a300fr8dog

So why do you bother to post at all? You're disingenuous, at best.

MaydayMark

And that my friend is the difference between someone with an opinion and a "blow-hard." I have no problem with dues paying non-members ...

DLax85

Spot on!

It was very sad to see how "fear" was THE driving factor behind the Union endorsement of the LOA.

Something we absolutely must not forget.

rjlavender

Thank you for the comments. Here is a brief point-by-point elaboration:

1. Senior members (captains) have historically controlled the pilot unions. They have generally acted in their own best interest without regard for the downstream affects of their actions. The "junior" pilots struck back hard in 1979 when they voted to change the ALPA position on Age 60. For the previous 19 years, ALPA had been adamantly opposed to the Age 60 Rule and had filed many lawsuits to overturn it.

The junior pilots were able to exercise their newly-discovered leverage on this matter and change the official ALPA position because their numbers had grown relative to those of the captains. "Flight engineer" positions that had been filled for many years by non-pilots, were now filled by ALPA-member pilots flying as second officers. They, along with the co-pilots, wanted to throw the bums at the top out so that they could move up. They were not acting on the basis of "principle," they were acting out of self-interest. But so were the captains.... What else is new?

It took until December 2007 to (somewhat) end unjustifiable age discrimination among pilots. The problem is that the underlying wage imbalance that caused the junior pilots to act in the first place still exists. So, the junior pilots are once again disadvantaged relative to the senior, thus, division and disunity continues.

2. The "captains union" mentality still rules among most pilots. It is part of the pilot comfort zone. Regardless of how many pilots complain about the system, they would rather keep it than endure the stress involved in changing it. Lot's of complaints but NO action. I have been involved for 30 years and it's still the same. Every complaint on this board has been vocalized thousands of times over. Anyone believing that things will improve simply with "better communications," had better think again. It will take significant change to the pilot system of compensation in order to create true economic and political unity.

3. I have written extensively about a number of strategic issues where pilots are way behind the times. Agency Shop is one of them. There is little doubt in my mind that the company offered it up because it is a significant detriment to economic and political progress among pilots. There is also little doubt that the union desperately needed Agency Shop in order to prevent mass resignations when members discovered that some of their most important work rules had been gutted by the negotiating committee. In my opinion, you are absolutely right: Agency Shop was a win-win for the company.

4. Many readers are aware of my extensive experience in pilot political affairs prior to coming to FedEx, including two years on strike and many other years of related involvement. They know that I consider name-calling, profanity, and personal attacks as counter-productive and harmful to the pilot cause. And, they know that, regardless of how I feel about certain individuals, I still read and factor their opinions into my own.

The point is that I am interested in the principles of the matters before us and not the personalities; I am not constrained from accepting a principle-based argument just because I don't like the person who makes it. I don't worry about anyone's personal credibility on pilot matters, including my own. I care only about the credibility and sensibility of the principles involved.

If anyone wishes to read why I am out of ALPA, they can search this board for the word "censorship" in an article that I recently wrote. If anyone believes that I am going to remain a member of an organization that censors material simply because it "is opposite to ALPA policy," they are mistaken. The double-barrel threat of censorship and Agency Shop are certainly not in my best interest and I doubt that it is in yours either.

Sincerely,

Bob

JohnnyViper

Funny, I always thought "brief" meant something else.

Check 6

Bob,

I have had the displeasure of having a face to face discourse with you. You spent the entire conversation telling me I am too "junior" and "inexperienced" to have an opinion...

Your opinion is the only one that matters in your world...period. Hence you NMB status...

(my experience - 10 yrs here, 2 at a major and 1 at a regional, 10 yrs military)

AerisArmis

So what? Benedict Arnold WAS a general in the Continental Army.....Lee Harvey Oswald WAS in the Marine Corps.....Timothy McVeigh WAS in the U.S. army. What are they remembered for? You want a free ride for what you WERE? Sorry pal, you wear the other teams jersey now, .....but you want to call the plays for us. Ain't gonna happen. Here's your sign!

jagplt

checkoff to pay your dues to support the process, that way you will have some credability in standing for your principle...

other wise.. you're p****** in the wind pal... you're an outsider throwing rocks.

MD11Fr8Dog

cma2407

Can I say "pound sand" without getting moderated?