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What does your 1.95% do for you?

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Splinter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 1, 2005
Posts
78
Not for sensitive eyes...

Delta, Northwest, United, USAirways...what happened? Let's compare these legacy carriers with another one...American.

The airline industry is in a paradigm shift. RJ's growing, LCCs dominating domestic growth, 9-11, and skyrocketing fuel costs. Feeble management at these airlines clearly inept and impotent. Of all the airlines, most would consider the labor/management relationship at American to be hands down the worst. Funny how it is American that worked with its unions to coordinate furloughs, fleet retirements, displacements, and significant compensation reductions...WITHOUT strike or bankruptcy. Why? Because American pilots could give a rip at what happens to United or Delta.

Carriers need in-house unions that care only for its own survival which is directly linked to their airline. Delta pilots should NEVER care about pilots at Northwest. Lack of ALPA handcuffs at SWA and American allows them to focus on ONLY their careers, families, etc. If you fly for Delta and you are staring down the barrel of Bush blocking a strike and a court re-writing your contract, how would you feel? How do United pilots feel? USAirways HAD a retirement. Why SHOULD any of these pilots give a hoot about the plight of pilots at other carriers? Competition baby! Don't you think Southwest pilots want to bury jetBlue, AirTran, and Frontier? You bet...and the feeling is shared. They die, we grow, they lose, we win. No alliances.

So what of alliances? Allegiance? What has ALPA done for legacy carriers lately? And why is Woerthless still in office? He is the Frank Lorenzo of airline labor. It will be his picture on CEO's offices for his efforts in reducing ALPA to a toothless tiger. The man is a clown. Local unions can accrue war chests, fight grievances, and collectively bargain effectively WITHOUT the self-serving interests of ALPA. Delta, Northwest, United, and others need union representation that cares only for its fellow employees, not toeing the line on behalf of another carrier's pilots who open negotiations the following year.

If all unions were in house, we would all be better off as pilots. ALPA cannot protect your career by representing the competition too. How many major carriers NOT represented by ALPA have filed for Chapter 11? I trust my local reps with my job but I wish we would vote ALPA off the island and go at it on our own. ALPA only cares about ALPA...it forgets that its members are employees first, and union members second. ALPA doesn't send you a check to pay your mortage, your company does. Let's hope that ALPA goes away soon. Someone can start a new PAC to lobby for airline pilot issues...it wasn't funded with union dues to begin with.

The only management more incompetent than that of USAirways, Delta, and the other legacy carriers that filed Chapter 11 is that of ALPA. Unions are essential for pilots IMHO, but Woerthless has mutated ALPA into a cancer that management always wanted to remove, and now its members are dying from.
 
Sad thing is, from his aircraft he looks like ASA guy....

Need to look up "whipsaw." Then ask a trucker or a miner why they don't use in-house unions. Better yet, ask a TWA guy about the benefits of a common union between two pilot groups. And what happens when there ain't one.

Blame the player (including the fun you obviously have wih his name) if you must, but don't blame the game.

And if you are ASA- national has spent enough there in accident investigation support alone to justify paying dues. Not to mention two $1,000,000 checks in the late nineties for contract talks and a strike fund.
 
Interesting points. Couple of thoughts.

Regionals would have a tough time going on strike, like Comair. Without the assesments from the the ALPA majors, strike pay and the fund would have been non-existent. They would have to contribute more than 1.95%.

Woerthless needs to go. I don't see anyway to argue otherwise.

American has done OK lately, I guess they have cleaned up their act after the sick out fiasco. But their management has been reasonable also. Apples oranges with DAL USAir etc...

You say that we shouldn't care about what other carriers are doing, but in good times this was a solid source for contract improvements. The nature of being competitive is looking at the other guy. Seems that your statements want it both ways. Besides if we don't look at the other guy mismanagement is. Hence the industry race to the bottom for benefits.

Is the system working right now. Its ok. Would 30+ fractional associations fix it, no.
 
Quote from Splinter:
"Competition baby! Don't you think Southwest pilots want to bury jetBlue, AirTran, and Frontier? You bet...and the feeling is shared. They die, we grow, they lose, we win. No alliances."

Sadly, your thoughts misrepresent a lot of our views...
 
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:beer: I agree..... The FedEx dude doesn't because they kicked their "in house" union to the curb and brought in ALPA.

FedEx has got to be ALPA's only remaining shinning star.
 
Splinter said:
Carriers need in-house unions that care only for its own survival which is directly linked to their airline.
While I don't agree with everything he says here, Howard Johnson is right! Yawl need an in-house.

Consider this: at our airline we pay 1.8% dues and are currently weighing a permanent reduction to 1.65%.
 
crashpadWhile I don't agree with everything he says here said:
I laughed out loud when I read this. Good one. "He said the sheriff is near!"
 
If anything, we need a single, strong, national union. Not a loose affiliation of locals (ALPA) and certainly not a bunch of independent unions.
 

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