Originally Posted by
BMEP100
For those of you too young to remember;
The Flight Engineers International (FEIA) struck Eastern Airlines and several others in 1962- over the loss of their jobs.
The airlines refused to sign a contract with them. The short story is this;
With the coming of jets and their relative simplicity, having a flight engineer with a thorough understanding of engines and systems was becoming less important. Many of the FE's had a lot of longevity and were paid more than First Officers in many cases. Most were former A&P mechanics, a very few were engineering graduates.
Airline management saw that seat as a good entry level position for new pilots with lower labor costs ( wages).
ALPA saw that seat as an additional 20 to 30% increase in dues paying members.
The two got together and decided to put the FE's out of the cockpit.
The FE's were union men and members of the AFL-CIO.
ALPA national came up with some rather lame reasons why a pilot should be sitting there ( but it was just eye wash) to justify crossing the picket line and taking their jobs.
As I recall, only American, Braniff and Pan AM and TWA settled with the FE's.
American pilots were incensed that ALPA would send it's members to cross another flight deck union's picket line to take their seat. That added to the fire which eventually took American pilots out of ALPA.
So, when I see people digging up stories of ALPA "How great thou art" because of a strike- I have to giggle and frown at the hypocrisy and silliness of it all. ( divisive too) As well, I remember seeing guys cross a picket line just months after pounding their chest about what a great unionist they are. Some, especially it seems younger ones are so quick to judge before they walk in their moccasins.
My dad, like many of his friends, were good union members and truly believed the ALPA line- until that day in 1962. Then they were given no choice by their union "ALPA" and the company; cross that line and scab or loose your job. Luckily for my dad, he had enough seniority to avoid sitting in the FE seat and bid to a junior base to stay in the right seat ( an Electra I think). Some of those Flight Engineers were family friends with whom we (had) eaten, played and regularly socialized with. Some were neighbors.
The airline did offer jobs to any FE who would go out and get a pilot's license. Very few did or even could. Quite a few of those who did, later scabbed at their respective airline when ALPA struck years later at EAL, CAL, etc.. payback I guess.
So I think anyone who gets some joy out of digging up a very bad time ( the most recent anyway) for our airlines- dial it back and save it for a day when your actions ( not your words) will determine where you stand. Your bluster is just so sophomoric.
That goes for all the "me too, me too- I hate scabs" , yadda yadda yadda.
And by the way; there is nothing wrong with forgiveness- unless of course you think you are perfect. In that case, you do not belong at the controls of an airplane.
Historically, much of this is simply not accurate. The Eastern F/E leadership was a recalcitrant group in their belief that the engineer controlled the engines, not the Captain. The issue was a festering sore, which originated in 1948 after a number of DC6 accidents. The result was the Feds required a flight engineer in the cockpit. The mechanics were a logical choice, but proved to be a very bad cultural decision. In those days, Captains had barely accepted co-pilots, certainly not independent minded mechanics. It was not ALPA leaders that drove this issue it was the line Captains.
United worked it out with its F/E's, although with some difficulty in 1955. All new hires were required to be pilot-engineers. The company paid for the mechanic engineers to get a private license, it was not that difficult.
American management ignored the issue. Finally they offered their pilots a substantial pay bribe if they would allow non-pilot engineers. This was against ALPA policy and the precedent set by UAL. At the time, American had a second officer and an engineer on the jets. After a political fight for the presidency of ALPA, lost by the American leadership, they pulled out of ALPA. It really had little to do with the F/E issue. That was soon solved, they eventually followed UAL. My first student was an AMR engineer getting his private, (I was 19 he was 50) hard to say who taught who the most.
By 1964, the Eastern engineers were still picketing the passenger terminal at Idewild (Kennedy), with picket signs telling passengers; "FLY and FRY on Eastern" They could have settled as did all the other engineer groups and had a great career, but like PATCO they did not know when to hold them and when to fold them.
ALPA has, and will cross picket lines, as do every other union. The IAM crossed our picket line in 1985 with our encouragement. It put pressure on the company because they had to pay them. The AFA honored our picket line, but we did not ask them to do so. It was a smart move on their part and once we became committed not to go back without them the hook was set. Nevertheless, they had smart leaders who recognized continuing a strike on their behalf was not a great idea. On the other hand, TWA pilots crossed a F/A strike in 1986, with great angst by the UAL pilots.
Strikes are extremely ugly affairs, jobs are lost, friends are lost and lives are destroyed. It may be a reason we are still talking about 1985 and there has not been another one at UAL since.
There is much debate as to who qualifies as a scab, but one trade union axiom is that a person absolutely is a SCAB if they cross "your" picket line, to take "your" job. You can forgive them if you like, even let them back in the union, but it will never change the fact of who they are.