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Pilots have always been a perplexing group to study on whole, seemingly fueled by a mixture of coffee and cognitive dissonance. On the one hand we (by and large as a group) make a comfortable living thanks to collective bargaining, yet on the other hand overwhelmingly support political candidates who are downright toxic to labor struggle, typically backed up by dropping buzzwords like "capitalism" and with a healthy dose of American Exceptionalism. Never mind the fact that Adam Smith, the father of American economics, held the Labor Theory of Value as foundational to his economic principles. For those that don't know the Labor Theory of Value implies that value can only be created by imparted labor (e.g. a chunk of gold buried in the ground is worthless until labor is imparted to it, namely someone digging it out and cleaning it up). I only bring Smith up to demonstrate how little understanding of economics, and in particular the history of American economic theory, most pilots possess. I'm happy to discuss economic theory, however that is not the main topic of my bewilderment here. At issue is that this most recent crisis has seemingly pushed pilots beyond even a mere air of contempt towards labor while benefitting from it's vehicles and principles, to actively rearranging the entire concept of relationships between labor and the businesses it supports.

Organized labor was a natural outgrowth of the deplorable business practices of the early industrial revolution which placed capital as the center of value, and labor simply as a pawn to serve said capital. It's aim was to prevent individual workers from being pitted against one another in a race to the bottom in both wages and conditions. Organized labor has but one clear and simple goal, to establish acceptable parameters for the conditions and rates under which a labor work group will operate in the service of a company or industry. Enforcement of those parameters is only an extension of that one solitary goal, as without enforcement the parameters are themselves meaningless. Individual institutions (fraternal orders, associations, etc.) within the broader organized labor movement certainly have their own specific pet goals (congressional outreach, member support, etc.), however these goals are not related to the operation of the business in a direct way, at best they are tangential connections which drive primarily back to the root goal of establishing and enforcing acceptable parameters.

Once a labor group has set it's acceptable parameters, it is now up to the business and it's agents to decide how labor (among the many other varying assets) will be deployed to support the businesses goals. From time to time those business agents may find that the parameters established by it's labor are [seemingly] in conflict with the businesses goals or operational capabilities. This most frequently occurs during negotiations to increase the parameters (e.g. negotiating an amendable RLA agreement); but may also occur during times of crisis. Under these scenarios the business agents approach the labor agents with figures typically known as a "pie", meaning this is how much money the business has to spend on it's labor assets.

Under this scenario the labor agents must decipher whether there has been an adjustment to the market for it's members labor (e.g. the going [inflation adjusted] rate for a farrier in 1875 was likely considerably different than in 1920). If so, the labor agents are well within the boundaries of their one goal to adjust the parameters to meet the market adjustment. To be crystal clear on this point, though in this scenario the business agents may have been the ones to bring the question of adjustment to the labor agents, it is the labor agents who have the duty to ensure that an adjustment is necessary (or in the case of negotiating an amendable agreement; that the lack of, or mitigation of, upward adjustment of the parameters is necessary). To belabor the point one degree further, all that the labor agents in this scenario are doing is saying our members are "X" (pilots, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, etc.), and we agree that the wage and conditions under current market for "X" are "Y". That is universal. That is unified.

Now, this brings me to why what UALPA has done is a complete and total reversal of the one fundamental goal of organized labor. The entire underpinning of the organized labor movement is that "WE" are universal, "WE" are unified, and "WE" are one. Labor establishes what "AN" pilot costs, what "AN" electrician costs, what "AN" carpenter costs. Business then decides how to use that labor at that cost, or negotiates for a universal change to the acceptable parameter. Labor does NOT decide what "THIS" pilot costs and what "THAT" pilot costs; or what "THIS" electrician costs and what "THAT" electrician costs.

Unfortunately, UALPA has changed the rules of the game for all of us. When UAL came to UALPA and said "Given our current agreed parameters with you, and our current revenue structure, we will be forced to make the business decision to use less of your labor in the immediate future", UALPA did NOT go to market to ascertain if there had been a measurable correction to the market rate for pilots such that a universal adjustment to pilot parameters was necessary. It instead regaled itself as an agent of the BUSINESS and not an agent of LABOR, and set itself upon the course of deciding how to apportion it's labor to meet the current business goal. In doing so it has opened another door to managements the world round to shove their proverbial foot in. In doing so it has forsaken it's one and only goal of setting UNIVERSAL parameters for the labor it represents.

Moreover, by doing so it completely undermined the very protections it had fought for and won in protecting jobs. Scope triggers, displacements, retraining, all of the varying expenses pertaining to reduction of force were specifically fought for and necessarily at the expense of SOMETHING else. There can be no claim that the decision to turn business agent and adjust the labor cost by individual cross sections of the pilot group is a job protection action, without also completely invalidating the "job protection" that has been written into the UPA (PWA, CBA, etc.).

I regret that this sub is less traversed than others in the forum, and as such will limit the exposure of the thread, but I have no doubt that it will not stop the flames from erupting. I want nothing but the best for every pilot who ever flies, yet I'm certain that my appeal to actual organized labor and unity will draw more than it's fair share of hate. Flame on. If you actually hear what I'm saying, please don't be apathetic. Speak up. Get involved. Volunteer. We will never move forward (apart from 2 steps forward 3 steps back) if we don't.

In Unity (for every pilot, from student pilot to 65 year old 777 pilot, to 85 year old GA pilot).