Political Views and Pilot Unions.......

Seggy

Seggy

Well-Known Member
Ok folks, I DO NOT want to get into a deep political conversation over this one (and just for the record I am moderate in my views). I am the type of guy who HATES WITH A PASSION talking about politics at work. If a crewmember is talking about, "blah blah blah blah blah blah democrats blah blah blah blah blah republicans," I QUICKLY change the subject and point out a large tree on the ground for us to look at. Talking politics in the cockpit BAD.

However, I do think this point should be brought out with the involvements from the people on Skywest and Colgan on here to try to get a union on property. Moderators if this needs to be moved the Lav I understand. Just thought I would post it on here.

Anyway, from what I have seen is a large majority of pilots, are conservative in their political views.

A large majority, 90%, of airlines have a unionized pilot group.

Unions = traditional liberal cornerstone

Just because you support ALPA or your pilot union, doesn't mean you slant politically a certain way. Just shows you are pro-pilot.

Something to think about...
 
I think you are only pointing out that one's overall political view is a combination of a series of viewpoints on different issues, some of which might be considered "conservative" and others "liberal." It would be nice if most people recognized that.
 
MidlifeFlyer said:
I think you are only pointing out that one's overall political view is a combination of a series of viewpoints on different issues, some of which might be considered "conservative" and others "liberal." It would be nice if most people recognized that.
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What has happened is that some of our pilots that we are talking to are basically telling us that they oppose ALPA because unions aren't in their political views. Personal political views I have the utmost respect for. Like you said though is there are a series of issues that one can cross the line and support and still be seen as 'conservative' or 'liberal'.

ALPA and other pilot unions are there as a professional organization to help pilots.
 
Killtron2000 said:
Does ALPA make political contributions?
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Good question.

Not with your dues. If you want VOLUNTARILY give money to the ALPA Political Action Committee they do give money to candidates who support the views and legislation of pilots both Democrats and Republicans.
 
Well some pilots may not support those candidates for whatever reason and may object to having their money spent on their campaigns. If it is optional weather or not you contribute to it then I guess there is no problem really.

If you do contribute to the political action committee then is it above what you would normally pay in dues or is taken from the normal dues that you pay?
 
Killtron2000 said:
Well some pilots may not support those candidates for whatever reason and may object to having their money spent on their campaigns. If it is optional weather or not you contribute to it then I guess there is no problem really.

If you do contribute to the political action committee then is it above what you would normally pay in dues or is taken from the normal dues that you pay?
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It is completely optional and you can have your name listed or it can be done anonymously.

It is above what you pay your dues. You voluntarily give more specifically for the ALPA-PAC.
 
PAC is not part of your ALPA dues.

Also, I don't think *most* pilots are conservative per se. I think that most pilots may support hot button conservative issues (guns/abortion/taxes) but where I am at anyways, there are about an equal number of guys that are likely to say Bush Sucks that would rant about Clinton (either one). Sure, there is the captain that bids around LIT overnights because he can't stand to drive by the Clinton library (he's also the guy that as a newhire reserve FO years ago REFUSED to fly to Michigan (anywhere in the state) because he had an ex girlfriend up there that he didn't want to run into) but those are few and far between. I think mostly pilots (as a group) are rather ignorent. They read their US Today and can parrot back the pretty little info-tistic on the front page, but that is about it.
 
BobDDuck said:
Sure, there is the captain that bids around LIT overnights because he can't stand to drive by the Clinton library (he's also the guy that as a newhire reserve FO years ago REFUSED to fly to Michigan (anywhere in the state) because he had an ex girlfriend up there that he didn't want to run into) but those are few and far between.
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I don't think he's conservative. He just sounds :insane:

If your union does use dues to contribute to political issues (I don't know if ALPA does or doesn't), you generally can opt out, but it is a hassle.

This is an interesting topic because I have always felt that the unions made a huge mistake turning themselves into a fundraising unit for the DNC (not all -- Teamsters still play both sides of the fence). Whenever there is an organizing drive, a large part of the employee opposition/"no" votes come from conservatives or Republicans who hate all things liberal. Thus, the union political posture (rightly or wrongly) makes it just that much harder to convince employees to vote "union." (I think of myself as fairly moderate, and even I find the propaganda the AFL/CIO sends to my wife nauseating.)
 
Minnesota_Flyer said:
If your union does use dues to contribute to political issues (I don't know if ALPA does or doesn't), you generally can opt out, but it is a hassle.
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ALPA DOES NOT use dues money to contibute to politicians or political issues.

There is a separate Political Action Comittee (PAC) at ALPA which does contribute to politicians and is totally voluntary.


Kevin
 
People vote per their pocket book. Bottom line.

If I were a pro pilot, I'd be in favor of a strong union that stated my worth as I saw fit from a professional and financial standpoint.
 
FlyingSig said:
Do Airlines make political contributions? NEWSMEAT - David Neeleman's Federal Campaign Contribution Report (type in any airline CEO name)

Do oil companies make political contributions? TheHill.com - Criticism, contributions flow

What are the ramifications of ALPA NOT making political contributions? IMHO, much larger impact on my career.
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The problem with a union making political contributions out of union dues is that, since union dues are mandatory in a union shop, the union effectively is forcing members indirectly to contribute to political groups with which the members may not agree.
 
I agree politics in the cockpit isn't my favorite topic of discussion either, but pilots as a group tend to be conservative in their politics. Historically speaking union members that predominate the Democrat party now would be called conservatives if one were to look back to the so-called, "JFK Democrat" pro-military, pro-organized labor yet moderate to quite liberal on the social agenda. Seggy is a history major and probably more well-read than I on this topic...
 
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