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Originally Posted by PCL_128  Well, I understand what you're saying, but we need to be careful not to measure a union's success based on its revenue generation as you would with a for-profit business. The success of a union must be measures on somewhat more intangible items. What bills has Congress passed to benefit our profession, how many members' jobs have been saved, how many grievances have been settled/won, etc... You can't put a dollar figure on most of this, so quantifying it isn't as easy as looking at a corporation's balance sheet. |
I understand about the revenue generation being difficult to quantify as a success for ALPA except in the broadest sense in that revenue generation, as a percentage of members wages, will reflect trends in both pilot income and success at recruiting more members. These are two important measurements to take when viewing ALPA, but like all business there are MANY metrics to be measured to see if the organizations goals are being met. So, looking at revenue is an important measurement, but certainly not the only measurement and perhaps not the most important to the mission except for the fact that it enables the mission. At the ear institute, gross patient charges are measured as an indicator of growth - each gain in income provides a very general indicator that we are consistently helping more people. We measure this growth on top-line patient charges, not bottom line because that would include insurance allowances and charity care and not give a good picture of growth.
The intangible CAN be measured, and should not only be measured but also reported to members. How many pilots won grievances - easy to update and measure. How many medicals have been reinstated by ALPA medical - easy to update and measure. New membership drives and success - easy to measure and project new revenue that will help ALL ALPA members. Then, the truly hard things to quantify can be explained such as the lobbying, safety work, etc. ALPA could measure these things and report to members (maybe they already do) and I would imagine that IBT, APA, SWAPA, and others would have a difficult time matching the success.
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Math is our friend
Iam sure that ALPA IS measuring these things - I am just curious as to how well informed the membership is about the measurement and what the membership can do if key performance metrics for the organization erode.