OTOH, a high school graduate answers a newspaper ad for a "Communications Specialist" position at ALPA. IOW, answering the phone. They, like the new hire pilot, graduated high school, but the ALPA phone person makes more than the new hire. I can't justify that. I guess I just think the pilot is worth more.
Elmer, with due respect, your statement here is misleading and incorrect. I'm not sure where you may have come up with this assumption but I can tell you from the experience I have had with ALPA's hiring, they don't hire HS grads. Their minimum requirements are awfully darned specific and high; minumum Bachelor Degrees with specific experience and usually a couple or three years related experince. And while there was hiring a few years back, since 2004 there have been substantial staff cutbacks and reductions. If you walked through the Herndon offices, you'd see a ghost town of empty offices and a demoralized staff who would walk into the gates of Hell for the pilots they work for. All they ask is to be treated like the valued and experienced employees they are. They have earned their seniority and pay and they don't live high on the hog.
Now managers and VP's? Different story. The difference between the two is like airline management and labor.
Sorry for jumping into y'alls discussion, but it needed some clarification.