Unions

As a general rule, I'm a pretty conservative guy. I vote (mostly) Republican, support the war, pay my taxes, believe in law and order...and I am mostly against unions. All the ALPA/AFL/CIO/Teamsters/etc guys can disagree with me, but I believe that the primary days of unions, where they kept people from working 23.5 hr days in death trap factories for pennies per hour has come and gone.

(several generalizations follow, and anyone can pick one case as the exception that proves the rule, so please don't overload the comments)

For the most part, minumum wages and minimum safe working conditions are now prescribed by law and enforced by Dept of Labor, OSHA, and numerous other alphabet agencies. In many cases, unions exist for one purpose only: to continue the union at the expense of it's members. Look at what the Mechanic's Union did to Eastern Airlines. They were very proud of themselves that they didn't budge an inch and give in to the evil old airline. Now, did it matter to them that all of their members were out of a job and had to figure out how to feed their families?

Note to readers: The Eastern example is just that, an example that happens to be aviation related. I do not want to get into an argument about airline unions. I don't own airline stock, I'm not an ALPA member, and I don't have any direct experience, so please don't start ranting to me about airlines or their unions (pro or con).

I am originally from a right to work state (Georgia), and I believe that people have a right to work whether they are in a union or not. If you want to join a union, go right ahead, it's a free country. People should not be forced to join a union just to get a job (closed shop), nor should they be labelled scabs just because they choose to work instead of strike in order to keep the mortgage paid.

I also believe that a company's primary fiduciary responsibility is to its shareholders. It has a duty to pay its employees a fair wage with safe working conditions. It has a duty to its customers to provide a quality product. But its primary duty is to show a profit to the people who own the company, the shareholders. Not the unions.

So, you say, what does this have to with a blog about Part 91 GA flying? Last night, I sat through an AOPA town hall meeting with Phil Boyer here in San Diego. Along with several luminary guests (including John and Martha King who are based here), Phil got up and told us what the critical issues facing GA were, what we should be concerned about, and what AOPA was using my membership dues to do about it.

Then it struck me: I am in a union. A union of GA pilots trying to keep our airports and airspace open, along with other issues. Lobbying organizations are really unions trying to protect their segment of the population.

So, philisophically, if I am generally anti-union, do I have a problem with this? I had to think about it, but I think not. First, AOPA uses my money to press for causes that are important to me, just as if I were in the AARP (a few more years yet) or the NRA. Second, and more importantly, is that it is an organization of like-minded individuals who choose to freely associate without condemnation of non-members. You don't hear about anyone who is not an AOPA member being called a scab and having the tires of his Cessna slashed. Much as in many right-to-work states, the union (in this case AOPA) works to improve conditions for everyone, then hopes people will join because they like what the union is doing for them, not because they are forced.

I'm okay with that.