Originally Posted by
satchip
Is living with no gains for many years after your pay cuts progress?
Your right, the playing field is tilted. It's called the RLA and it is tilted on purpose. The NMB is doing exactly what they were created to do. The advantage was created by Congress, not the NMB. The proof is is who is running the show.
During the election many on this board touted a "labor friendly" government. Well we have the most labor friendly leftist government in the history of the US and has the NMB changed one whit? No, the only change is to make it more easy to force a union on a company. That is about the money generated. You haven't seen any movement in negotiations.
The economic realities are that no major airline labor group will be allowed to strike, ever again. That is until you change the RLA. That will take huge amounts of political clout. Something fragmented self interested groups like the DPA will not be able to wield.
Has there been a permanent shift in the value of an airline pilot? I don't know. The fact that there are airplanes flying around safely with guys with less experience and making what we consider a pittance might suggest it has. I can assure you in some manager's eyes it has.
How do we fight that trend? Unity. Right now we have almost zero power. Only through unity can we gain the political clout to affect the debate in the halls of government where all these decisions are made.
I think this is ALPA's plan. If they can capture a critical mass of pilot labor, they will have more power to get things done in Washington. We will never get there though, if we continue to devalue our junior member's jobs by selling them for pay and benefits. Here is where I disagree with ALPA. By divesting the Compass pilots we sold them out.
I don't think the scope issue is an ALPA problem per se. I think it is an attitude held by a certain generation of major airline pilots. You see it in statements here. "They are not qualified, they couldn't get hired here". "We are not paid what we have been historically worth, what we got in decades past." Is it arrogance? Lack of vision? I don't know, but it will be our undoing.
There are some elements of truth to what you're saying. But I think our undoing has been and will be people like yourself who believe our profession is less valuable. You're entitled to your opinion, but I'm also entitled to mine... and I think you are absolutely dead wrong on that. The level of expertise, skill, career risk, and tremendous responsibility we all have should be self explanatory. I know you're a big free market guy. So am I. But you are selling us short and, IMO, people like you are a big part of the problem.