Originally Posted by ERJ Driver

Why does a vote "YES" for a union automatically mean a vote "NO" or a vote "ANTI" for your company?


A lot of folks don't understand what a union is for; only a small percent of union activity has to do with anti-company rhetoric, and that only occurs at companies that are blatantly anti-labor like MAG.

A union's function has a lot to do with smoothing out the interface between the ops side of the company and the crew force. One big role of an elected representative is to hear day-to-day issues brought up by pilots and clarify those issues based on contractual language. When a discrepancy is found, the elected rep acts as a go-between to resolve the matter on behalf of the effected crew-member. In what is supposed to be a rare event that resolution is not forthcoming, the matter is sent through the grievance process and mediated formally. The problem at crummy carriers with bad contracts is that there is so much grey-area in the language that the company can interpret the rules any way they want (flavor of the week).

Next, the union also functions as a contract negotiator on behalf of the crew force. Negotiators are selected by the elected body and take direction from the elected body as to how they will negotiate and for what they will negotiate. The elected body in turn takes direction from the crew force. When the negotiating committee feels that a reasonable agreement has been framed, it returns to the elected body who approves or disapproves it. If it is disapproved (as it sounds like the current proposal would have been), the language NEVER sees the light of day and the process starts over. If the proposal is thought to hold merit, it is then put over to the pilot group for a general vote. Sounds to me like this "elected-middle-man" step is lacking in your process.


Just my two cents...