Ralph: an enemy of the corporate state.
Here's a suggestion. I'm not saying that it is terribly workable, but offer it as a starting point: We form a Guild of Pilots. Membership requires CPL or above. It is open to ALL current CPL/ATPL Pilots, heroes and '89ers alike. The Guild takes responsibility for the career path of Guild members. Guild members undertake not to provide any training at a professional level for non-Guild members. ie: Instructor rating or IFR training, conversion to high performance types, ect.. Guild members who break the rules are expelled from the Guild. The Guild dictates a fair salary and conditions to employers, who in turn can employ only Guild members, because we, as technocrats, have them by the balls and will not train anyone who is not a Guild member(got that?). Membership for the Guild will need to be international and universal: all Pilots have a common interest here. Unemployed CPLs only need to sit back and wait for positions to become available in the system and thus have further incentive to wait, knowing that they will eventually be employed(Guild takes care of career path). Senior pilots who break the rules or refuse to join are failed out of the system on their next check ride by loyal Guild members. Loyal Pilots who lose their jobs for adherance to Guild rules are supported financially by the Guild until pressure is brought to bear by other Guild members to have them reinstated. Departmental check pilots are also members of the Guild and we bat for their salaries too. IE: A closed shop of trained technocrats takes over the whole licencing system and gets to dictate OUR terms and conditions to the companies. Isn't that what we want?
Last edited by Ralph the Bong; 16th Sep 2003 at 15:16.