I'm sure I'm going to get some form of correction due to not being one of those "lucky" enough to have been paying dues, but from what I read in here and other places, and correct me if wrong, ALPA and others, are paid by taking a percentage of their members' paychecks. If I follow other information, many at those "lower echelons" don't get the best representation and get shafted with concessionary contracts, probably because they don't contribute "enough" to the cause and won't due to the nature of the market. So, why exactly, since they don't seem to care much about the "lower echelon" would they bend over backwards to elevate said echelon when they haven't paid much attention to them in the first place? You go where the money is and the money is at the upper echelons of seniority and that's the name of the game...but I could be wrong...