an eye to the dismantling of organized labor as Bush's administration did.

 

[PCL_128]

I'm voting for Obama, just like you. However, if you truly expect him to be "pro-labor" then I think you will be sorely disappointed. Obama's administration will turn just as blind an eye to the dismantling of organized labor as Bush's administration did.

And on what do you base this theory? The Dems have been desperately trying to push the Employee Free Choice Act through for several years against massive Republican opposition. The Dems have tried repeatedly to raise the minimum wage, always against massive Republican opposition. Democratic Presidents have always appointed pro-labor members to the NMB and NLRB. Republicans have always appointed anti-labor, pro-big-business members to these boards, with Dubya being the absolute worst offender. The Republicans tried to push through a bill that would make any strike by an airline labor group to be a "terrorist action." This was defeated by the Democrats, thankfully.

Sorry, but in every case, the Dems come to our defense as the Reps try to tear us apart to help their big-business buddies. Them's just the facts.

 

[jonjuan]

Sorry, but in every case, the Dems come to our defense as the Reps try to tear us apart to help their big-business buddies. Them's just the facts.

Oh, you're in for rude awakening should O win. Of course, with oil where it is today and where it is heading, our jobs may not even exist in a year.

 

[Carl_Spackler]

This is a simplistic and unrealistic view of what would happen. Walmart is the largest employer in America and pay the least amount of benefits per employee. They provide nothing to this country other than taking from the employees to give to the owners and CEOs.

That's right, Wal Mart provides nothing..... becides low prices, massive tax revenue, etc.