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- - Union Dues (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/alaska/129424-union-dues.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GogglesPisano (Post 3049061)

1) ALPA dues cannot be used for political purposes. That’s where ALPA-PAC comes in.

2) ALPA-PAC is one of the most bi-partisan PAC’s in the US.

Thank you.

In addition, PAC money is about prevention as opposed to correction. Spend a little PAC money up front to prevent an issue, before a whole lot of dues money gets dumped on having to fix it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by todd1200 (Post 3048930)

How many economists and investors blame the high rate of unionization in the U.S. airline industry for driving pilot compensation well beyond the level they believe it should be? The 2% is one of the best investments we can make in our careers and in the future of our profession.

First of all, ALPA is not a true union, it's an association. Each individual company MEC is a union, but heavily governed/regulated by the RLA.

Pilot compensation is driven by supply and demand. It takes quite a bit of time/money/investment to make a pilot and training to keep them up to date and productive. That's why even non-union pilots eventually either get close to union wages or adopt a union in order to implement a CBA. If it were "just the union" then you'd see upstarts able to hire pilots at 1/2 the compensation and pay them at that rate indefinitely, but alas, they'd get what's left over after the others had hired. Eventually that strategy would actually lead to higher inefficiencies that would negate any labor advantage you might have at cut rate wages.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royal (Post 3048887)

Thats incorrect. Dues are mandatory. People do have a choice to work for non-union airlines. It's what we all signed up for when we accepted the job most of us begged to get.

You don't have to pay "dues". At Alaska, you can choose to NOT be a member of ALPA. In the past, we had a few guys. Maybe we still do, I don't know. If you opt out, you get no representation. BUT you still have to pay the same amount each month as a dues paying member, to the charity of your choice or some such thing, but you get nothing from ALPA. So the fella that doesn't want to be a part of ALPA has that choice, he is just not going to save any money by doing so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GogglesPisano (Post 3049061)

1) ALPA dues cannot be used for political purposes. That’s where ALPA-PAC comes in.

2) ALPA-PAC is one of the most bi-partisan PAC’s in the US.

This is correct. In the past unions could (and did) funnel money to pet pols, but that's illegal now.

PAC is optional.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudhen200 (Post 3049142)

In an agency shop arrangement, nonmembers have to pay fees to the union (roughly equal to member dues amount) to cover their collective bargaining fees. It doesn’t go to a charity...unless Alaska has some weird setup, but I can’t imagine as an ALPA carrier that is the case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipewrench (Post 3048381)

No, I would prefer my own representation

The classic definition of an idiot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yogipilot (Post 3048364)

...I’d rather be furloughed with a descent job to come back to....

I'm still climbing the ladder, so I'd rather not take a descent job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reactivity (Post 3054418)

I'm still climbing the ladder, so I'd rather not take a descent job.

Your going to waiting a long time. This as good as it gets. See what happens in six months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royal (Post 3054862)

Your going to waiting a long time. This as good as it gets. See what happens in six months.

Descent vs. decent.....you get it now?🤦‍♂️

Quote:

Originally Posted by conquestdz (Post 3054871)

Descent vs. decent.....you get it now?🤦‍♂️

Cleaver. Sorry. Too quick to react to some guy sitting next to me whining about how horrible their job is at Alaska.