Baggage fees.. Tightening the Screws

[cvchief]

From what I've read, TSA barely just got the rights to collective bargaining from a recent court decision and only just voted on which union to join as of late June. There's no way they'd already have adopted collective bargaining agreements so soon. Are you sure the TSA agents you were talking about were actually under union contracts?

I think you are quite correct. Maybe a Union contract will help with that goofing off?

 

[Mossman]

I think you are quite correct. Maybe a Union contract will help with that goofing off?

Maybe once they get their 6 weeks of vacation time, they'll be more serious at work?

 

[k ellis]

Maybe once they get their 6 weeks of vacation time, they'll be more serious at work?

It takes a little longer. Once you take 6 weeks you come back you have the break in period. You have to reacclimate to work and that takes a little time. A lot changes in 6 weeks

 

[Po3]

I just got back from the Bahamas July 2, 2011 and and there was no charges. What I do is take my gear to the airport at night and see what I am going to pack and weight it on their scales. My gear weights 45.5lbs. I don't add anything and the check in bags were free. I took my carry on, and my laptop. Hope that helps someone.

 

[Mossman]

I just got back from the Bahamas July 2, 2011 and and there was no charges. What I do is take my gear to the airport at night and see what I am going to pack and weight it on their scales. My gear weights 45.5lbs. I don't add anything and the check in bags were free. I took my carry on, and my laptop. Hope that helps someone.

Probably not since you didn't mention which airline had free check-in bags. As for going to the airport at night, not all of us live so close to commercial airports and many commercial airports charge prohibitive parking fees. I use my bathroom scale so all I have to do is wheel my bags to my bathroom at night instead of driving them to the airport.

 

[iztok]

I fly Star Alliance and since I am Star Alliance gold I get 3 free up to 50lbs check-in bags. It pays to fly frequently for work.

 

[budaman]

We've got one of the old doctor's office scales. That thing is dead accurate. The only time we exceeded 50lbs. was coming back from Coz last year....did a late dive the day before & our wetsuits & booties didn't completely dry....came in at 52lbs. They did charge me for an overweight bag, but while waiting to board, I was called to the counter & they said since it was scuba gear, the were refunding the charges.

Mike

 

[gcarter]

There are two sides to that, of course. It used to be that huge numbers of working folks were barely above slaves. Until they got together and started depriving their exploiters of their services as a bargaining tool, the typical worker could look forward to a dismal life of 7 day workweeks and 15 hour work days until he got too old or sick or just plain used up to be of use to his employer, whereupon he was tossed out onto the street to wait for the Reaper. The 40 hour work week, weekends, paid holidays, and employer sanctioned medical care all came from unions.

Which is all great but does not justify current behaviours.

 

[Mike]

There are two sides to that, of course. It used to be that huge numbers of working folks were barely above slaves. Until they got together and started depriving their exploiters of their services as a bargaining tool, the typical worker could look forward to a dismal life of 7 day workweeks and 15 hour work days until he got too old or sick or just plain used up to be of use to his employer, whereupon he was tossed out onto the street to wait for the Reaper. The 40 hour work week, weekends, paid holidays, and employer sanctioned medical care all came from unions.

Believe it or not one of the greatest anti-union capitalists in history - Henry Ford first promoted the 8 hour day.

Unions, like the Model T, had their time in our history. The Model T was a catalyst for positive changes in transportation, unions were a catalyst for positive changes for workers, however 100 years later just as the model T is no longer relevant, so too are unions. Unions do one large dis-service to those in them, they destroy the value of merit. Unionized workers are often so comfortable and protected that they lose all perspective and incentives to excel, in the worst cases they promote an us against them adversarial environment. The examples of sloth and waste especially in government based unions is well documented and so notorious that they approach a level of absurdity that borders on the un-believable. Unions have long stopped being knights of reform and have become the refuge of lazyness and job protection for those who without union protection would be unemployable.

 

[DandyDon]

I think the new digital luggage scales are accurate, but airline scales seem evil.

I was called to the counter & they said since it was scuba gear, the were refunding the charges.

Sweet, but don't expect that. It's not in the rules. It's a memory of an old Continental rule long gone, but stories stuggest that the Coz station agents are not completely aware. Some are, some aren't. I don't think that they are Cont employees and it is difficult for contracted agents to stay up on various company changes.