[netcan]

Not sure I'm convinced about this point:

how can we explain a 19:1 pay differential..? The answer is to look at who controls the pilot's union: very senior pilots.

Why wouldn't the junior majority vote out the senior minority or leave the union?

[Symmetry]

By the time new members get organized enough to start pushing for reforms, they're not far away from becoming senior members. They can't leave the union because the union doesn't want the airline to hire non-union workers.

It isn't as bad as the UAW, though, where the majority of the voters aren't even workers any more but rather retirees.

[ahi]

Retirees don't vote.

[Symmetry]

They can't vote in certain elections, but are otherwise still full memebers. See here: http://www.uaw.org/node/158