I talked to a captain once while we were on a trip about when TSA voted in ALPA. He told me that in the days before ALPA the pilot group and the management would have BBQ's and other company sponsored meetings to talk about work related issues. The scheduling would work with you and everybody shook Hula's hand and knew who he was. It was a good job.

Once they voted in ALPA the relationship between management and the pilot group went bad. It was hard to get anything done with management. Hulas was like the Wizard of Oz, and scheduling was nothing more than a bank of ex telemarketers trained to say,"Min coverage."

The Captain's perception was that they could have gone a lot further with management with the relationship they had prior to ALPA rather than force them into an agreement that really doesn't deliver what either side wants. IMHO it is better to preserve a fair relationship that is adaptable and less formal than form a new one bound by legal precedent that requires reams of paper and documentation to get anything done. Issues can be worked out with SAPA just as well as with any other group if the right people are in charge and without forming a more rigid time-consuming relationship. On the more selfish side most regional pilots are in it for the short term and union negotiations put a strain on a short-term pilots interests. I really think that voting in ALPA now will make relations negative and destroy a good thing. Things are good for XJT, but over here the pilot group is largely unhappy. ALPA or not it really just comes down to management. I also don't like the idea of merging seniority with ASA. I really don't think it serves the interests of the majority of SKW pilots to vote in ALPA. BTW I'm in the October RJ class.