MolineCFI

Union dues are often used for political contributions.

msprj2

Umm no.

ALPA PAC is a voluntary contribution not required dues. You have to request to pay it above and beyond normal dues.

sailingfun

That would be illegal. Some unions have PACS to attempt to influence legislation but all the money must be donated. It can’t be dues. The ALPA pac has very poor participation and as a consequence limited funding.

Strenyakov

Umm no, to your condescending "umm no".

Obviously you and SailingFun were out having fun while Moline was sitting in his corn field actually reading the 96 page Supreme Court Decision (not including the 76 footnotes that followed) in Citizens United v. Federal Election Com'n, 130 S. Ct. 876 - Supreme Court 2010.

I read about 3 pages before looking for someone's summary. https://www.unionfacts.com/article/political-money/

Also see, https://www.unionfacts.com/article/p...ical-spending/

From what I read, and feel free to "umm no" me if I am wrong. Unions are groups of people coming together and are free to have their funds support some causes over others. Union members may opt-out of the political contribution part of their dues.

msprj2

Yes some dues $ does go towards seemingly political items. I suppose the battle against middle east airline subsidies and Norwegian airs labor practices are seeming political.

StlLifer

They don't necessarily go to issues, the unions mainly just send their money to the democrats and hope all goes well.

rickair7777

Just so you know... most mil people tend to be pretty skeptical of unions (myself included), particular after seeing GS employees in action. But after a very short time in the airlines (and doing your due diligence on historical reading) mil guys see the light pretty quickly, at least as it applies to the airline industry. The fundamental underlying issue is the seniority system... after a very short time you're stuck, and can't quit and leverage the free market to better yourself. So you have to make it work.

SirLurksalot

Yet you were at skywest how long?

rickair7777

Good. Government employees shouldn't have unions, and they sure as H3LL shouldn't be allowed strikes or other job actions. They are civil SERVANTS, they should not be free agents empowered to extort and loot the public coffers. Private sector is different... everybody is in it to make money, labor and management, and unions can only squeeze so hard or they kill the golden goose. In the public sector the cost of largess for civil servants just gets added to our grand-kid's tab...

One of my favorite examples is the local meter-maids... top out at $90K, retire at 20 years with 100% pension and medical. I heard they finally cracked down... they now have a medical co-pay when they retire.

I served in the military for decades so I have some perspective on this. The government will pay you adequately anyway, and if that's not enough then try competing in the private sector

rickair7777

Nope.
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