Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Several reasons.
The UT demographic is not big on unions in general, for better or worse.
At least 1/3 of the pilots came from union regionals and are permanently scarred. If their last regional sucked, or was a dead-end, even if it's not the union's fault that still leaves a bad taste in your mouth (someone taking your money but not fixing the problem).
The west coast surfer demographic is not big on unions either. While not as vehement as the UT boyz, the west coast guys did not grow up in the union-heavy societies of the mid-west and eastern seaboard where everybody's dad was either in the union, the mob, or both. It's alien to them.
Frankly SKW never really needed a union in the past. QOL deterioration may be changing that. The company has apparently decided to run lean as SOP.
I appreciate your well thought out answer. It still leaves me shaking my head though. Money is money. And it almost seems like the peverbial cut your nose off to spite your face? At some point, unless you're a lifer you'll pay dues at a major. And yes I know ALPA at the major level is not the same. But a 5% net gain, just for a number can add up to a lot.