Originally Posted by ATCsaidDoWhat

Here's the point. ALPA, for all the good it has done in the industry, is not a union. It's an association that happens to be the legally recognized bargaining agent; a move that was done to provide some leverage at it's inception. Each carrier negotiates what it wants. There is no overarching plan for the long term because each carrier wants what it wants.

Now...that worked great in the days of the CAB. If you went on strike, no one could just jump into your markets. Nor could they any other time, the route award process took a long time and could be held up. Not so in the post CAB world. And ALPA, along with the member carriers, refused to come to grips with that and make the necessary changes to adapt to that. So airlines moved into new markets and used that as leverage to cut costs to cover the moves. They came after pilots. And instead of having a union that stood up, they conceded on contracts to stay alive.

Why did they concede? Because they had no support. Sure the MCF was great, but at the end of the day it was meaningless if the passenger or cargo customer now had another option in the market. And truth be told, there is nothing a pilot group on strike can do if a passenger or customer chooses to fly on another carrier. Unless there is a way to get the other carrier to stop flying as well.

There are two ways to do that. A sympathy strike by the other carriers pilots...impossible because they have a legal agreement and unless there is proof that all the passengers or cargo are from the struck carrier, the pilots are in violation of their own CBA.

Second, find a way to stop the struck carrier from moving with scab pilots and other employees who are not a part of the strike.

How does that happen? Affiliation, organizing and supporting other airline industry employees.

If the airline wants to use and hire scabs, fine...have at it. If the fuelers don't fuel, the mechanics don't turn wrenches, the F/A's won't cross the line, ticket agents and dispatchers don't do their job...the airline stops. If the airline tries to move cargo on another carrier, that airline gets struck by the same union that represents the same folks at the other carrier. So to keep flying, airline #2 tells airline #1 "don't send us your cargo, we won't take it." And what happens is management comes to the table and settles.

That can't happen with ALPA. While part of the AFL-CIO, it has always held itself out to be a "cut above" those "other" unions and airline employees. They don't support other unions and as a result, they don't get support. Look at the Amerijet strike. South FL AFL-CIO had members of all unions on the picket lines. There were cops, firefighters, teachers, garbagemen, bus drivers, individual airline MEC's and LEC's...you name it. Fuelers in the Carribbean cut off fuel. Other cargo airlines refused to carry their cargo. Only one national union was missing.

ALPA.

When the AFL-CIO shows up in force and it's major pilot union doesn't...it sends a message to others.

That is the problem created when you refuse to adapt and stand alone. You get no support.

How does that relate to the question at hand? Simple. By refusing to focus on true unity and truly standing up for each other, ALPA has allowed itself to become a place where everyone does pretty much what they want and the heck with the other guy. At the same time, they became so focused on $$, they did things that harmed members to improve the bottom line of the Association, not the members. TWA bit back. So will AirTran. Others likely may as well. And ALPA has no understanding of why or how to deal with it, so it falls back on the old mantra of discrediting the malcontents.

Which worked in the days where we operated with mailings, letters and whispering campaigns. Times changed with the demise of the CAB and now with electronic media and social networking.

And again, ALPA has not. The pilots are more informed. And like Churchill said, "Dictators run to and fro on the backs of tigers they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry."

If you want to see how a true airline union works and it's effectiveness, seek out one that represents all types of airline employees and look at how they are doing today.