Slavery In Aviation

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 07:47:01 -0800, "C J Campbell"
wrote in Message-Id:
:

Just because unfair labor practices are common
does not make them right.

"Bob Dole" wrote in message
news:y4Erb.158869$e01.564060@attbi_s02...

If the place where I work is telling me to work hour's for free, what
should I do ?

I am worried that working for free is illegal, immoral, unethical, and
unprofessional, and I am also worried that it exposes me to the
possibility
of an IRS audit as I could be accused of getting paid "under the table"
(tax evasion etc.).

I appreciate any replie's.

As others have said, you don't supply enough details for anyone here to
really comment much on.

Also, you have already been given replies that pretty much run the board. I
will add this: When I was flight instructing pretty much everyone of us was
expected to answer phones, straighten up the snack room, make coffee, help
put supplies away, inventory stock, etc., etc., etc. We shoveled snow off
the steps, cleaned airplanes, preheated planes in the winter - you get the
idea, lots of things that weren't flying or instructing. Heck, we even had
to spend a few evenings a year at a sports and vacation show booth answering
question about learning to fly. We even made calls to people who visited
the booth trying to drum up business. You know what? No one complained.
You know why? Because all of us wanted to progress in our career and that
was the way to start out doing it.

You call it Slavery, we called it Work Ethic.

My advice: Sure, you can call the Labor Commission, you can talk to a
lawyer, you could file a complaint. Then what? Then you are labeled a
trouble maker, a whiner, etc. and there goes your references for better
employment.

Do as others here have suggested - if it's that bad, get out. If not, grin
and bear it.

"Gary Mishler" wrote in message
news:tEOrb.161931$Fm2.143657@attbi_s04...
|
| "Bob Dole" wrote in message
| news:y4Erb.158869$e01.564060@attbi_s02...
|
|
| You call it Slavery, we called it Work Ethic.
|
| My advice: Sure, you can call the Labor Commission, you can talk to a
| lawyer, you could file a complaint. Then what? Then you are labeled a
| trouble maker, a whiner, etc. and there goes your references for better
| employment.
|
| Do as others here have suggested - if it's that bad, get out. If not,
grin
| and bear it.

Hmmm. If you talked that way to a migrant worker, you would be clapped in
irons.

Hmmm. If you talked that way to a migrant worker, you would be clapped in
irons.

Yeah, sure.

And if Warren Sapp were a flight instructor, he'd be complaining about being
"enslaved" for a lot less than the $5 million per year he's making now...

Sapp's a moron, and this whole thread is ridiculous.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...

Hmmm. If you talked that way to a migrant worker, you would be clapped in
irons.

Oh, really? Where would this occur, and by whom?

Sydney (who thinks migrants most places don't have a lot of options)

On 2003-11-11 06:47:45 -0800, (Snowbird) said

Sydney (who thinks migrants most places don't have a lot of options

The state of Washington, for one

A couple of years ago, there was some significant wailing and gnashing of teeth about the conditions that migrant workers live in, and it was decided that the state should pay for the building of housing for migrant workers

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:02:33 GMT, "Gary Mishler"
wrote in Message-Id:
tEOrb.161931$Fm2.143657@attbi_s04:

You call it Slavery, we called it Work Ethic.

My advice: Sure, you can call the Labor Commission, you can talk to a
lawyer, you could file a complaint. Then what?

If you seek information from the state labor board concerning the
labor laws, you are educating yourself. Wouldn't you agree that it is
prudent for an employee to understand the legal implications of his
employer's practices and acts? Head-in-the-sand thinking is for those
too weak to face the truth.

If the employee sees the employer's attempt to secure free labor for
the unjust robbery it truly is, it may cause the employee to
reevaluate his misguided dedication to an exploitative boss. We can
hope.

Then you are labeled a trouble maker, a whiner, etc. and there
goes your references for better employment.

I can appreciate your sentiment in providing labor to the FBO gratis,
because you want to see the firm prosper. Such an attitude is a
common tacit requirement for all employment. An employee who lacks
"team spirit" negatively impacts company morale. And your contention
that it is morally good to demonstrate industry will find little
argument.

However, consider how you've become inculcated into working without
compensation and accepting it as normal and right! As you state, one
of the reasons you provide labor without compensation is fear of
reprisal for demanding to be compensated for ALL your labor that
benefits the FBO. What justification does the employer offer for that
prejudicial judgement of an employee who demands payment for his
labor? How does an employee's being "labeled a trouble maker, a
whiner, etc." as a result of insisting on payment for his labor, not
reveal the employer's duplicitous intent to cheat his labor force from
their rightful due?

The reason there are labor laws today is because oppressed workers of
the past shed their blood and fought hard to see that just laws were
enacted. Business operators, necessarily concerned with profit,
develop an eye to cost cutting in all business related expenses. This
necessarily perpetuates a socioeconomic force directed against the
principles of justice and fairness embodied in the labor laws. It's a
natural result of free market capitalism. But it necessitates an
opposing attitude in the minds of the labor force to insure that the
principles contained within the labor laws are upheld in the
workplace. If not, those hard-won concessions to fairness, justice
and human decency will erode (as is currently occurring).

It is the collective responsibility of all people of employee status
to band together in a common effort to oppose that managerial force
that seeks to take "just a little more" of workers' rights from them.
Those employees who fail to adequately understand the labor v
management dynamics of the workplace, and through a misguided sense of
"duty to the company" and "work ethic," inadvertently undermine the
legal shield that separates employees from the inhumane, exploitative
labor practices of the past, know not the harm they cause their
fellows. Remind them of the fact, that if their fellow workers of the
past hadn't suffered to extract just treatment from their employers,
they'd be working 18 hour days for coolie wages.

So it's every employee's responsibility to choose how he interacts
with his employer. Does he give away the commodity he is selling, his
labor, or does he demand to be paid for it? It's really a matter of
professionalism, ideology, history, and personal self-worth. Don't
let it become a betrayal of those oppressed employees of the past who
fought hard for the 8 hour work day, 7 day work week. Think about it.

after reading all the other posts..

the local Flight School pays a "base rate" on the hours spent at the
"office/airport/school" doing company business. Then plusses up the pay
based on flight hours.. with "graduations" in pay based on number of hours
flown. Base rate is determined by level of CFI, CFII, CFII-ME etc.. and the
plussed up rate is also based on the instructors qualifications..

encourages instructors to
1) "man the phones",
2) "support the front desk",
3) "be available for that walk-in demo ride or visitor who wants to fly the
area but needs a checkout or just a safety instructor.
4) get qualified on the schools fuel truck (they only refuel school
aircraft) their "turn on the truck" is covered with their "base pay"
5) move up in their instructor qualifications

Most instructors at this school are graduates of Embry Riddle or University
of North Dakota (they come south to escape the 4yrs up north) and are only
around about 12-18months before moving on to other career advancing
employment.

BT

"Bob Dole" wrote in message
news:y4Erb.158869$e01.564060@attbi_s02...

If the place where I work is telling me to work hour's for free, what
should I do ?

I am worried that working for free is illegal, immoral, unethical, and
unprofessional, and I am also worried that it exposes me to the
possibility
of an IRS audit as I could be accused of getting paid "under the table"
(tax evasion etc.).

I appreciate any replie's.

Bob Dole writes:

If the place where I work is telling me to work hour's for free, what
should I do ?

Doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers....anybody with a job title that
is remotely "professional" sounding is paid a fixed salary, which if
you want means they work for "free" if they work beyond 40 hours.
Though I hear that even WalMart clerks are called "Associates" or
something and management tries to get unpaid work from them.

"Bob Dole" wrote in message

Has anyone else noticed ? ------

While numerous responders shoot off in multiple directions, expounding on
everything from moral work ethic to the oppression of the proletariat, our
original troll, Mr. "Bob Dole" chooses only to sit back and watch the show.