Originally Posted by
Imapilot2
I've noticed or at least it seems to me that the way you speak of Alpa is in the form of they. Not that you specifically said it but that's the way you seem to refer to it. Remember WE are Alpa. If you want to call it some new fancy name and hire some new guys in to run it mark my words a few years down the road it'll smell exactly the same as what we have now, possibly worse but I doubt better.
Then we will have tens of thousands of less members behind us.
For ME 1.95 % is a steal for what I feel I get for it. I would never have the ability or expect much more than what I get out of these guys for 1.95.
Do I think Alpa is perfect? No but it's pretty darn good. No other airline in the United States of America gets better performance out of thier in house union then Alpa has done for me after 20 years.
Yes, ALPA is a member-driven organization. If people thought they were being charged too much in dues, or wanted to limit the amount of dinner and open bars a previous poster mentioned, we could pass resolutions at our LEC meetings and have them progress to the Executive Council or BOD if needed.
I've been to many ALPA events, some that involve open bars, and feel my money is being well spent. Spending money to keep events fluid, conversation going, and keep people fed is an appropriate allocation of funds, in my view. Especially for the volunteers who work tirelessly on our behalf. Anyone can volunteer and participate. Raise your hand and you're in - I guarantee it.
The biggest threat I see is a potential dues reduction and how that will effect the OCF. We need as much money in that as possible for the inevitable downturn that will happen. The OCF kept ALPA alive post-9/11.