Cruise

Oh, but that's where you're wrong (among many other seriously flawed ideas)! It is my company and it is my job! We, the pilot group, want a LEGAL say in our future. No more without-notice policy changes from mgmt. No more imposed work rules/ payrates. We, the pilot group, are not interested in destroying the company; rather, we're looking to make it stronger by working together with a union negotiated CBA.

kycycles

its because they are not broke!!!! they have money, they have the cheap labor( half as a matter of common knowledge)
As a side note: Someone like Toyota or their many subsidiaries will shut down if it even looks like they are not going to turn a profit. That is good management

kycycles

then you better get it out of your head that it is your company.

Colgan is an employer offering you a job..not ownership in their company. How can you say you want to work together when the fundamental idea is that the pilots own this company.
You are angry with on large corporation so you go to another large corporation for help(alpa) do you think alpa would exist if it wasn't for the fact they were making a fortune off the backs of the hard working pilots. They take money from your check every month and 99% of you will never need them or use them.
They push their agenda based on fear. they use these rare, horror stories of problems that no one has any idea is true or not. i believe many of you will wish they were gone once you get them in. 2 or 3% whatever it is they take, adds up quick over the years. a lawyer would be a lot cheaper in the long haul.
i mean really. Colgan has an excellent safety record. the pay is par for the coarse. what is the real issue...????how much do you think the unions are going to give you. in order to over come their take,they would have to force a pay hike greater than the 2-3% that they take...then they just get 2-3% more of your increase. the math does not work for you. i can promise you that it will be a long time before you can recover the union fees. so basically, in the beginning, the unions are going to cause you to loose money. it could be years before you recover that plus some.

frieswiththat

The "real issue" is the fact that most of us at Colgan really do care about the future of the company and our own livelyhood as well. A pay raise is well down the list... the issue is primarily about obtaining work rules and quality of life, as well as the legal representation aspect. ALPA has proven through many examples its value to our industry time and time again.

You must understand supposedly having worked for Colgan that the company will amend policy on a regular basis to suit its needs. ALPA is not a quick fix or end-all, but it's certainly superior to what currently exists.

I'm not posting to convince you of this since you've made up your mind on the issue; nor have you convinced me that I made a mistake by voting "yes".

kycycles

i do understand what you are saying. and i understand the anger, that is why i left. i was angry that i was not getting my way. my response to that would be this:
if the union takes 3% of say 20000 for example. that is 600 a year. you receive a pay raise every year, so by the time you top out at 45k or what ever the cap is , you will be paying 1350 a year(based on 45k) 99% of you will never need them, so you will be paying all this money for what? you could have hired a lawyer for less.( in the rare event you need one)
if peace of mind is worth that much, then more power to you. but the peace of mind that they give is false. people will still screw up, planes will still break and people will still ***** about their schedules. you can fix your own problems without the union. an internal organization that is not money driven(like alpa) is a much better solution. all you need is the right leadership. if all the pilots are really "care" about the company it works for and their success, then putting together this kind of effort should be easy.
The problem is, they dont care, and they will not structure this kind of movement. the real motivation is money and perks. They will loose money the minute the unions get the contract.

Cruise

The company has had over a year since the last attempt at organizing the pilot group. Little has changed positively. They had a golden opportunity to improve things; unfortunately for them, the opportunity was squandered. They could have given us industry avg./ above-avg. work rules and pay. It didn't happen. In fact, our pay on the Q is horrendous at best; it's downright insulting at worst. It doesn't even come close to a 50 seat payrate and we're hauling around %50 more pax. Also, key element in this is the fact that EVERY Q, on EVERY revenue flight has all 74 seats and fuel paid for by CAL. If the company negotiated so poorly they can't afford to pay us what the airframe rates, then shame on them! They also threw us under the bus with the terrible non-rev benefits we have......I reluctantly call them 'benefits' 'cause they're hardly a benefit at all.

Regardless, I'm not trying to change your views. They're obviously too askew to look at something objectively. So, continue with your defense of the degradation of the industry. Continue to suggest we pilots, instead of taking a stand to improving our QOL, we should simply quit and let management continue to rape what was once a well-respected profession.

Thanks for playing! Now, don't you have some corporate board meeting you should be attending?


Also, and this is just a side note.....but you think you could use some proper capitalization when you're posting? It would make it easier for us to read the drivel you're putting out. I know you know how to do it......you managed to capitalize two whole words in the post above. Kudos!

kycycles

No management here. I was an FO at Colgan.

Every company has its problems. And they will continue to have their problems with or without a union. I am just saying that these problems can be resolved without the bureaucracy and cost that a union brings with them. Why can the pilots start an internal pilot group. I am sure Colgan would much rather have that than the unions. I would be willing to bet that they would respond much better to something internal.

I have dealt with the unions in nearly every profession i have been a part of. I am telling you that miracles are not going to happen. The only real change most people are going to see is the union dues being deducted from their check. The crappy part of this whole thing is that you have to pay the dues, whether you want to or not.

Again, again, again...there are much better ways to get what you want, that wont take 3% of your check

kycycles

I never said they would go bankrupt!!!

normajean21

i would work for culgan

captain152

who in the heck is culgan?!