Universal Pilots Union?

[Clyde]

No to a universal pilot's union. I am very pleased with our own in-house union. When you accept a job with a company, you're rolling the dice. Sometimes it's in your favor and sometimes not. You never know.

 

[FN FAL]

Hello,
Would you, as an airline pilot leave ALPA, or join(if un-affiliated), a new pilots union?

I think I could agree with ty webb...the date you get your commercial pilots license should be the date of your seniority number with the commercial pilots union or guild. With this, you should be offered positions with airlines and commercial operators and paying for ratings or types should not be a normal part of the industry.

 

[Publishers]

Manage

Does the employers rights have any part in this. The union clause is "Managements right to manage". This stuff might work except you all tend to think in terms only of the big leagacy carriers of which there are fewer and fewer of every year. One of the reasons for that is a continued stangulation of productivity.

We can talk all day about the oppressed and overworked pilots, but most of the ones I know who have a bit of seniority are mainly concerned about how much time off they can get and still get paid. They are great guys and good friends but they would like "george" to fly them on an out and back once a week and have someone bring their check to the gate so they can get right out of there.

The last time I looked we still had a free enterprise system where one can start a business, hire who they want, conform to the regulations, and offer their services to the public for a price they deem satisfactory.

The concept of calling the hall for 737 drivers and having to take them is not what this is about. This is a skilled work force in a professional industry. If one gets into the airline industry or fractionals or corporate, you are going to fly planes and be, by the nature of the business, gone a good deal of the time. If you want to be home every night or want to work 9 to 5, this is probably not for you. That said, if we ask a group of pilots what they do not like, it is being away and the unusual hours.

Management needs to recognize the needs of the various labor groups and try to work with them to achieve the desired compromise. What the labor groups need to realize is that the productivity needs to be there or all is lost.

 

[Clyde]

What is needed is one national payscale for all small jet aircraft. If ALPA can deliver that, great. If not, maybe another union. If majors won't include their Express affiliates in their scope clauses then this is the only way to stop JO and the race to the bottom. Of course this is about as likely to succeed as true communism.....

What is needed is a lot of pilots out there in various unions to start growing some testicles and telling their prospective management that days of working for peanuts are over. Want to train pilots, airline pays for it. Want pilots to fly jets, pay (insert amount here).

Getting to the union question. I personally am not in favor of a national union/seniority list. I made a decision to come to my airline and it was a good choice. Somebody else made a decision to go to another airline of their choosing and turns out it isn't a good choice. I wouldn't want that person to come over here and take my job because that person is senior. Also, what is good for a pilot group at one carrier is not necessarily going to be good for me.

Besides, a group of pilots from the same carrier can rarely agree on where to go to eat. I doubt a national union would succeed.

 

[N8Dogg]

I don't know about the guild concept but it's about time the regionals have representation by an organization not affiliated with the majors. Sometimes there seems to be a conflict of interest (ALPA). Just my $.02.