Originally Posted by
TonyC
The Collective Bargaining Agent has the duty to provide the same level of representation to all members of the class, be they members or not. If they send members a bill, they can send non-members a bill. I don't know of any that send members a bill. The cost of the service is included in the dues or contract maintenance fee structure..
Tony, I am not 100% sure, but I do not believe that the Association (ALPA in our case) is legally required to a provide a legal defense in the case of discipline. I believe that ALPA is only required to see that a member of the Kraft and Class gets "due process" under Section 19,20 and 21 (of Our Contract). You are correct that under the DFR, ALPA must provide the same benefits to all members of the Kraft and Class regardless of their Union membership status.
Now as far as I know, ALPA has never refused to provide a legal defense in a Severe Disciplinary case. Mostly because it is the right thing to do, but it probably has more to do with the Legal precedent that could/would be set by not defending a crew-member in future cases. Again, I am not sure on this point but I think ALPA could bill a pilot for an excessive legal defense if they chose to, but again I do not know of a case where this has happened, nor do I think they would as this would also set a precedent.
Hopefully someone who really knows can set the record straight on this.
As we have seen recently, Pilots are Free to hire their own outside Legal Counsel (at their own expense) to handle their individual disciplinary cases.