A single European pilots union?
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
as pilots we cannot and should not have cake and be allowed to eat it too!
seems to me the union route is the only way forward to accommodate worker bargaining power. those that hate to see the pay-to-fly cowboys albeit with good reason to get a foot in the aviation door; and bad airlines which constantly chip away at pilot salaries and benefits [even in good economic times] in the name of profit maximisation will succumb to the inevitable that such practices will continue unabated. individual pilots will never get airlines to curb their quest for wanting every drop of a pilot sweat and blood as contribution at lowest cost, [highest cost to the pilot].
airlines are augmenting rules and practices that are in most [some] countries damn-right illegal. employer airlines cannot embark on tax avoidance practices by shifting labour force to offshore companies. and those pilots adopting such practices are in a lose-lose situation. if your company goes under, chances are you will expect your government to look after your social welfare; but how would governments do that when bankruptcy accounting procedures such as tax avoidance leave them with empty pockets. certainly, if all industries adopted these practices you will have enlarged civil service sector just to investigate and chase after errant airlines; let alone non-domicile nationals for tax owed.
in the end the pilot loses as the employment contract he signs is with an accounting company with no regard to personal rights and welfare. employment choice will be limited as the open tap of cowboy flyers continue to fan the airline thirst for more! meanwhile, those that end up taken hostage for flying into dangerous and non-friendly states; or indeed arrested for sanction busting, etc will look to their countries to bail them out; at the cost of you know-what lost state income.
these practices will eventually be corrected. the only difference will be the lost earnings and/or licence of the pilot where compared to a [similar] hedge fund manager caught in tax avoidance aspects, who will have hidden millions and never ever need to work anymore!
the trouble seems to be that pilots have no role models anymore! its everyone looking after numero uno!
alas!
seems to me the union route is the only way forward to accommodate worker bargaining power. those that hate to see the pay-to-fly cowboys albeit with good reason to get a foot in the aviation door; and bad airlines which constantly chip away at pilot salaries and benefits [even in good economic times] in the name of profit maximisation will succumb to the inevitable that such practices will continue unabated. individual pilots will never get airlines to curb their quest for wanting every drop of a pilot sweat and blood as contribution at lowest cost, [highest cost to the pilot].
airlines are augmenting rules and practices that are in most [some] countries damn-right illegal. employer airlines cannot embark on tax avoidance practices by shifting labour force to offshore companies. and those pilots adopting such practices are in a lose-lose situation. if your company goes under, chances are you will expect your government to look after your social welfare; but how would governments do that when bankruptcy accounting procedures such as tax avoidance leave them with empty pockets. certainly, if all industries adopted these practices you will have enlarged civil service sector just to investigate and chase after errant airlines; let alone non-domicile nationals for tax owed.
in the end the pilot loses as the employment contract he signs is with an accounting company with no regard to personal rights and welfare. employment choice will be limited as the open tap of cowboy flyers continue to fan the airline thirst for more! meanwhile, those that end up taken hostage for flying into dangerous and non-friendly states; or indeed arrested for sanction busting, etc will look to their countries to bail them out; at the cost of you know-what lost state income.
these practices will eventually be corrected. the only difference will be the lost earnings and/or licence of the pilot where compared to a [similar] hedge fund manager caught in tax avoidance aspects, who will have hidden millions and never ever need to work anymore!
the trouble seems to be that pilots have no role models anymore! its everyone looking after numero uno!
alas!
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: at the edge of the alps
Posts: 447
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As has been posted before, there already IS a Europea Cockpit Association. As of now, membership is open to pilot associations, but there are thoughts on how to improve on this and how to better accomodate trans-national airlines like EZY (already in progress) and Ryan (tougher).
Lots of thought is given to how to prevent P2F, the current move to more contract work, etc.
Many smaller associations would love to give ECA more power and make it a real union. Many bigger unions (UK, Spain, Germany, France) object to this as it would take power away from them.
ECA is far from being a union but it could become one, if the pilots of Europe wish it to be.
One should, however, not be too optimistic about this. While ALPA International has but two countries, two similar legal systems and effectively one language to deal with, Europe has 27 legal and tax systems and almost as many languages. That makes imposing uniform contracts a lot more challenging.
Whether it is ECA or BALPA, we need to stick together and convince our brothers that they better stick together with us, too. This is the only way to save and improve our profession.
Lots of thought is given to how to prevent P2F, the current move to more contract work, etc.
Many smaller associations would love to give ECA more power and make it a real union. Many bigger unions (UK, Spain, Germany, France) object to this as it would take power away from them.
ECA is far from being a union but it could become one, if the pilots of Europe wish it to be.
One should, however, not be too optimistic about this. While ALPA International has but two countries, two similar legal systems and effectively one language to deal with, Europe has 27 legal and tax systems and almost as many languages. That makes imposing uniform contracts a lot more challenging.
Whether it is ECA or BALPA, we need to stick together and convince our brothers that they better stick together with us, too. This is the only way to save and improve our profession.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: at the edge of the alps
Posts: 447
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The "lunch and dinner" and expenses argument is misplaced.
As for the expenses argument, that was intially brought up by MoL, a well-known friend of the pilot community.
One could argue that it's better to spend money talking to people than to spend it in court, which should only be a "last resort".
As pointed out before, representation works by meeting people, both to meet members and to discuss policy. Much of the IFALPA member organization's work is done by committees who work out a mutually agreeable policy which is then taken to ICAO for implementation. This ends up on the balance sheet as "meetings" because there is no way to get a lawyer to make ICAO do something. That's the way with lobbying.
All those who think "Lobbying" to be a dirty word should consider that our employers, be it AEA, ELFAA or ERA spend copious amounts of money to convince BRU based as well as national bureucrats and politicians to enact legislation they want. If we don't put up with them, we'll end up with laws made for airlines, not laws made for pilots.
Pilots are one of the best connected professions worldwide. IFALPA represents over 100.000 pilots and a global cooperation like this needs the occasional face-to-face exchange to reinforce the bonds. The fact that humans prefer face-to-face meetings over video-conferences, phone calls or chats is one of the cornerstones of our industry. We should be aware that we need to meet fellow pilots face-to-face from time to time if we want them to assist us in times of crisis.
As for the expenses argument, that was intially brought up by MoL, a well-known friend of the pilot community.
One could argue that it's better to spend money talking to people than to spend it in court, which should only be a "last resort".
As pointed out before, representation works by meeting people, both to meet members and to discuss policy. Much of the IFALPA member organization's work is done by committees who work out a mutually agreeable policy which is then taken to ICAO for implementation. This ends up on the balance sheet as "meetings" because there is no way to get a lawyer to make ICAO do something. That's the way with lobbying.
All those who think "Lobbying" to be a dirty word should consider that our employers, be it AEA, ELFAA or ERA spend copious amounts of money to convince BRU based as well as national bureucrats and politicians to enact legislation they want. If we don't put up with them, we'll end up with laws made for airlines, not laws made for pilots.
Pilots are one of the best connected professions worldwide. IFALPA represents over 100.000 pilots and a global cooperation like this needs the occasional face-to-face exchange to reinforce the bonds. The fact that humans prefer face-to-face meetings over video-conferences, phone calls or chats is one of the cornerstones of our industry. We should be aware that we need to meet fellow pilots face-to-face from time to time if we want them to assist us in times of crisis.
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Earth
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not BALPA
Any union that would promote it's members SCABBING for another union by cross training as a stewardess is not a union but a shill of scared little yellow belly'd women..
VC is my vote for a common Euro Union...
VC is my vote for a common Euro Union...
