How does the union handle bad pilots? They are everywhere and after a discussion with a union pilot recently, I was surprised to hear how a union of pilots will end up protecting a unsafe or bad pilut because of the union itself. Have any of you in "the show" had any experience with this. Seems to me it would be pretty hard to swallow protecting a guy I'm afraid to fly with just because we hate the corporate bean counter.
Rarely if ever are things so black and white. And where I worked, although some pilots were obviously a bit better than others, we never had any "unsafe or bad" pilots to "protect." It just never happened! We all were pretty standardized as far as flying skills and performance.
I suppose if it did ever happen that we had someone so bad, we would refer the individual to our union's professional standards committee, get him removed from flying, find out why he was having problems, have the company provide extra training, etc. Just like one learns in the military, you are a team. You take care of your troops. You motivate and pull up the weakest link, and you leave no one behind or abandoned if at all possible.
Bottom line: In any dispute between two entities, it is always better to have someone with knowledge and expertise to represent you and protect your rights, rather than trying go it alone... regardless of whether you are in the right or wrong... and regardless if your rep. has to hold his nose while representing you too, I suppose.