cyclic monkey
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- Jun 29, 2003
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All good points, but when is someone actually going to do something more than just talk about it ??????
For now I’ll do some talking too. Please bear with me, read the questions I pose, and send in your thoughts.
First, some background. My employer looks after myself and the guys I work with better than anyone else in Canada, so I don’t NEED an Association, and I certainly don’t need or WANT a Union (i.e. the right to strike).
However, I came very close to starting an Association last year for the benefit of all the other guys in our business that are not looked after as well as myself. I did not proceed because I got the feeling from my boss (who I have a great relationship with) that an “Association” started by one of his employees would send some incorrect and unfair messages about how his staff are treated. So I left it for someone else to do.
And, here we are today………Blah, Blah, Blah,……lots of talk, no action, are we that far apart in what we want ??
This forum topic is about the Air Methods pilots joining a Union. Is that what you want ????????
That’s easy to arrange, just look in the Yellow Pages under Labour Organisations and they’ll come swarming around before you’ve had a chance to put the phone down.
But as the old saying goes, “be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it.”
Can you envisage yourself walking around outside your hangar carrying a picket-sign and singing ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’???? Oh by the way, you voted to accept the 10% pay raise and life insurance deal that was offered, but 51% of your fellow pilots wanted more, so being a good brother, you have to support the majority, and march the picket-lines with them. Oh, don’t forget to physically block the AMEs from entering the hangar !! Just wait until the strike is over and you have to go to the bush with those guys !! Is it worth the raise??? Right there is a good reason to include AMEs into your group.
The CHC parts department in Newfoundland is unionized and went on strike last week. Meanwhile, the CHC mother corp. announced their quarterly results and said some earnings were decreased due to a “pilot’s dispute” in Norway. That sounds very one-sided. Isn’t a dispute between two parties ??? Is that how you wish to be portrayed in the media. Is that the sort of relationship you want with your employer??
Okay, so maybe it’s just a Professional Association that you want. That would be easy to do. (I know because of how close I came last year). Would you affiliate yourself with the HAC as a “pilot committee”, or stand apart (and possibly be seen as adversarial from the start)??
Would you join up with PHPA that is mentioned in the Association Vote forum topic???
It’s a pretty fancy ID card you get. Butch Grafton has done a lot of hard work to get that group where it is today. But did you notice how close that “association” follows the news of the gradual unionization of American helicopter companies. Is that what you want in Canada?
(Sorry, Butch, it’s not a shot at you or your group, but there are some tough questions to be asked here. Because the Canadian and US industries are quite different in their nature, what may work in Louisiana may not work in Alberta. For example, I believe there were 541 eligible pilots in the Air Methods vote, and we don’t have companies anywhere near that size).
Consider that whoever starts a group is the Founding President and can set up whatever he wants, then see if others want to join, then (probably) a committee forms to run it democratically after that, either in the same direction, or off on a new tangent, but only if that is in the organisation’s original charter concept.
So what are your thoughts?? It seems like 90% of you want the “association” that is mentioned in the Vote forum. Let’s discuss exactly what shape you want this thing to have, or even better, one of you get the ball rolling.
Saturnman, where are you, how is the Guild, and what are your thoughts on this after the attempts you have made??
Thanks for reading this far, please reply, pilots and AMEs, either for or against, all civil replies are welcomed.
And to anyone that actually gets something started, Best Wishes and Good Luck.
In anticipation of your comments I remain, sincerely yours, Cyclic Monkey.
For now I’ll do some talking too. Please bear with me, read the questions I pose, and send in your thoughts.
First, some background. My employer looks after myself and the guys I work with better than anyone else in Canada, so I don’t NEED an Association, and I certainly don’t need or WANT a Union (i.e. the right to strike).
However, I came very close to starting an Association last year for the benefit of all the other guys in our business that are not looked after as well as myself. I did not proceed because I got the feeling from my boss (who I have a great relationship with) that an “Association” started by one of his employees would send some incorrect and unfair messages about how his staff are treated. So I left it for someone else to do.
And, here we are today………Blah, Blah, Blah,……lots of talk, no action, are we that far apart in what we want ??
This forum topic is about the Air Methods pilots joining a Union. Is that what you want ????????
That’s easy to arrange, just look in the Yellow Pages under Labour Organisations and they’ll come swarming around before you’ve had a chance to put the phone down.
But as the old saying goes, “be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it.”
Can you envisage yourself walking around outside your hangar carrying a picket-sign and singing ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’???? Oh by the way, you voted to accept the 10% pay raise and life insurance deal that was offered, but 51% of your fellow pilots wanted more, so being a good brother, you have to support the majority, and march the picket-lines with them. Oh, don’t forget to physically block the AMEs from entering the hangar !! Just wait until the strike is over and you have to go to the bush with those guys !! Is it worth the raise??? Right there is a good reason to include AMEs into your group.
The CHC parts department in Newfoundland is unionized and went on strike last week. Meanwhile, the CHC mother corp. announced their quarterly results and said some earnings were decreased due to a “pilot’s dispute” in Norway. That sounds very one-sided. Isn’t a dispute between two parties ??? Is that how you wish to be portrayed in the media. Is that the sort of relationship you want with your employer??
Okay, so maybe it’s just a Professional Association that you want. That would be easy to do. (I know because of how close I came last year). Would you affiliate yourself with the HAC as a “pilot committee”, or stand apart (and possibly be seen as adversarial from the start)??
Would you join up with PHPA that is mentioned in the Association Vote forum topic???
It’s a pretty fancy ID card you get. Butch Grafton has done a lot of hard work to get that group where it is today. But did you notice how close that “association” follows the news of the gradual unionization of American helicopter companies. Is that what you want in Canada?
(Sorry, Butch, it’s not a shot at you or your group, but there are some tough questions to be asked here. Because the Canadian and US industries are quite different in their nature, what may work in Louisiana may not work in Alberta. For example, I believe there were 541 eligible pilots in the Air Methods vote, and we don’t have companies anywhere near that size).
Consider that whoever starts a group is the Founding President and can set up whatever he wants, then see if others want to join, then (probably) a committee forms to run it democratically after that, either in the same direction, or off on a new tangent, but only if that is in the organisation’s original charter concept.
So what are your thoughts?? It seems like 90% of you want the “association” that is mentioned in the Vote forum. Let’s discuss exactly what shape you want this thing to have, or even better, one of you get the ball rolling.
Saturnman, where are you, how is the Guild, and what are your thoughts on this after the attempts you have made??
Thanks for reading this far, please reply, pilots and AMEs, either for or against, all civil replies are welcomed.
And to anyone that actually gets something started, Best Wishes and Good Luck.
In anticipation of your comments I remain, sincerely yours, Cyclic Monkey.
