Originally Posted by
Ftrooppilot
I know absolutely zero about the DPA/DALPA conflict (other then what I read here.) and have no "dog in the fight." I am a believer that going after the hearts and minds of the "young ones" has many future benefits.
Therefore the question: Why hasn't DPA made overtures to Endeavor ? Is illegal, unwise, or pointless ?
Because the DPA blames Endeavor and the other express carriers for all of ALPA's ills. The DPA is founded on the belief that representing more than one pilot group results in a structural
conflict of interest.
In contrast, I believe having one union representing everyone in our profession facilitates our
coordination so that we can work together to raise our pay and working conditions. Unity is how we've raised the standards of our profession to the best in the World before. Unity is how we will do it again. We are already making significant progress. Further, our Profession is best served by speaking to issues of national and international importance with one, authoritative, unified voice.
The question in a phrase is, do you believe in
coordination, or
conflict?
I believe ALPA must be reformed or else it will eventually fail as a result of it's flawed strategic decision making. A generation of ALPA leadership effectively went to Harvard School of Business (as taught by McKinsey and Co. consultants) during bankruptcies they could not control. They learned the tools and techniques management devised in the prior two decades to destroy organized labor. ALPA did the best it could in a terrible situation. However, some adopted and incorporated the new economic logic of outsourcing while forgetting the tried and true fundamentals of trade unionism. Frankly, that is a political problem with a political solution. Politicians come and go. They are like summer thunderstorms, they can pack quite a bit of fury, but you wait them out and it's safe to go flying again. Fundamentals and structures don't change, or they evolve slowly. It is foolish to throw out the structure just because you don't care for today's politics. Do we elect a President every four years, or have another American Revolution? What's more practical and best for the population? Same holds true with ALPA. (.. and this isn't an anti Lee Moak rant, he's actually been very effective and every ALPA President has done something someone has issue with ... and I see a lot of very positive things going on at Delta ... in my Council we've got very good Reps and our MEC Chair, although he fundamentally disagrees with me, is very intelligent and has a lot of integrity).
In my view, Endeavor serves as a perfect display case for the facets of this conflict:
(A) Status Quo: Outsourcing to the cheapest provider of piloting services makes Delta more profitable and results in more money for mainline pilots. What matters most is money (and that is what pilots tell them in surveys).
(B) DPA: It is ALPA's fault Endeavor exists. Get rid of ALPA and then get rid of Endeavor by demanding a contract which puts them out of business. DPA would destroy Endeavor by exclusion and any pilots there can go find other jobs.
(C) Old School ALPA reformers: Endeavor is an alter ego of the Delta pilots and should be merged category and status on to the bottom of the Delta list, as should any express pilot who performs Delta flying. In our view, Endeavor, as a separate pilot list, should be destroyed by inclusion ... making them Delta pilots.
Of course, it might just be the fact that, having graduated from a competing School of Business, I just think Harvard stinks.