Originally Posted by
Slatsextend
You are posing a valid and straight forward question ............ Unions depend and must have service fees/ dues paid in order for them to survive in their plush offices and nice salaries, this is all a true statement of fact. While Unions proclaim to save your job and provide representation, the whole story is not always told to the membership that is paying month after month.
While there have certainly been airline union officers who have abused their positions (I can think of a few examples myself), by all appearances and accounts the current AS ALPA leadership group is exemplary, about the best you could hope for.
Originally Posted by
Slatsextend
The straight cold fact is that your Union will not survive unless they get the funds, however it would be interesting to note whether your MEC or National Officers have acknowledged and confirmed what is in fact happening with your monies. Hold their feet to the fire, demand answers, they are your representation. One thing that you can do and never hardly talked about is to write the Union and request that a portion of your Union fees not be used for PAC purposes, this can and will result in a portion of your Union fees being returned to you, there is a way to dispute this and it is called Germaine and Non-Germaine expenses of PAC fees.
Wrong. Unions have not been able to contribute money to PACs for a long time (nor political candidates). They can endorse candidates normally based on the narrow interests of the union members in the context of their employment and related issues, which often translates to labor and aviation friendly pols. That endorsement informs the member's voting decisions, but you ultimately make your own choices perhaps balancing your personal economic interests with broad social issues.
Unions might (not sure?) still be able to create and sponsor a PAC which is advocating for their specific interests.