Having paid dues and been a member of ALPA for 20 years now, I’ve seen how ALPA has at certain times taken a stand on issues and spun them in a less than accurate light, to rally and galvanise the masses. This is one of those times. Anybody actually working for a US carrier knows full well, the number of E3’s is insignificant and wholly unlikely to make any difference to pay and conditions, perceived or otherwise. However, it won’t make a blind bit of difference because there’s nothing like a threat to your wallet, to get you to lose focus of the truth.
BUT, don’t underestimate any unions ability to rally support when it comes to “foreign pilots taking our jobs”. I had a feeling this would happen at some point. There’s a race to secure as many pilots as possible going on in the US. Every airline needs as many bodies as they can get and they all need them now. In the 7 years I’ve been back here, the mob I’m with have hired 5000 pilots. That’s just one airline. No union will let this need or any leverage it creates, go missed. It’s that simple.