Originally Posted by
shiznit
Thanks, we need many more pilots like you out there advocating involvement. We don't always see eye-to-eye but I appreciate how you keep it above board and mostly minimize the drama.
The blood is on the hands of the members (of which we both are and have responsibility to each other)! They vote for the reps and the agreements.... If pilots do not take the time to make sure they have elected quality people to represent them(and recall them if they don't), and then don't take the time to evaluate and vote accordingly then it isn't the acronym's fault!
There are too many pilots who say one thing and expect something different in reality. It's not practical or reasonable to say "you better hit my lofty expectations" while openly doing things that submarine the efforts to meet those expectations and later complaining that your expectations weren't met.
Having lots of pilots around with stickers and bag tags that basically say "MY NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ME" hurts our leverage and reduces the amount of gains the NC is able to secure for the pilot group. It hurts us collectively and potentially takes money out of OUR pocket. I'm just sick and tired of the DPA's divisive actions, deceit, and outright lies.
You bring up a good point, albeit unintentionally. A major part of the issue is how removed the structure is from the line pilot. We only elect our reps. All the committee people are appointed, not elected by the membership. We, the membership, can't even vote on our own MEC chair... and it gets even further removed when it comes to national. And goodness knows the act of God that it takes to recall one of those that is far removed up the chain.
Virtually all of the major shortcomings that I can think of that resulted in major DPA gains have come from those that are unelected by the membership. That is a fundamental flaw, in my opinion, and in the opinion of thousands of others. Like I said, DALPA had better get serious, because the DPA train is almost through the tunnel. I'd really like to see DALPA use this to actually make improvements and fix the fundamental issues (addressed in this and my other posts) instead of passing the blame and calling the DPA names.