Originally Posted by
crgok9
Ironically, V and Professor preach that ALPA or some other type of union is a must at B6 and that the fact that we do not currently have one is the sole reason for the demise of the industry pay scales. V, Professor...aren't you guys ALPA? Why did your union allow for your pay scale decrease? I'm not sure that I understand...you mean the union couldn't stop the decline? You're ALPA, c'mon, you shouldn't have lost a cent! You should have been a stronger and more cohesive group...why give up so easy? Oh wait...perhaps the many ALPA regional carriers that have pilots starting at 15K a year while flying RJ's into the same busy airports as the rest of us set the ground work for the decline of the major airline pay. These poor guys should be paid much more than they are, however, ALPA sees this differently and actually negotiated and endorsed these terribly low pay scales for "jet equipment" pilots.You have got to be kidding me! As a whole our industry has so many problems that have brought us all to our knees from the once lofty heights that many of us were once sitting. B6 did not do this...we kind of helped ourselves down the stairs in some cases. In many cases the government simply pushed us down the stairs with the "anti-labor" bankruptcy court judges. Oh yeah...bankruptcy...did B6 cause that too? I was under the misconception that poor management had something to do with it...just a guess.
You are obviously Flamebaiting or completely ignorant of what has been going on in the industry. Which is it?
The drop in pay scales wasn't because ALPA didn't do it's job, they did a hell of a good job, considering what they were faced with. Before the demise of the industry, what carriers were the highest paid with the best benefts? Delta, UAL, Northwest and even USAir, you know the ons represented by ALPA. For my esteemed colleagues of American (APA) and Southwest (SWAPA) they rode the coatails of the ALPA contracts and garnered further improvements.
Nobody likes to take pay and benefit cuts, especially us Pilots, but when you have a Presidential Administration that is completely Anit-labor and allows (actually condones) job outsourcing and permits MGT the use of liberal Bankruptcy Laws to void a UNION contracts and the appoints Bankruptcy Judges who allow it, just what miracle to you expect from ALPA or anyone else for that matter.
What do you think the pay at UAL, USAir. DELTA and Northwest would have dropped to if they didn't have a Union (Specifically ALPA) fighting in the courts. What do you think would happen at JETblue if they went into bankruptcy without any Union or contract protection? What legal entity would fight for the JB Pilots in court........or any other Non Union carrier. Even more importantly, ask yourself where did the payrates come down to? The Capt 320 payrates at most of the Bankrupt properties 320 have dropped to Jetblue levels. I don't blame you personally as I know what it is like to have to feed a family. But to say the wages at Jetblue and other small (mostly non-union carriers) don't have a negative effect is ignorant. You guys need to organize and get a contract. Realistically your first one won't be legendary, but the sooner you guys get on the band wagon the better off every Pilot in the indusrty will be.
I know the Pilots of NW, Delta, UAL and USAir (and many other Airlines Comair, Mesa etc) are really PO'd. They have a right to be, but blaming ALPA for what has happened is misguided.
Wake up man!