One of the pervasive attitudes among the pilot folk is this whole "I value the ability to not take work home with me". This is a major draw for the pilot crowd at every compensation level. The unintended consequence is that such attitude feeds and usually rolls into a general apathy for the political idiosyncrasies that lead to the airline profession being such a lateral-progression-handicapped vocation as it is. That's all labor's apathy's doing, not management. It's your fault if you let the man manage your money for the comfort of not taking work home with you.

It's a catch-22. People flock to the profession because they want a push on push off type of job. It is this very push on push off nature that makes them perfect target to be yanked around when it comes to labor negotiations. General lack of knowledge and/or lack of interest in topics such as RLA et al are perfect examples. I'm not even a 121 guy, but even when I ask those who are at my squadron, they quickly shorten the discourse with a "eh, I just go do my job and go home". Which I empathize with, as some of them commute sometimes to two gigs (ARC and 121); but can they really get miffed when they get raked through the coals and face their 3rd furlough and household finances scramble?

My hat's off to them, I'm not touching 121 with a 10foot pole (that's MY contribution to the profession, helping the numbers by staying out of it lol)

 

In my universe, MILLIONS of dollars given to the ALPA PAC over the decades does constitute being strongly funded. Whether those many MILLIONS of dollars come from 13% or not, ALPA got that money. And they've done nothing to move the agenda regarding how badly the RLA and NMB hurts us. What ALPA has done with the money is back far left political candidates. Again, how's that working out for us?

Your response is interesting though. I guess in your universe, if more pilots than 13% would contribute to the ALPA PAC, then ALPA would place RLA and NMB reform on their agenda. Interesting.

Carl

 

Well said.

 

Where I live, when they give the civil service exam to get on the list to become a police officer attracts over 25,000 people each time it is given. At most 200 will be picked off that list. Starting salary is over $55,000 a year up to $75,000 after 5 years. All this and all you need is 64 college credits, half which you get from completing the academy.

Wouldn't you think that the salary would come down if 25000 people want to join each time the test is given? Nope, the union gets the salary to go up.

 

Why don't we just ask a divorce attorney what an airline pilot is worth? They know. They see it all of the time.

 

At some point in the next 12 months we'll get an email from Moak saying that ALPA is strongly investigating which presidential candidate to support with our ALPA-PAC money. Only after both candidates have made their positions known will Moak make the hard decision and endorse a candidate.

It is impossible to figure out who this person will be. Dozens of ALPA staffers will spend months collecting data, reading transcripts, and scrutinizing voting records. Thousands of ALPA dues dollars will be spent.

Will ALPA endorse Barak Obama or the yet-to-be-named Republican candidate?

I can tell you right now it'll be Obama. Any argument to the contrary?

 

Yupp.... LOL

 

Yeah. Do you want them to endorse Romney - the investment banker?

You can't have it both ways. Complain about the RLA, complain that no one will strike, complain that the union is ineffective. Then, come 4 November, vote for a candidate that opposes everything that your union and your contract depends on.

Bad news gentlemen - you are not in the top 1% of earners who are being represented by today's conservative politicians. Pilots are turning into a bunch of trailer park conservatives. Hang on to your guns boys, it's all you're gonna have left. The corporations will have everything else. Remember, a corporation has the rights of a person (per the current conservative Supreme Court). UAL, CAL, DAL, FDX, UPS, etc. are all wealthier "people" than any of us will ever be. I'm sure they will continue to purchase more democracy than any of us can afford - with or without ALPA PAC.

PIPE

 

This thread is taking a turn toward the type of political speech that will end up in the thread being closed for political discussion not allowed on APC. Leave the partisian leanings, red-vs-blue, and political names out. These things most often led down the path of TOS violations.

USMCFLYR

 

True, most pilots are not in the top 1%.

However, according to the US Census Bureau data from 2004, the top 5% (the ones termed to be "the rich" by the liberal media, or sometimes "the evil rich") have a net worth of $1M+ (much of it in home equity) and a lower-limit income of $157,176. Many professional pilots fall into this category, and many who don't fall into this category want to fall into this category.

I shall not make a political comment on whether one should vote for one candidate over another, or one party over another. I will simply advise caution when deciding who is representing whom.