[lsc]

Regardless of whether the U.S. is able to maintain its trade barriers, a sustainable long-term structure would be a pilot-owned airline. If the pilots are the owners there need be no conflict concerning distributing profits.

Selling the company to the union, or rather, worker-owned companies seem to be the best case solution to the "union problem" - If my employees started unionizing, that'd be my first shot at a solution "Hey, uh, so I hear you don't like how I'm running the place. How 'bout you take a shot?"

Of course, the only way I've ever heard of that working is with large, established unions, which have large established pension funds that can be leveraged.

[gaius]

United (UAL) would be an example of that happens when you do that (the result in my experience is resentful cabin crew who treat passengers as if they're doing us a favour by allowing us aboard their personal vehicles).

[lsc]

eh, at least they are taking the financial hit for doing so, right? I mean if you are going to treat me poorly, for me to keep buying tickets either you need a monopoly or I need a discount.

[yardie]

Actually it would be more like, you sold it to the employees but they left you in charge since they don't have any experience running the company. Now you are free to make all the stupid decisions you like and they are stuck with the consequences. Great deal!

[lsc]

I have very little sympathy for people who hire managers to run their company and then complain that the managers are running the place in to the ground.

When you hire someone and they end up doing a poor job, it's your fault, and your responsibility to clean up the mess. This applies just as much to hiring managers as it does to hiring level 1 support techs.

Personally, I think that owners (or shareholders) that don't understand this (and that keep hiring managers who didn't act in the interest of owners at previous jobs) is a big part of what is wrong with our economy.

[scrod]

Why don't you just give them back the money you stole from them in the form of profit? I'm sure they'd have plenty of cash to buy your company then.

[lsc]

uh, actually in my company, the amount of profit we've earned wouldn't even cover the value of the servers we have, and the company is probably worth about 3x the value of the servers. Sad but true.