Originally Posted by
Timbo
I remember that strike very well, I had to cross through their picket line at the airport on my way to UPT in 1983. I had been flying checks at night for 4 years before joining the Air Guard, and I knew several freight dogs I flew with who did get hired as scabs. They were dicks even before they scabbed.
When I came home 18mo. later, I flew with 4 ex CAL pilots in my Guard Unit who didn't scab. Two went to People Express, and two Guard Bummed until they retired, but we had many informative discussions in the briefing room about CAL, Frank Lorenzo and Scabs. We had 4 Eastern Pilots too so you can imagine the Lorenzo discussions. They were all good guys, I was really ****ed that ALPA didn't do more to protect them and get them jobs at other ALPA carriers.
Sounds like the 1972 guy might have been a CAL guy who went back after the strike was over? But maybe he never left.
I know there were some guys who went out on strike but returned after the strike was declared over, but did not scab. I wondered where they got put on their seniority list though, at their old number, or behind the scabs?
This is not a defense of scabs:
My understanding of the CAL scab situation is that there were true picket line crossing scabs who crossed early. Then there were scabs that fought the good fight, lost everything and crossed much later (a year or more) to put food on the table. Then there was a third group who were told by ALPA - at some level- MEC, LEC or some other level to return to work and they were labeled scabs as well.
I don't know many CAL pilots except a hunting buddy. He says CAL pilots generally made peace with their scabs (in at least the 2 later groups).
When I was at UAL, there was no peace made with the scabs. It was wierd for a fresh off AD guy (me) to deal with it, mostly because the whole (union/airline) thing was so new to me.
Today, with codeshares and sub-contractors, some union and some non-union, it seems to me that flying struck work is a very cloudy picture - to be taken on a flight-by-flight basis. Even then it is unclear to me how to tell if someone is flying struck work.