DCA Instructors to Unionize Now!!

Foz...

Good job on your answers...

But this forum is like discussing religion... or politics...
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No JAM they haven't changed much, other than new Standz manuals for the complex a/c and some new checklists. As far as the lights, like you said, if there is a prob mx is out there within minutes. They even ask that when you call dispatch that you explain what the prob is so that mx can come out prepared and get you in the air asap. I will say that some of the lights are horrible, but I personally have yet to see a 172 without either an overhead light, post lights, background lighting in the instruments or a combo of them. Also, if on the pre-flight you determine the lights are working properly and still decide that it is not adequate, dispatch will do what they can to switch planes for you. Just my experience though.
 
That you signed a contract.


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- As a wage employee when you do required work and are not compensated that it violates state and federal labor laws


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Paperwork is included in our contract.


The information presented in this section is limited to the requirements of the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) with regards to hours worked. Generally, an employee, or a union on behalf of an employee, MAY NOT waive his or her rights under the FLSA by agreement or CONTRACT, including what hours must be counted as hours worked. If your employment is, or if your employees are, subject to a contract which you believe conflicts with the provisions of the FLSA, please review this Advisor prior to contacting the nearest Wage and Hour District Office.
U.S. Department of Labor
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210

Our rights, your rights as an employee are being violated. The law is being broken and its time to say no more. This is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
 
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- That competitive flight schools in Florida offer pay 50% higher on average then DCA. In addition there are benifits packages to include vacation and medical.


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Then go to another flight school in FL. I will be happy to take your students. BTW, DCA offers vacation and 401(k) benefits, with company matching. Let me know when you find another school that will match what DCA will on retirement benefits.


By organizing for our rights, we can increase our compensation, and begin pension funds which will be transferable to our future careers in the airlines. I've been with DCA for one year this Oct. and have not had one paid vacation day yet and my 401k is non existant as well (was told only true full time employees can participate). When pilots at all airlines nationwide realized they can no longer afford to operate without protection, they didn't say go to another airline, they said stand up make our airline better, make our airline great. If you future is in this industry its important to realize by organizing you will be supporting your future and the better benefit of the team, you will have to do it in the airlines, and should do it for your future.
 
You have a problem with paperwork? Every damned CFI out there does paperwork without pay. That's all part of being a CFI. You get paid by the flight hour or hours of ground intruction, just like everyone else. If you don't think it's fair then you're in the wrong line of work. Yeah $10 an hour sucks but you signed on for it so you can get that interview. As far as benefits for instructors I have know clue what the company offers. Could one of the other instructors on the thread explain. Part time employees get paid PTO days as well as full time employees.
 
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You have a problem with paperwork? Every damned CFI out there does paperwork without pay. That's all part of being a CFI. You get paid by the flight hour or hours of ground intruction, just like everyone else.

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I don't do paperwork without pay...
 
Steward..........

When it comes down to it. If you are serious about organizing the DCA CFI's. You'll have to have enough support to win a vote amongst the troops. Are you even close or just testing the waters? It doesn't seem from this forum that you have much of a chance. Of course, this forum might not be an accurate indication of the overall feelings of DCA CFI's.
 
Re: Steward..........

Lloyd I stand corrected!
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You are the man with the Phat CFI job
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You work for a really great oufit up there and get paid pretty well. I can't remember if my CFI I had got paid for paperwork back at my old FBO. I just thought it was the norm not to get paid for the paperwork shuffle.
 
Re: Steward..........

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Lloyd I stand corrected!
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You are the man with the Phat CFI job
grin.gif
You work for a really great oufit up there and get paid pretty well. I can't remember if my CFI I had got paid for paperwork back at my old FBO. I just thought it was the norm not to get paid for the paperwork shuffle.

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I will admit that I work for a pretty good flight school. It's our policy to chage for the time spent with a student, whether it's giving instruction or reviewing cross-country planning before sending a student on his or her way for a solo flight. We make it clear in the very beginning that that's the way we do business - and in exchange, we devote our attention to that student completely while we're on the clock.

If a 141 student needs entries made in his or her record, that's all on the clock. Basically, if I'm doing something in front of the student that takes away from my plane-watching and nap-catching, then I'll get paid for it.

Now, often, I'll adjust my time with the student for head calls, smoke breaks (if the student smokes) and folks calling into the office for scheduling problems. Most of the time, my students are getting some free time in there, as I always give the student the benefit of the doubt. I also keep the human factors in mind (we're all late for something some of the time....I don't charge late fees,. If it's a problem that keeps coming up, we'll have a "Come To Jesus" meeting and solve that early.

There are other CFI jobs like mine out there! Don't give in to the first offer....wrk where you wanna work, even if youy have to hold out for it!!!
 
As an instructor, we are considered full-time employees, with a company matching 401(k) after 6 months of employment. DCA will match 25% of pre-tax contributions up to 8%, with an immediate 100% vesting of all contributions. We can decide how to allocate the contributions, including the money DCA contributes on our behalf. The plan administrator has several pre-set allocation tables we can utilize, or we can pick the funds ourselves from about 20 different funds, made up of I think 3 different fund families. If you have any other questions about it, feel free to ask me.
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As far as the paid PTO days, not sure about that. Would be kind of hard for the company to pay us for days off when our schedules vary day by day and we are hourly. Would be different if we were salaried or had a consistent work schedule. Like I said though, not sure about it.

About the paperwork issue, this is just my guess, but I would be willing to bet that every flight has a .5 brief time with it, yet only 10 minutes of that are being used to do a pre-flight and post-flight brief. So that would leave 20 minutes that the instructor is paid for and didn't work for. Paperwork doesn't amount to nearly that per flight. Disclaimer, I am not talking about every instructor doing this. In fact, I see many instructors spending more than .5 debriefing alone. However, there are those that come back from the flight, get the paperwork, sign it and then ask for the logbook and sign it and then say goodbye.
 
Thanks for some insight on what benefits there are on the instructor side. I'm also an hourly full time employee. I get the same 401k, medical and dental. After 6 months of employment employees get 3 paid PTO days. After a year we get 7 PTO days a year. Sounds like this individual needs to be more aware of his benefits.
 
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Would be kind of hard for the company to pay us for days off when our schedules vary day by day and we are hourly. Would be different if we were salaried or had a consistent work schedule. Like I said though, not sure about it.

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Wouldn't be that hard...they should just pay you for your average...that's what Samantha used to get paid (hourly, just as inconsistent as flight instructors) - until she quit in the middle of the night and went on her own....
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It all goes back to the "dangling carrot" buisness plan that DCA operates under. How many instructors that are $60,000. in debt, are going to forfeit their airline interview to beat DCA into submission? -0- And the invisable management at DCA knows this. They have you by the short hairs wether you like it or not.

The inadequate lighting on night (IFR) flights has been a problem for years. I complained to my instructor about this several times but he always encouraged me to make the flight anyhow. After a few unsat flights due to inadequate lighting (fumbling with a flashlight, not ready for the approach) I took my case to the group leader (several times). Unfortunately for me it fell on deaf ears. I eventually refused to fly at night and this created a whole new set of problems between my instructor, the group leader and me but, thats another story.

At orientation way back in 2001, we were told that "everyday at Comair Academy is a job interview" apparently still holds true today. I believe that the sooner DCA stops treating their customers like employee's the better off they will be.
 
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