Originally Posted by paladin

You are correct with your thesis that as far as APLA is concerned its individual members have zero value; however, you are missing the point ALPA national plays in support of its members. The role of ALPA, or any large union, is not to look out for the individual member. ALPA national views its primary duty is to the collective and if they have to sacrifice a few individuals to achieve whatever end the political bosses desire then so be it. The essence of forced unionism is collectivism and collectivism is the political theory that states the will of the people has primacy over all else. In practice this means the will of the individual is subordinate to the group. It renders the individual as sacrificial fodder for whoever seizes political power. Many people who post on this board believe the economic needs of the membership as a whole is what has primacy, and the individual member must merely serve for the good of the group. (For evidence just look to the calls on this forum for a national seniority list as well as a national airline) This is a main tenet of socialism and in every instance where it has been tried it has failed miserably in terms of personal happiness, quality of life issues, and the creation of wealth.