Originally Posted by iFlyRC

Walk off the job, these things don't fly themselves, yet... Everyone just walk off the job. A strike that is not a strike.

Originally Posted by SeamusTheHound

Yes, that would be a STRIKE: a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work.

Originally Posted by deltajuliet

The shortest and easiest answer is that under the Railway Labor Act striking is very, very hard to do and a strike can be vetoed by the government before it ever starts. It almost always is.

Allegiant pilots tried to strike earlier this year but were told they couldn't, even when the company blatantly disregarded NMB instructions as a middle finger to negotiations and pilots. The justification is that airlines are essential to national commerce and us greedy pilots would shut down the national transportation system at every opportunity for our own selfish benefit. Now consider: that was just Allegiant. If they won't let pilots stop a few flights from Missoula, Montana to Mesa, Arizona, imagine how resounding the NO would be to United pilots trying to strike, or somebody operating United's regional feed as de facto essential air service. Remember, half of all airline flights are flown by regionals now. Without the ability to strike - and management knows we can't - we have absolutely no leverage to negotiate or to even stop management from dragging out negotiations indefinitely.



I've read as much as I could find online about the RLA and efforts by ALPA relating to it. This thread also shed very little light on the subject.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/un...epeal-rla.html

If ALPA has done anything to repeal or amend the RLA, would you please tell us about it or reference where we could find more about it?

Originally Posted by WakeWash

I think he meant just up and quit. Which as simple as it sounds, is completely implausible. People have mouths to feed and loans to pay off. FOs live paycheck to paycheck for the most part. Very few can go with missing even just one paycheck. It's the same reason pilots have been voting in things when their job feels threatened. Regional pilots can't afford to miss a paycheck.

Originally Posted by FirstClass

Not that you were directly implying this, but nobody owes pilots anything. I hope they negotiate a bundle, but to imply somehow that people deserve something is disturbing. How do you feel about Obama giving poor people cell phones for free? Absolutely no difference.

Originally Posted by WakeWash

I love this thread, it's extremely informative.

I've also noticed that those that do not work in the unions themselves don't fully understand the leverage that unions do or do not have. As said before, the RLA and NMB are the problem. We all hate the term "fly it and grieve it," but without the ability to put our foot down, we really have nothing else we can do about it. At the regional level, management will do what management wants to do. RAH is a prime example. Still having some attrition to other regionals even after the new contract due to the fact that you won't change the management perception. Doesn't matter how much you care for it and bring it back to life, a snake is still a snake and will continue to bite. If all of you really want to make a difference then read these and educate yourself. Write your senators, let them know how appealing the RLA really is and ask them to do their jobs and represent you like they are suppose to. Until then, complaining about unions at the regionals and griping on a forum wont change a thing.

Originally Posted by WakeWash

Not sure what you mean exactly. But I worked very hard to get to where I am, as well as the rest of us. IMO, we are very deserving. For that brief flight, people put their lives and the lives of their loved ones in our hands and trust us to get them to their destination safely. On top of that, I spend 60% of my life away from home and in hotels so that people may have the ability to see loved ones, visit new places, make it to emergencies, and so on. To think that pilots aren't owed anything is insane.

Originally Posted by FirstClass

Bottom like you only deserve what you negotiate. To imply you are somehow more important than any other work group anywhere is entitlement mentality. Socialism is un-American.

Originally Posted by sweetholyjesus

Another good post. But to be honest I think forums like this one are just as effective as those ALPA emails etc. This is a good place to share information and discuss ideas without remorse. A few unorganized pilots sending random letters to career politicians probably won't amount to much imho. It seems to me like a few representatives speaking on behalf of several pilots (or unions) would be a much simpler and effective way to appeal to the gov't. But I guess pilots don't already pay for that

Originally Posted by sweetholyjesus

Thanks for your input. So, basically our political lobbying power is greater as an association, but we're on our own when it comes to negotiating contracts etc. I just don't see how an association of unions (unions being created for an entirely different purpose) can be so weak and divided when it comes to negotiating. But if advocating safety is their main (and basically, only) function then boy, they sure do take and spend a lot of money to have a voice on capitol hill..