Shocking and Pathetic, Fellow Pilots
,
And like Agent Smith said in the Matrix ReLoaded, "ME, ME, ME"...
One only needs to look at the IPA pilots support of their "unskilled labour" (also known as your fellow coworkers, fellow Americans, fellow human beings, or even... team members, yes T E A M) during the IBT Teamster Strike of '97, to see what sticking together in solidarity gets you... Yes, that's right.. A better contract because of the threat that the IBT would strike in reciprocity for IPA's guaranteed support. Not only that, IPA pilots and the union showed a great deal of respect and support for their mostly unrepresented feeder pilots (also, pilots that were obviously
beneath them, according to you guys posts) during the strike and this resulted in the feeder pilots refusing to fly struck goods and helping to end the strike. The SDF ramp looked like Dunkirk (or Dunquerqe), full of planes from C208's, Piper Aerostars, Metros, Lears, Falcons, up to ATI DC 8's with no pilots willing to fly them. When the strike was over, the IPA congratulated the feeders for their help and offered interest-free loans and preferential hiring for those feeder pilots who
LOST THEIR JOBS refusing to fly struck goods. I guess this idea of sticking together is a foreign one to you....
Chris, Adolph, and Capn, I have to wonder how that you think that this is not hypocritical on the highest power for you to be represented and the F/A's not? It also makes me wonder how you look at all your fellow employees, not just those BELOW you. Did you all fly ONLY single pilot aircraft your whole career before Delta, and are you still? Do you REALLY believe CRM is CREW resource management? Are those "unskilled laborers" just fodder to help you all earn YOUR paycheck? Are you not familiar with the terms COWORKER and TEAM? It doesn't sound like you are, and if we were in a lifeboat with your fellow pilots, mechs, F/A's, their children, etc., I'm pretty sure from you guys posts who would be grabbing the first and last water bottle. Me, Me, Me..
It's no wonder pilots are sometimes so disliked by other employees and the public, and how easy it is for management to turn the public against us at contract time, through smart media disinformation. They make us look like,.... No, we make OURSELVES look like selfish prima donnas, because many of us ARE selfish prima donnas.
We should EAGERLY encourage our fellow Americans, not just employees, right to organize and bargain for a better life. Amazingly enough, in the old days when everyone stuck together, everybody's lives improved. You guys are making the same mistakes ALPA and APA made years ago, overlooking your fellow coworkers (namely RJ pilots) and only concentrating on "Me, Me, Me". Then look what happened, the RJ's threaten your DC9's against you and the RJ's are being whipsawed against each other.
Now is the time to wake up from selfishness and realize that those UNION F/A's will be much more likely to support YOU when you need them, than unrepresented, at-will ones will. And hopefully, you will support them when they need it... even though they are "unskilled and beneath you.
In Unity,
B727DRVR
PS- Good luck, DALFA! The majority of pilots and your fellow Americans support your right to organize and things are about to get a whole lot easier for you in that regard!