Originally Posted by
skypilot35
I agree. The union works great for the Majors. Not so well for the regionals. The management group the MEC is negotiating with at the regionals is NOT the management group that makes the decision. The Major's MEC representatives do not have a multi-tiered system to navigate.
It's like asking your big brother if you can borrow the family car, he might say yes, but if your Dad says no, you don't get the car.
If we had one union and one seniority list, that would be pretty powerful. I don't think that will happen.
What I'm saying is that even at regionals, without a union, you will always get less than what you would get with a union. Both during good times and bad. And there are many other things that airline pilot unions provided that I believe are more important than a contract.
Originally Posted by
skypilot35
Quote:
Originally Posted by ORDinary
The only way to "sound off with one voice" is with a union. Not to state the obvious, but that is exactly what a union is.
By one voice, I mean the entire regional pilot group. What if, and I'm hypothesizing, we had ONE union that represented the entire regional airline pilot group? I don't mean ALPA either. I mean a union that solely represented the regional pilot group's interest. IF:
1) The payscales were the same at every regional (exponentially better than they are now).
2) There was one seniority list.
3) A pilot did not start at the bottom of a seniority list if he/she decides to move from Regional A to Regional B.
4) Diversity in regionals achieved by bidding software, time off, holiday pay, vacation, etc. This could be negotiated at the company level with local representation.
5) The minimum pay for any new hire FO was $45K.
Then:
1) The whipsaw stops.
2) A pilot makes a decision on the merits of a company, not based on pay.
3) A pilot is not penalized 5,10,15 years of seniority if they decide to move companies.
4) A pilot who prefers PBS over hard lines has a choice, again without penalty.
5) A new hire pilot who has just invested well over $100K for his education and training is compensated as a professional and does not have to live like a hobo.
The current system is ineffective and only serves to divide us. Look at the comments the PSA pilots get, or the Compass pilots for being awarded the AA flying or the Skywest pilots for not having a union. WE bash each other on these forums and the fact of the matter is that we are all doing the same thing, flying airplanes to make a living.
Like I said previously, I am neither pro union nor anti-union. I do believe the current system is ineffective and perhaps counterproductive to the effort.
The beatings may begin
These are all things that ALPA has been trying to and is still working on. But honestly, it doesn't help when the largest regional pilot group continually refuses to engage. How do you expect this to happen when 3200 of us don't participate? And now we are starting to see the consequences. DALPA has set a bar, albeit low, to have 35% of their new hires come from ALPA. Now you see this from the UAL MEC. I wouldn't be surprised of DALPA didn't follow on this idea and maybe set the bar a little higher.