OnCenterline

Pkcola, I don't know if you have ever struck an airline, but I doubt it. I have, and it's very frightening, especially when the mother ship (mine was a wholly-owned) shows up with all of the paperwork to liquidate the operation filled out and ready to go save for a few signatures and a notary stamp.

Unity is standing up to them and saying, "No" when they have a cannon to your head.

Unity is not a pin.

Unity is the pilot group as a whole standing up for a contract, but also with the understanding of knowing when to pick your battles.

Unity is not a pin.

Unity--and ALPA has never gotten this--is the having the discipline to say no to the extra money in your contract in exchange for loosening scope clauses.

Unity is not a pin.

Unity is having the fortitude to force the company to embrace brand scope and a true flow, so that every new hire to the airline starts off in the right seat of an RJ and works his way up, because this will stop the outsourcing, the race to the bottom, and force wages up across the board. True unity would be getting our cohorts at DAL and AMR to do the same.

You rant and rave about how great you think ALPA is, and I will be the first to tell you that they have done some good things.

But your obstinate refusal to accept the fact that everyone has a view point colored by their own experience shows gross close-mindedness and immaturity on your part. It's like marriage: some love it, some hate it, some would never do it again, but anyone who has been married for any appreciable period of time would tell you that it isn't what they expected, and no matter who you are, it leaves chinks in the armor. For some, the damage is incalculable, and far outweighs any benefit. Unionism is the same way.

It's clear that you have only had good experiences with ALPA, and that's great. But it's also clear that you simply can't intellectually accept that ALPA can--and will--screw people when it's politically expedient for them to do so. They can, they will, and they have. It is NOT set up to equally represent all of its members.

Here's a hint: if the over-whelming majority of current and former regional pilots feel jaded and cheated by ALPA for the same reasons, the problem isn't just the regional pilots, it's probably ALPA.

The above post is correct: management (in this context, I mean everyone that doesn't actually work in the operation everyday, but does work in an office) doesn't care one iota whether or not you wear your pin, because management doesn't have the physical ability to see 12,000-plus pilots, and when it comes to the internal workings and politics of the union, they care even less. What they do care about is doing their own job of minimizing cost, maximizing profit, getting the flights out, and getting promoted.

Believe it or not, most of them are good people that want to do the right thing, but if they can get a free pass on something in the contract, yes, they'll take it (and often, it's because they just don't understand the contract, which, as you know, is extremely complex). A few--but it's a small few--will outright try and avoid the contract, and it is those that we all have an obligation to stand up to. That is unity. It would also be unity if we walked out in support of another group.

Further, ALPA has sent out very mixed messages about the scabs, because ALPA has voted--including the then-UAL MEC Chair Rick Dubinsky (I hope I spelled that right)--to embrace the CAL pilots back into ALPA, including the scabs. ALPA's position is that we put it all behind us and start over as one group. Now, like you, I find that a bit naive (I was on strike when this occurred, so you can only imagine the emotions that it caused in me). The point is, ALPA sends mixed messages, but the official line is this: we're all in this together, scabs and non-scabs, and if the scab is now a dues paying member, he's a member nonetheless.

But, as I have said before, with a repeal of the RLA, there will not be another strike by an airline in this country, so the battles will have to be from within. The good thing for you is that you will never have to test your mettle with a strike.