Originally Posted by Toad Hall
Typhoon if we were ALLOWED a union then we would be able to stop the DEC's who are taking advantage of this fact. Would your own unions in the states have ever allowed what is happening here in EK? NO THEY WOULD NOT therefore i stand by the fact that the DEC's joining are XXXX.
Your are absolutely correct. Unions in the States would never allow an airline to take advantage of commercial opportunities as they arise. They would never allow an airline to buy 8 unanticipated aircraft at the spur of the moment. They would never allow an airline the ability to increase revenue if it didn't directly benefit them.
Here are some of the things my union back home did for me in my career:
1) They allowed me and 301 other pilots to be furloughed for 8 years while senior 767 Captains flew 10 extra hours per month to pad their retirement account.
2) They did not allow the company to take an award for a lucrative Trans-Pacific route. They were scared it would be outsourced just because it was going to be flown by another airline until they could obtain an additional aircraft or two to fly it themselves.
3) They continually negotiated contracts that only benefited the senior pilots in regards to reserve duty and work rules. This effectively kept 30% of the pilots on reserve for over a decade.
Shall we talk about what the Australian pilot's union did for their members in the late 80s ?
Yeah, Unions are great.
TP