My union dues are automatically taken out of my pay. We have elected pilots on committees who engage the bean counters on work issues. There is no glamor or company loyalty involved. We don't get what we think we deserve, we only get what we negotiate. And that's it. We live and work by our contract.
I fly from point A to point B, one day at a time, for a negotiated, contractual fee. We operate by FAA rules and by negotiated company rules and according to negotiated company policy. That's it. I'm not busy
getting a living, I am
living. I think that there is room for lots of improvement in our pay and in our working conditions. No doubt, we deserve a better contract, but I'm not going to taxi at 4 Kts nor run the APU needlessly, nor fly with extended flaps longer, nor fly at less than LRC. Just because we have idiot bean counters does not cause me to be less professional or less dignified. Besides, it's extra work and more stressful trying to operate a jet outside the prescribed operating envelope.
In order to be happy one has to eliminate
wants. Because people die in this endless pursuit of getting and wanting more.
