Originally Posted by
Mesabah
Because that's what unions do. Over the past few decades, special interest have hijacked the normal union process in order to achieve maximum pay and benefits. This has resulted in the subjugation of hard fought legal protections(people died for them actually), to accomplish their own individual goals. So yes, you have to pay for, it is your flying, it is your union brothers.(I'm not talking about regional pilots here, I'm talking about future mainline pilots, or past furloughed mainline pilots)
Don't take my word for it, here is Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz view, "Strong unions have helped to reduce inequality, whereas weaker unions have made it easier for CEOs, sometimes working with market forces that they have helped shape, to increase it." ALPA clearly falls into the latter category.
I've seen what airline unions do.
I'm a keen advocate for a strong national airline union in our common interests like safety, accident investigation, political action, aeromedical, legal, MCF or strike support.
I've also seen airline unions and MECs stab each other in the back, sue each other, cheat each other, take advantage, be uncooperative or predatory.
I'm a keen advocate for a strong Delta MEC to protect ourselves from other unions as much as from management and groups of individual pilots.
I don't think Joseph Stiglitz has walked a mile in my shoes or those of my fellow union "brothers" at other airlines. Maybe he can explain why Delta is unwilling to fly 70 or 76 seat RJs on the mainline.