Originally Posted by
Bravix
ALPA doesn't represent the airline. The airline's MEC represents them. ALPA national doesn't have any ability to force the MEC to take one stance or another. Their only direct way of affecting regionals is through lobbying. ALPA just collects dues and provides resources for the MEC to make use of. That's a pretty basic description, a bit more to it than this of course...
That said, what benefit would a regional union provide? Okay, you say there's a conflict of interest. But national doesn't control how your MEC votes or acts. That's all internal, your coworkers making decisions.
National *should* at least encourage discussion about the betterment of the industry, if not actually coordinate action towards that end. By "indusry" I mean contract feed, not airlines.
The problem is there are two different industries (airlines and contract feed), who have different business models, and separate labor groups... with competing interests. But since the bulk of national's revenue comes from airlines, not contract feeders, they have an incentive to perpetuate status quo.
Just so there's no confusion... airline pilots benefit from low wages at contract feeders. More money for them from the overall pot, plus there are many spoke destinations where the economics would not support narrowbodies (or RJ's flown at mainline wages). That feed is important to fill mainline aircraft. You just don't want too much of it, hence scope.