Originally Posted by
Hedley
There is very little incentive for either party or any administration to change the RLA process. It won’t generate votes (money and power) for them. It’s also a bad narrative for them to do anything but give it lip service. The story that will get the most press is about how a bunch of 6 figure pilots who only work 4 days a week want to be able to strike and force companies to pay them more and pass that cost on to the flying public. Bernie can appeal to his base by proposing something that he knows will never see the light of day. It’s no political risk to him. Politicians will care about changing the RLA about the time that we care about giving the public more flight options by relaxing cabotage rules.
I disagree. I think the Democratic Party has a major opportunity in front of them if they can capitalize on it. Their message is currently garbage and they need a way out that doesn’t involve fringe issues. The majority of Americans can’t afford to live and yet the wealthy get wealthier by a huge margin. Supporting not just the pilots unions but every union is a way out of the cycle. Flight attendants, mechanics, auto workers, support the workers of Amazon to unionize instead of peeing in a bottle in their truck, Starbucks, doctors, nurses, tradesmen….give the people a fighting chance again. Trump even said the right thing yesterday by talking about institutional investors and owning homes. Give the people power again. Be one of the richer people in the world sure but I don’t think Bezos should have a support yacht for his yacht. Come on…enough is enough.
“As this century draws to a close, it is time for professional airline pilots to recognize some hard political facts. From the point of view of organized labor, Teddy Roosevelt was just about the last friendly Republican to occupy the Oval Office. By income, education, and social inclination, pilots are emotional Republicans. But the circumstances of their workplace require pilots to be practical democrats. Airline pilots who call themselves republicans should constantly remind their fellow Republicans that their party has betrayed its historic legacy of fair play for unions. This legacy, which dates from the days of Teddy Roosevelt and whose proudest moment was the invention of the impartial fact-finding commission to investigate conflicts between management and labor, has been all but forgotten by Republican presidents since Teddy Roosevelt.” -Flying the line Vol II