Originally Posted by
TenYearsGone
ACL,
It seems some pilots do not want to participate because they are worried of the ramifications of not agreeing to the majority/union. In other words, they are concerned that their ideas will fall unto deaf ears or perhaps they might get black-balled or criticized for not agreeing with the union.
I have heard of this first hand from a lot of pilots. If u look at the DALPA site, its always the same people posting.
TEN
Well I am living proof that disagreeing is OK. It is part of the process. If there were more pilots that partook in the debate of each and every issue, then this "silent majority" might actually be less of a mystery and more of a known codified quantity that no side could use as a reason for a default position.
What is key is, once the disagreements have been discussed and a decision has been made, whether your position was the one that the union went with matters a whole lot less than getting behind the majority position. I know that is difficult because I have felt very strongly about a few things that did not go the way I wanted them too, but multiple factions on each issue make us easily divided and conquered.
Its about the end game. Fight the battles but never miss sight of the goal. I also submit that if more pilots that were disenfranchised with the current path got engaged, one of a few things would happen. 1) The leadership would get the message and adjust, or 2) The support would be there to make the changes many desire. Until the participation levels go way up, it does not matter if it is ALPA, DPA, IPA, APA, USAPA, SWAPA, etc the results will be the same.