Who controls our jumpseat, the gate agent or the PIC?

I'm all for helping out the agent if you can, but the agent is there to assist the PIC, not the other way around.

I hope that if it gets down to a situation where we're leaving a guy behind, the PIC is making sure the guy being left behind was the last guy to check in (at the gate), not the off-line guy who showed up early and got 'bumped' by another off-line guy who rolled up to the gate a few minutes prior to departure after listing for the flight hours prior. Our ALPA Jumpseat Committee's policy is clear - "first come, first serve", not "first list, first serve".

Lets prevent the further erosion of PIC authority.