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Old 13th May 2019, 21:57
  #17 (permalink)  
maxerion
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Tacoma
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Unions have a wide variation in quality, both by trade and by local. Some recognize that they are a business partner with the employing company and others do not, some unions have engaged membership while others are mostly made of members that have never been to a union meeting and may not even know what a union does. Some self regulate the membership (either skill level or general behavior) and other unions get a sour reputation. Some have reputable leaders and others elect criminals. While a few unions have contributed to the downfall of certain companies or even whole industries(within a nation), the core issue was rarely a simple matter of high base pay, eg 1970s/1980s Detroit didn't loose gross profit margin it lost market share due to a drop in basic production line quality and general failure to adapt.


The biggest issue I have with pilot unions in the USA [and it isn't that big of a deal] is the archaic short-sighted way they setup the seniority lists, basically locking members into going down with the ship and causing problems with mergers. Sure time with a single company and union matters the most but some lesser credit should be given for total time. (like 100% for the current job, 90% factor for time at same union different airline, 75% for other union and airline, 50% for non-union hours. Other time like CFI or 135 maybe 50-60%? The multipliers are just for illustration not exact calculation.)
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