The Role of Pilot Unions - Essay Example

Outline Importance of Pilot Unions for the Airline Pilot How Corporate America Manipulates the Labor Force What Pilots Need To Do To Preserve Their Rights under a Unionized Work Force What a Pilot Must Always Remember About His/her Job Importance of Pilot Unions for the Airline Pilot The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) is the collective bargaining agent for US Airways pilots. Other airlines have in-house unions for their pilots while others are not affiliated to USAPA. In essence, pilot unions give pilots a stronger voice so that they can get a fair share of the economic growth they help create. Such unions help pilots achieve higher wages and they on reward pilots for productivity growth.1 How Corporate America Manipulates the Labor Force Universities are run by boards that tend to be populated by corporate elites who hire presidents, vice presidents, provosts, and deans who think like they do or who are willing to do their bidding. These elites do not care about the upper mobility of the middle and lower classes thus they have made college to be expensive and in turn most people from such economic classes are shunning away from college. This will empower the upper classes and their well-educated children to place a stranglehold on labor laws and civil liberties in America.2 Further, there have been transformations in workplaces such as downsizing, rise of contingency work, tightening of coordination, human relations management and squeezing wages.3 Downsizing has resulted to a lesser number of Americans being employed on full time basis due to automation and a rise in contingency work in corporations. Consequently, workload is increased on those employees who remain. Due to engagement of robots services, there have been fewer industrial jobs and less leverage in bargaining with management for the employee who remain. In addition, computerization has increased the ability to service more people thus limiting the number of professionals needed in advanced industrial societies. There has been a rise of the contingency worker through the replacement of permanent workers with temporary or part-time ones. The latter are usually paid less and draw no fringe benefits which works well for the corporations. Such corporations thus remain globally competitive, expand and contract with product lines and market cycles, avoid healthcare and pension costs, vacation pay, training programs and government anti-discriminatory rules. Corporations have tightened coordination through the use of computer systems that coordinate the flow of raw materials, machine time, labor and other resources and the front office is thus able to monitor and coordinate retail and clerical work. For instance, with the employment of the Bell telephone operators, every fifteen minutes, computer terminals near supervisor’s desks print out the office’s complete productivity record. Indicating how many operators were on duty, how many calls were handled and the average speed of answer. Human relations management has been heightened to strengthen employee commitment and managerial authority. Corporations have in effect maintained hierachical forms of organization in the guise of participation and it is dominated by corporate elites with an antielitist ideology. Therefore, by eliminating or softening the adversary relation between subordinates and superiors, they make it more difficult for employees to defend themselves against the state or for workers to resist the demands of the corporation. Human relations management creates an illusion that the workers have control over their work lives thus they become loyal and committed to the corporation. As regards capital flight, corporate America is maximizes profits in the new global market by investing in plants situated overseas to the detriment of the workers, families, suppliers and local communities. Profits are thus increased through cheaper third-world labor and less restrictive government regulation of the environment, employment rules and worker safety. They also use their profits to purchase other companies instead of expanding and modernizing their existing plants. The mergers result into an increase in the centralization of corporate capital and decision making, an increase in the power of corporations over workers, unions and governments, and a decline in the number of jobs. Squeezing wages entails putting tighter controls on the paychecks and benefits of the workforce. For instance, the hourly wage has not more than a quarter of the workforce have earnings falling below the $15, 000-a-year poverty line with Blacks and women being the worst hit. What Pilots Need To Do To Preserve Their Rights under a Unionized Work Force The unions can play a major role in alleviating the problems facing pilots such as pay, benefits and career stagnation. These have been listed as the top-notch problems ailing the profession. Therefore, in order for the union to help its members it should concentrate on solving these top three problems instead of wanting to solve all the problems facing its members to no avail. This is seen through the relentless efforts of the unions to fight about system board and free internet for pilots instead of fighting for the pilots’ pay rise.4 Pilots face a number of health risks that unions need to understand raise and awareness levels in order for pilots themselves to be able to manage the risks they take. Such health risks include: deep vein thrombosis, cabin radiation, altitude, hypoxia, dehydration, fatigue / stress, and hypothermia.5 Further, pilots face unusual challenges such as staying rested on long trips, passing medical examinations to remain certificated, and performing simultaneous or unexpected tasks at the helm of an airplane. Their unions can therefore help them to be accorded better working conditions and help them and others to uphold the rights of the pilots. What a Pilot Must Always Remember About His/her Job A pilot must not strain his body while on duty. She/he should only work between 8 to 20 days in a month as it would not be physically possible to work for more than those days. They should also be prepared for tests such as a check-ride which is taken twice per year. The test requires some study and if one fails they can lose their job. They are also expected to keep themselves abreast with new techniques and procedures, and keep their charts up to date. 6 In addition, a pilot needs to be in good physical condition otherwise he loses his job upon the discovery of a health problem. They therefore undergo a physical exam once every 6 months which they have to pass. They should be mentally fit so as to deliver in their job which depends on their ability to stay calm and collected while solving problems. They should also avoid drugs and alcohol as they are subject to regular drug and alcohol tests. They should have clean criminal records as any felony convictions are disqualifying. Further, they need to acquire a very high level of skill to be able to fly an airplane and they have to keep working on their skills. A pilot must be very knowledgeable on a variety of subjects since the skill of flying an airplane is hardly enough. They must therefore understand the theory of flight through understanding and applying concepts of physics such as laws of motion, mass, inertia, pressure, temperature, fluids and gases. This in turn aids in understanding aerodynamics (subsonic and supersonic), aircraft performance (including aircraft loading), hydroplaning and system operations and limitations. They also have to understand meteorology which is also rooted in physics. They must thus be able to interpret the weather that they are provided and make judgments and analysis as to the validity of the weather forecasts themselves. They should understand aircraft systems, electrical systems, the hydraulic systems, the pneumatic systems, the cable and pulley systems by understanding the areas of physics that apply in order to trouble shoot a problem when it occurs in flight. He must also understand aircraft maintenance.7 A pilot must also understand navigation by understanding how maps and charts are constructed in order to properly interpret them. Further, the pilot should understand the advantages and disadvantages of each type of navigation used and know when to use them. They should also understand geography thoroughly in order to navigate. They must be aware of international laws and current political situations in various countries. A pilot must be familiar with all the regulations and air traffic control that may affect his or her flight. They should therefore be able to read and understand legal documents. They must also be familiar with the books of procedures that air traffic controllers follow and understand the limits of the controllers radar and radios. Pilots must have some knowledge of physiology to recognize physical problems that may affect him or her or any passengers and know how to prevent these problems in the first place. Pilots also need to study past aviation accidents so they can better understand the human factors that may have contributed to them.8 Bibliography David Madland and Karla Walter, ‘Unions Are Good for the American Economy’ (2009). Retrieved on April 21, 2012 from http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2009/02/unions_workers.html Fear of Flying Help and Plane Info (2006). Flying Health Risks. Retrieved on April 21, 2012 from http://www.fear-of-flying-help.com/flyinghealthrisks.html Frank. W. Elwell, An Essay on the Rationalization of the Work Place’ Industrializing America (1999), Praeger Publishing. Roger Shuler, ‘The Middle Class Is Being Priced Out of American Universities’ retrieved on April 21, 2012 from http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/The-Middle-Class-Is-Being- by-Roger- Shuler-110711-193.html Shem Malmquist, ‘Become an Airline Pilot’ retrieved on April 21, 2012 from http://jetcareers.com/becoming-an-airline-pilot.html Terry Maxon, ‘American Airlines pilot union chief: We asked too much, put too many items on t he table’. Retrieved on April 21, 2012 from http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/12/american-airlines-pilot-union.html Read More