Originally Posted by
F9 Driver
I believe you're talking about a guild. The average pilot considers him/herself a conservative due to their past military service / expectation of higher wages and dislike of taxes - so they call their unions "Associations".
We are blue collar hourly workers. While the guys who've made it financially can call themselves conservatives and vote accordingly, pilots by and large vote against their own self interests (e.g. voting for anti-labor candidates).
Flame away, but this is a BIG part of why you and I will never live to see a guild / national seniority list; it's too socialized for most pilots to stomach. Also, read "Flying The Line" 1&2 to read about how we got to where pilots are able to think of themselves as anything but hourly workers dependent upon labor unions to bargain on their behalf.
F9
All true. Many books could be written as to how we as a society talk and act, but are then suprised when we take it on the chin, when that is exactly what we had been economically advocating for.
General Wesley Clark stated in his book "Winning Modern Wars"
that "they" (he spent some paragraphs sketching out whom "they" were)
"have successfully aligned the interests of the wealthy with the sympathies of middle America"(rough quote from memory...but close enough)
That statement accurately captures a significant part of the reasons the middle/poor/working class are in the position they(we) are in.