Originally Posted by GunshipGuy

Carl, you kind of hit the nail on the head for me...as a fDAL guy I came in having been anti-union in mindset since birth. But during my first two weeks on property we go over to the DALPA building during indoc and we get the big warm welcome (which was nice), plied with alcohol and food, and oh, by the way, you're still going to pay most of these dues even if you don't sign up. So, I sign up. I'm a union guy now. But isn't my union supposed to be fighting to improve our contract for me and my fellow pilots? Sure doesn't seem like they're working to get our pay to where MOST of us think it should be. Why not more talk about where our pay should be? Why does my union spend more time talking about the threat the company keeps pointing to--foreign carriers? Sure, I get it, they're a threat to pilot jobs in our country. But doesn't it seem convenient that that's the topic we hear so much about from our union and the company as far as what we should be concerned about? And if it's not that then it's new FAA rules. Why don't I hear hardly anything about how we need to get our pay back to where it should be? (I say hardly, because I haven't heard anything, but maybe there's been some mention of this as an objective somewhere). It's as if they don't want to attract any negative attention from the company or show any indication of being on a different page from the company. So, yes, DALPA, you convinced me to join your union, but it's weird--I don't feel like I'm in a union based on how hunky dory the relationship is. The last thing I'm suggesting is that DALPA seek a contentious relationship; I don't pretend to think that would be good for any of us. But the BFF relationship? I guess that's good if you like the status quo.