Public Service Unions Strategy to Destroy Itself

I understand that past unions were responsible for the eight hour work day, weekends, holidays, and fifth-teen minute breaks, including lunch breaks. And I respect those unions, which were a part of those movements. However, in my opinion, some of today's unions are a complete disgrace to their founders. Two that come to mind are the American Airline pilot union and the New York subway union.

There once was a time when I respected all unions. But this changed as I became an American Airlines employee. Yes, I had many benefits as an AA worker, but some of those benefits were quickly compromised by the same union that offered them in first place.

For instance, one day my dad and I tried to use some of those American Airline standby tickets so that we could enjoy a nice stress free Universal Studios Florida vacation. I remember that day like it was yesterday. We were both looking forward to seeing Universal Studios for the first time. We landed at Orlando, Florida on time along with our luggage, rented a car, and arrived at the hotel without incident. Everything seemed to be going as planned. It wasn't until we entered our hotel room that I discovered our first problem.

To my dismay, I had mistakenly turned on the television during a news hour. This is when I discovered that the American Airlines pilot union was threatening to strike. I suddenly became terrified. I sat at the end of my bed listening to the pilot union explanation to why they were striking, but of course I didn't need an explanation. I knew the strike was over money.

Anger and frustration compressed inside me until I erupted like a volcano, and I cursed the pilot union as I mashed the TV remote control off button. I already knew that American Airlines pilots were paid generously. It was probably the union itself that wanted more money, and it didn't care who it hurt to get it. They didn't care about American Airlines, its customers, my dad and I or others who were on vacation or business trips.

Since I wasn't prepared for a pilot strike, it caused me many restless nights because if a strike were to commence, then my dad and I would most likely be stranded in Florida for days. For those of you who don't know, standby tickets are low priority compared to paying customers. People who fly stand-by are only allowed on a plane if there is an empty seat, which was not purchased by a paying customer.

Although I was fortunate that the pilot union didn't strike during my vacation, others weren't so fortunate. Because as soon as I returned, the union struck. This left thousands of people stranded, stressed, and stunned. Of course, American Airlines cared about their customers suffering, but the pilot union didn't seem to care that it was disrupting or destroying people's vacations or business transactions. The union didn't even seem to care about the damage that they were inflecting on their own American Airlines.

Eventually, American Airlines caved to the union demands, which ended the strike. This solved one problem for the airline. But it didn't solve all the millions of problems that the union strike had caused. Meaning, many customer service employees had to work hard to contain the strike damage.

Although I overheard many disturbing disruptions that resulted from the strike, there was one story that really stuck in my head. It was about the guy who had planned on proposing marriage to his girlfriend. Apparently, he had rented a yacht to take him and his girlfriend to a certain area to ask the question. Can you guess what happened? Right, the union strike interfered with his plans so he had to cancel them. When I found out about this, it made me very upset. It was then that I began to realize that a union striking against a manufacturing plant is one thing, but striking against a public service is another. For some people didn't even receive their US mail until later. At the time, American Airlines was the main carrier for the United States postal service, and I believe this is still true to this day.

This brings me to the New York subway union. Remember a couple of years back when the New York subway staff struck near Christmas. Remember seeing all those people on television walking to their homes or businesses? Did that union think about how its actions before it approved them. I very seriously doubt it. Therefore, businesses, Christmas shoppers, elderly, and handicap people were left without transportation.

Whether people agree with me or not, I believe that a full strike should have been avoided by these unions, which brings me to two questions. Was it really necessary for these two unions to strike at a hundred percent? Why didn't these unions trying striking at twenty-five percent for three days, then increase to fifty percent after three more days, and then increase to seventy-five percent three days later. Was it really necessary to strike all at once? Nowadays, I really doubt that companies can hire employees fast enough to cover anyone of these strikes, especially with all the legal repercussions.

So why did these unions do this? All it does is outrage customers who use that service and damage these unions' reputations. Again, it's one thing to strike for a manufacture of a product; it's another when it involves a necessary public service. What's next? All local police officers or doctors striking at once? I really believe that public service unions should pay more attention to their image. They should make intelligent decisions rather than ignorant ones. Otherwise, they could find themselves in unnecessary multiple public lawsuits, which could severally damage them financially.