Originally Posted by
kingairfun
Good post, but I can tell you that you CAN go above and beyond to help.. I routinely showed earlier than planned, took a rental car farther than 150 miles, offered to drive owners some place if a rental car misshap occurred.. ETC etc... But the contract also allowed me to say no to the same things if I so choosed to.... I agree that some people should be let go but aren't... But that is pretty far down my list of concerns about the union/non-union debate..
There is a heavy thickly painted line between pro union, and union fanatical... I believe going a little extra to help the company sometimes is perfectly acceptable. The fanaticals complain if there are 1 to few croutons in their salad and then grieve it... The union contract affords me the ability to say no without repurcussion., Which is a very important aspect IMO.
Unions in aviation are a near necesity when crap hits the fan at company "x"... Pilots, a large majority of the time, make a respectable living, and typically work fewer hours compared to office type workers.... Unfortunately, management usually sees this as a bad investment in time, so they can and will find ways to make a pilot more productive (less compensated) if the need arises economically.
Not a question of going the extra mile, but one of service, to your employer and customer, it sounds like you "Get It". And by the way, I worked way more duty hours per month than almost any NWA front office worker or ramp/gate agent, but I was only paid for <80 flight hours per month. Don't let Ichans and Lorenzos mis-representation of flight hours apply to duty hours. And that was before my 40-60 hours per month of voluntary union service as the MEC Security Coordinator.