Originally Posted by
dckozak
I guess I don't get the constant "whine" over paying union dues. Do you think without a union, whether in house or ALPA, you would be 2% richer?? Do you think the people negotiating/enforcing
our contract on
your behalf should do it all for free?? Lots of pilots do volunteer their time, would you like to spend the time it takes to deal with the company and your fellow pilots, doing so all on your own time, without any compensation from the (group) that will directly benefit from your efforts??
Fine, you don't think the union is representing your interests, fair enough, let them (your LEC reps) know what you think or better yet, run yourself. If you think we would be better off without union representation you need to sober up, read some history about airline unionism is general and FedEx in particular.
2% tax, my @ss, that's the best 2% "tax" you'll pay this year and next, until you retire! Not all of us are happy about age 65 or the bid or even the LOA. But try to think how things would be if
no one was representing our interests.
Respectfully Don, I don't think you are listening to what the guys who you say are complaining are actually saying. Most of us gladly pay the dues. All we would like is for the union to stop working against us and listening to what our opinions are and maybe protecting the interests of the junior half of the seniority list as they do the top. That is what the complaints are about, its not whining about paying dues.
A lot of you guys just hear the complaining and then tune out. Fair enough. We've been told to write our reps and go to the meetings and get involved. Many of us have done that. We've been not so politely told to shut up and wait our turn. A lot of us feel that we should be treated better by the union officials that purport to represent EVERYBODY on the seniority list and that is not happening right now.
To answer your question, yes sometimes I think we would be just as well off without the union because frankly right now things couldn't go much worse than they are with the union. Understand that this is hyperbole and frustration coming out, but the point is there shouldn't be any doubt that we'd be better off with the union. Some of us would just like to see the union actually get out ahead of any issue and get it together before the next negotiations start up.
FJ