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Yep, when I was an airline union member, not joining was not even discussed. It was, "Here is the card that you sign and everything else is taken care of." Somebody in our class asked, "What if you don't want to be in the union?" and the response was, "You don't want to not be in the union. Just sign the card."

I will never forget one trip I took where one of the pilots came up to me in the galley before the flight and "informed" me that the captain was a "scab." My response was, "So? What do you want me to do about it?" "I just wanted you to know."

Later in fight, the captain would not take any beverages or food from any of us. Never said why, but it was obvious. He brought his own lunch and coffee. I felt sorry for the guy the way his co-workers treated him. It was ridiculous. And it was all over a strike that had happened over 15 years prior.

My union rep called me once to picket Burbank airport. I told him I was busy. "Well how about tomorrow? Or the next day?" "Nope, I'm pretty much busy for the rest of my life." "You do know that your union negotiates all of your benefits, don't you?" "And you do know that I never was given the option of not being in a union, don't you?" That was pretty much the end of the conversation.