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NJASAP urges Flexjet, Flight Options to #VoteUnion

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NJASAPPresident

New member
Joined
Nov 30, 2015
Posts
2
Unionization in professional aviation is vital for numerous reasons, the most important of which is this: You take control of your career. Pilots spend tens of thousands of dollars preparing for a career in professional aviation, and this kind of investment demands insurance. You could think about it like this: A collective bargaining agreement is to an aviation career what a warranty is to a new car. You don?t necessarily expect anything to go wrong as you drive off the lot, but if it does, then you have coverage.

For longtime union members, it is unnecessary for me to extol the many benefits of having access to a professional labor advocate and the security it provides. However, for those who have never been a union member or who have had a bad experience, you are understandably skeptical. Some have suggested a union does more harm than good, damages the employer-employee relationship, and does not give a management team time to make good on its promises. I would like to take a moment today to quickly address each of these considerations.

1) Unions do more harm than good. It is easy to dismiss a union as a meddling nuisance, and this is exactly what management teams count on ? especially during representation elections. Making this conclusion, plainly stated, undermines your career and the profession. Aviation is the most highly unionized profession in the world for a reason: Labor advocates, and pilot representatives in particular, are all that stand between aviation professionals and management teams who will, more often than not, choose profits over people. This is a sad fact of the world in which we live. Profit margins are the preeminent consideration, not the people whose work creates them.

A union, however, stands up for pilots by demanding adherence to an established, agreed upon set of work rules as well as ensuring they have an advocate when they make safety-sensitive decisions that may impact the operational schedule. Unions ensure pilots receive consistent recognition for the professional services they provide. Most importantly, when pilots work together through a union, they not only increase their bargaining power with respect to pay and benefits, but also work to raise standards across our profession.

2) Unions damage the employer-employee relationship. Having a good relationship with the management of a successful company and being represented by a union are not mutually exclusive. Unions make good relationships better and are absolutely essential when the labor-management relationship temporarily sours. The recent history at NetJets demonstrates how critical a union becomes in that scenario.

Our former CEO abandoned an incredibly productive labor-management partnership, choosing instead to engage our group in one of the most contentious labor battles in recent history. His attack on our pay, benefits and working conditions was unprecedented. Without the protections offered by a strong union, the NetJets pilot group would have been subject to the whims of a CEO who made no secret of his contempt for both pilots and labor organizations. Absent the protection of a strong union and our collective bargaining agreement, there is no doubt we would have seen significant reductions in our pay, healthcare and retirement benefits. Absent a labor contract and a strong union to enforce it, that could happen to any pilot, anywhere, at any time. Do not let it happen to you.

3) Unions do not give management time to make good on its promises. I cannot tell you whether OneSky management will make good on its promises if the Flexjet and Flight Options pilots reject the Union. My question is this: Are you willing to take the gamble? Are you willing to bet your career and your family?s financial security on management?s word? Again, I do not know whether they will keep their promises. I only know the history of our industry shows that nine times out of 10, they will not. You could be the exception, but, more than likely, you will not be. However, if their promises are genuine, management will have no problem incorporating them into a collective bargaining agreement.

Voting to form a union should not be viewed as a vote against management. To that end, giving management a chance and choosing union representation are not exclusive. Quite the contrary, a union merely gives management the opportunity to put its promises in writing via collective bargaining agreement. A written contract defines important terms that have a material impact on you and your finances ? not unlike an agreement signed when purchasing a home or car. There is no reason the work environment should be any different.

It should be pointed out a union does not impede management from treating its employees well and a contract does not necessarily mean the relationship between the parties will be bad. The decision to form a union is business. It?s not personal. Management has legions of executives, lawyers, consultant and advisors working to protect and defend their business interests. And this begs the question: Why should you be any different wen it comes to something as important as your job?​

Voting to organize under the Teamster banner is one of the best decisions you can make in your professional aviation career. With the impending merger and all the uncertainty and changes that brings, you need something upon which you can rely. A union is that cornerstone ? that foundation on which you and your peers can build something important and solid in the years to come. That?s because the union is you and your fellow pilots working together to protect your interests as professional pilots rather than relying on management to protect you when they are clearly focused on protecting their own interests.

A vote for the union is a vote for taking control of your career. Do you really want to give that control to someone else?
 
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Having worked for both union and non-union carriers, there's truly no comparison. A union isn't a panacea, but it's far, far better than the alternative. After seeing it from both sides, I won't go back to a non-union job in aviation.

At my previous (non-union at the time) carrier, the company furloughed, and many crew bases were shrunk. Pilots were, in some cases, kicked out of their bases while pilots junior to them were able to stay, because they were married to people who worked in the office! Health care contributions went from $0 to a substantial portion of our paychecks on very short notice, and of course with no pilot input. I had friends at other non-union carriers who were furloughed not by seniority, but because they happened to be flying equipment that the company wanted to park.

Finally, I'll say this: Even if you trust your management now, your company can be sold, and management can change. Without a union, I shudder to think what would be left of my job when David Sokol and Jordan Hansell took over Netjets. A written contract was the only thing that stopped them.
 
Quite a few postings to my last post, so I’ll make a little statement and then respond to several of them.

First, I’m not RH, never have been, don’t look like him, etc. I realize your need to focus your hatred, vitriol, and bile on him or someone else in management, but I’m not him…just a simple line-pilot at Flex/DAC for many years that is fed up with your tactics and behavior. I would encourage your lawsuits and “outings” to prove you are liars.

I’ve seen from the beginning how the IBT has tried to infiltrate this company, and it’s disgusting. It uses character assasination, demonization, and the Big Lie as its main weapons against management. It uses faux-respect schemes @VUH and pretty sophisticated psychological tricks (i.e. hot buttons) to manipulate members to do it’s bidding. And it, apparently, works…there’s quite a few of you wanna-be’s, possibly a majority.

The character assasination started with Deanna W, one of our best and well-liked presidents, and hasn’t stopped since. You’ve made prediction after prediction on THIS BOARD about broke airplanes, work-rules violations, rolling rest, etc, etc NONE OF WHICH HAS COME TRUE since we were bought. The ONLY conclusion I come to is this…you LIED ABOUT THESE THINGS, AND YOU’LL LIE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE IN ORDER TO TAKE CONTROL OF THIS COMPANY.

Architect-Why do you post here? if you come on here just to make observations or ponder your navel hair, there are probably better places to post than this.

GC-I’m not trying to silence you Dude….Post on. BTW, was DAC paying you a salary while you”were lining their pockets?” My career has been/continues to be with Flex/DAC, so don’t tell me how I should feel about the IBT.

CA1900-have you ever worked for an IBT-backed carrier? The IBT is unscrupolous, unethical in their business, and corrupt. They’ve been mob-affilliated since Bobby Kennedy went after the first Jimmy Hoffa in the 60’s. They’ve just been recommended to be put back under FEDERAL-SUPERVISION AGAIN. And there’s quite a few bulbs here that gladly GIVE them their dues.

These are my feelings I’ve developed over the past 2 years working under DAC. I’m betting the remainder of my career on the company, NOT the IBT. The IBT declared war
2 years ago, and I’ve chosen to do my share of the fight on this board. I’ll work for partnering with NJ or any other HONEST union, but NOT the IBT.
VOTE NO.
WL
 
No rolling rest at Union Carriers!

FAA - On Call Pilots Are On Duty
http://m.aviationweek.com/bca/faa-call-pilots-are-duty

FAA: On-Call Pilots Are on Duty
Business & Commercial Aviation
By Kent S. Jackson
Nov 27, 2015
The cold beer test can show whether an operator has a "prospective rest" policy
FAA: On Call = On Duty

The FAA has once again issued a legal interpretation explaining that an ?on call? pilot can?t count as rest all of the time that a call never came. The agency has been restating this principle periodically for years, and each time, many in the FAR Part 135 on-demand charter world angrily reply that this policy cannot function in the real world. Their position: If a pilot hasn?t flown or worked in any way for a week, why can?t that same, well-rested pilot fly on 2-hr. notice?


...............

Where's my buddy Yip? :D
 
Quite a few postings to my last post, so I?ll make a little statement and then respond to several of them.

First, I?m not RH, never have been, don?t look like him, etc. I realize your need to focus your hatred, vitriol, and bile on him or someone else in management, but I?m not him?just a simple line-pilot at Flex/DAC for many years that is fed up with your tactics and behavior. I would encourage your lawsuits and ?outings? to prove you are liars.

I?ve seen from the beginning how the IBT has tried to infiltrate this company, and it?s disgusting. It uses character assasination, demonization, and the Big Lie as its main weapons against management. It uses faux-respect schemes @VUH and pretty sophisticated psychological tricks (i.e. hot buttons) to manipulate members to do it?s bidding. And it, apparently, works?there?s quite a few of you wanna-be?s, possibly a majority.

The character assasination started with Deanna W, one of our best and well-liked presidents, and hasn?t stopped since. You?ve made prediction after prediction on THIS BOARD about broke airplanes, work-rules violations, rolling rest, etc, etc NONE OF WHICH HAS COME TRUE since we were bought. The ONLY conclusion I come to is this?you LIED ABOUT THESE THINGS, AND YOU?LL LIE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE IN ORDER TO TAKE CONTROL OF THIS COMPANY.

Architect-Why do you post here? if you come on here just to make observations or ponder your navel hair, there are probably better places to post than this.

GC-I?m not trying to silence you Dude?.Post on. BTW, was DAC paying you a salary while you?were lining their pockets?? My career has been/continues to be with Flex/DAC, so don?t tell me how I should feel about the IBT.

CA1900-have you ever worked for an IBT-backed carrier? The IBT is unscrupolous, unethical in their business, and corrupt. They?ve been mob-affilliated since Bobby Kennedy went after the first Jimmy Hoffa in the 60?s. They?ve just been recommended to be put back under FEDERAL-SUPERVISION AGAIN. And there?s quite a few bulbs here that gladly GIVE them their dues.

These are my feelings I?ve developed over the past 2 years working under DAC. I?m betting the remainder of my career on the company, NOT the IBT. The IBT declared war
2 years ago, and I?ve chosen to do my share of the fight on this board. I?ll work for partnering with NJ or any other HONEST union, but NOT the IBT.
VOTE NO.
WL
I've worked for an IBT represented carrier.

The IBT does very little as far as the local representation is concerned. That is taken care of your locally elected leadership and volunteers so your fears of thuggery are unfounded. That is, unless you work with thugs.

The reason NJASAP voted out IBT was because 25% of the dues went to IBT national and we became big enough to pay for our own representation and basically outgrew IBT. We didn't need them anymore.

Here's some of the REAL positives about being in a union.

1) You WILL make more money. It may take time, but you will. When I started at my present company, I made about $28,000. By the end of this year I will be at about $200,000. I assure you, the company didn't pay the difference out of the goodness of their hearts. It's because of the union. When Flex got a raise in 2005 and 2007, it was because of MY union.

2) Representation. You have a bad day and do something stupid that could get you violated or fired. The only people who will truly have your back are the ones you are paying, your union brothers. The company will send you down the river to protect themselves no matter what. The union will represent you, file grievances for you, prepare for arbitrations, etc... I can't tell you how many times I've called a union steward just to vent because I felt I was being pushed. Sometimes taking your frustrations out on someone who isn't going to discipline you is all you need.

3) Safety. "GET IN THAT AIRPLANE AND GO OR YOU'RE FIRED." I don't think so, Scooter. Being in a union I am totally comfortable telling a passenger, chief pilot, FAA, or anyone "This isn't a safe situation. We are going to wait until conditions change and I am confident we can proceed safely."
 
By nature pilots have a desire to go along to get along. This was how it was for my first 4 years at NetJets. When the economy went south in 2009 RTS and the union came up with a plan to cut back and save jobs. The vast majority of pilots participated in one or more of the voluntary measures. That all changed for the worse in the summer of 2009. D.S. came in and blew up the Labor Management Relationship Program. It wasn't the 1108 or NJASAP that pushed the company to the brink, it was management.

In the end the O.P. says it best. This isn't a personal decision, it is a business decision. Choose what is best for your future.
 

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