I see both sides of this... mainly I stand with the unions as I'm also convinced that this obsession with the concept of a free market and labor rates for pilots is flawed at best. In the end, it's been proven that a 1000 hour pilot can command a heavy (USAF C-17, C5) and so it's not about free markets setting wages, as I am sure if VA offered to hire 1000TT CRJ FO's into the A320, they'd have more applications that they know what to do with!

We pilots are our own worse enemies, so we need to keep that in mind when we take these lower paying jobs, and displace lifting capacity from other higher paying companies.

In the end, I wish the best of luck to anyone taking any job, but if by chance you're taking a non-union job, PLEASE, consider that when the vote comes up to get one on the property, that you should vote YES! Just look at B6 and the stagnation they're in right now while WN is making 2X what they are.. Heck, even AirTran is making more money.

A UNION is a necessary evil in our business; erase all that BS you learned about the free market, and Walmart, and accept it as a reality of your "profession"

my $.02