JustAMushroom

From the horses mouth.....

http://skywestalpa.org/documents/lest.we.forget.pdf

JetJock16

Smoke and mirrors. They dangle the carrot then hit you with the stick.

Koolaidman

Which airline wasn't offering the best schedule, most pay and everything else before 9/11???

It is a little misleading to try to persuade someone to support ALPA because the airline said we will do everything we can to be the best airline before 9/11. EVERY legacy carrier before 9/11 was trying to top the other with their pay scales, and then 9/11 hit, where was the protection? ALPA isn't going to get SkyWest any better contract than what we can't get on our own. The luxury of a strike and a magazine is just going to make matters worse. Considering what we have without a union speaks for itself considering how our "contract" is much better than the majority of other carriers out there, including many ALPA carriers.

JetJock16

It's not always about pay! It's about promises! I know that this letter is pre 9/11 and means nothing in today’s industry but 3 union drives in 7 years says something. Each of the last two drives Mgmnt agreed to changes in work life and pay IF WE VOTED THE UNION DOWN. After SKW pilots did they ended up with a fraction of what was agreed to. BULL****!!!!!!! Plus, if we were union we could back our FELLOW ASA pilots instead of being pitted against them and stabbing them in the back. I am EXTREMELY ANTI-UNION but you can't view airline unions like unions from other industries. Unions from other industries protect lazy, uneducated workers and we are not that. We have worked hard for your jobs and continue to work hard for our companies.

Here at SKW there have been many reasons in the past for protection. So keep jumping for the carrot but beware of the stick because it will come just like it did in the last two elections.

GOOD LUCK ASA!!!!!

Koolaidman

So SKW hasn't provided what they said they would when you guys did what you said you would? I didn't know that. I just look around and see what is going on and I can't say that ALPA is just magically going to come into SKW and all of sudden provide this better contract everyone thinks. ALPA wants 2%, nothing else.

In my opinion, we'll end up like everyone else, fighting for years and coming to a strike vote before getting what we want with regards to contracts.

I hope that ASA gets what they want in their contract and set a NEW standard for regionals. Good luck guys, our best wishes are with you.

bla bla bla

koolaidman, your drinking to much of your own koolaid.

acl65pilot

Contracts are important, but the true value of a union is in your job protection. Airlines and their managers cannot fire people on a whim and get away with it. Everyone that ASA has fired (with the exception of one who deserved it), has gotten their jobs back. That alone is worth 2% of my income. It is like insurance. You do not want to pay for it and do not realize you do not have the correct coverage until it is too late. By that time you are stuck with the coverage you have. The say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound a cure is quite true with unions.
Not everything that a union does is correct, but the collective whole is better than any negative that comes out of them. I challenge you to research all of ALPA's different committees and then make your judgement. Their aeromedical, legal, and safety to name a few are some of the best in the world. Why would the NTSB ask ALPA to work of a crash investigation if they did not know what they were doing?

JetJock16

Protection is what we are looking for. I don't know if APLA’s the answer, but what we have, so far is barely working. Yes, we are paid well and we have good work rules, but that it's what this is really about. It's about protection from Mgmnt and having a contract, a contract that can’t be changed without deliberation & agreement. If something happens Mgmnt can change what we have at anytime, that’s an ACE in the HOLE for them.

Talk to some senior pilots on line and ask them about pilots being fired for "BS" reasons. You'll find out that it has happened way to often. The majority of the pilots ended up getting their job back but after hiring a lawyer. AND they received no back pay. Ask about the "FU FADDIS" incident, or the Jacobi incident. I can go on & on. The bottom line is that we need protection.

I hate unions but in the airline industry they are sometimes a necessary evil. Nobody wants a union until they need the protection. Name another unionized industry where the skilled labor works as hard as we do to get where we are. Now, if they get fired or fail something is their career over. 99.9% if the unionized industry has an upgrade process that gives you two attempts with seat locks if you fail. I you fail the second time then your never allowed to upgrade again, but your not fired! Your career isn’t over! You’ve proven that you’re a competent FO but maybe you’re just not a CA. At SKW it’s up or out for initial upgrade and they give you multiple chances for transition upgrade. That’s not right, if one is up or out then why not the other. Because of SKW being an “At Will Employer” they can do whatever they want, out side of violating Federal or State HR Laws. That’s your career & your livelihood their playing with. Once we go union this plus many other concerns will immediately be changed. It will be changed because SKW will no longer be an “At Will Employee.” These are things that won’t have to be negotiated for, there instant.

My best advice to you is to take initiative and call a member if the SKW Union Organizing committee and ask them, “Why Union?” Don’t call an FO on the committee; call a senior CA who has been here for the last to failed elections. You can find their names in the Union Election Packed that was mailed out or visit http://skywestalpa.org/ for more information and to get their numbers.

“Why Union?” Ask the question, then YOU make an educated decision for yourself.

Yes, GOOD LUCK ASA & Comair!