Originally Posted by
goaround2000
I guess you don't know what you don't know!
How are your medical benefits working for you?
Since there's not a collective bargaining agreement between you and management, could they legally cut your pay at their discretion? (rhetorical)
Since there's not a collective entity representing you or your pilots, who will represent you at a disciplinary hearing? Who will represent and help you regain active status in the event of loss of medical?
Who will GRIEVE work rule violations or payroll violations?
Who will keep the company from changing the terms of your employment without a contract or a union?
Don't be naive, you don't have to get ALPA, but unions are a necessary evil in this industry.
You don't have aeromedical
You don't have legal
You don't have a compliance team
Your ASAP is only certificate action protection, not punitive.
You don't have a vote or a voice if the company decides to change the terms of your employment
And good relations will only go as far and as long as its profitable to the company or until labor reaches a boiling point. So you tell me....
I flew for Skywest for 9 years. Skywest is a good company with smart management. Sapa did a pretty good job as well. I made a decent living in a sunny California base. Life was good. Now that I am at a major airline I realize how dumb I really was.
A union is more than an entity to get you a raise. The above quote lists some very important union duties.
My union reps, Dalpa, for all their faults, work tirelessly to improve my standard of living and to protect my career. Luckily, for the non union carriers, Dalpa and Alpa are working in Washington DC to prevent cabotage and secure a future for american air carriers.
Can Sapa lobby on Washington to protect Skywest pilots? Dalpa did and got some critical retirement legislation passed in the pilots favor. Can Sapa lobby against cabotage? No, Jerry only allocates so much money to the Sapa budget.
My point is, I didn't know how exposed and unprotected I was until I came to a major union carrier. I've never needed to use any services from my union but at least I have the assurance that it will be there if required. My head is now out of the sand.
Good luck with whatever choice your pilot groups make.