Originally Posted by
GogglesPisano
How are unions leeching when they negotiate the very pay and benefits the employee is enjoying? There's a cost to negotiations. It's only fair the people pay it.
Every pilot is free to find employment at a non-union carrier -- or in corporate aviation. The facts are irrefutable -- the pay in those sectors are lower.
Name one airline that was union that voted to decertify and become a non-union shop.
There's a reason airline pilots unionize -- self-interest.
There's a reason unions charge fees -- it costs money to negotiate and represent a pilot when he sits at that long table without a cup of coffee.
For the sake of argument let's say we go full on "right to work" in this industry and some pilots (being pilots) choose to opt out of dues/representation. That pilot is now free to negotiate (or more likely his employer will offer a take-it-or-leave-it package.)
1) Do you think his new compensation will be higher or lower?
2) What type of effect will that have on the rest of the pilot group?
Right to work is a Republican/Chamber of Commerce wet dream come true. But it's all about "Freedom" and "Rights."
I completely understand how the economy works. I get that it costs money for lawyers to negotiate deals.
However see my post above about my experience in IT. I didn’t have to negotiate anything during my entire IT career. The companies I worked for negotiated with each other to see who could offer the best total package to get me to come work for them. And it’s not like I was some IT genius who created some magic function that changed the landscape of social media. I was a regular run of the mill IT worker. I was probably below average to my contemporaries. Yet companies would fall all over themselves to make better offers than thier competition. And it didn’t cost me a dime or require me to join a union.
By example, I think the seniority system is the worst thing to happen to pilots. This was a union idea. A pilot puts 5 years into a company and if they leave they start all over at the bottom of the pay scale. How convenient for management. Thier pilots are literal hostages to the seniority system. We have the union to thank for this abomination that so many pilots think is the greatest thing since the invention of beer.
There are some really great reasons for pilots to band together, safety for example is a great reason for pilots to stand up to management. A union would be perfect for that. But I think unions have kept the pilot group from even better pay than we have today through things like the seniority system. Something needs to change.