jonny dangerous wrote:Now if we did unionize and consequently ended up with seniority driven schedule bidding (a given), how long would it be before Frog Legs could hold weekends off? Christmas?
What about the inevitable reserve coverage system? How high up the list would an F/O have to be before he/she could avoid reserve days. Very sucky for the YHZ commuters.
And then how long before the FAs follow suit and join CUPE and mtce joins IAMAW?
The drama would be awesome though. Think of all the fun things we could talk about in the cockpit, you know, how management is screwing us all the time.
And grievances. Man those are great.
Where do I sign?
Pardon me for interjecting in a family squabble but I know a thing or two about unions as well, and unlike some here I have no bias about them one way or the other. So I can offer up a fairly unslanted opinion of what a union would mean.
There is no shortage of misinformation and manipulation of the facts from either management or unions who are in a sense running their own business. Fortunately as a group employees can usually see through the BS and will collectively make the right decision whether a union is needed or not. In one of my old companies an initial union drive from an established union was rejected by the pilots, but subsequent to that some things happened that made the pilots realize the need for protection and so an in-house legal union was accepted in another vote. So far WJ has treated you guys with enough respect and honesty that a legal union is not deemed necessary by the group, and I congratulate you and your company for that. It may not always be that way though, and if your group one day reaches the point where you feel a real union is required for protection then that will be a valid and correct choice. Maybe not for some individuals, but as a group it will be the right decision. In other words, a company becomes unionized because the employees as a group feels it is necessary however much they dislike going that route. If an employee group reaches that point then a union
is necessary and the company gets what it deserves.
If you do one day get a union though, it is supposed to work for you, you don't work for it.
YOU are the union. Your working conditions upon certification must by law remain frozen until a new contract is negotiated, and your new contract will be what YOU negotiate. The scenarios cited in the quote above will only be pursued by the union if you as a group want them to. It is not the union that dictates, it is you as members.