Yep, and let's call it an Association, so it's actually like several company specific unions that negotiate with their companies but share resources, experience, and common industry experts.

Oh yeah....that's the Air Line Pilot's ASSOCIATION!!!!

What has confounded many a pilot is the belief that ALPA National is some sort of a Union, it isn't. It's an association of a bunch of company specific company unions that share resources.

When a company gets over on a pilot group, that is THEIR local MEC (union) agreeing to a CBA, ALPA National can agree to not certify/sign off on it, but in the end each pilot group votes on their own destiny.

Calling ALPA a UNION, is not understanding how a true Union works. If ALPA were a union, we'd have a National Seniority List (or at least one that applied to union shops) so that each if a company needed a pilot they'd go to the union to vet and hire one.