What does the Government Affairs committee do?
 
The first of three main functions is the Government Affairs committee. They receive a weekly briefing from the fulltime staff members at the ALPA National Government Affairs department in Washington, DC and uses that briefing to prepare information to disseminate to the pilots here at Compass. Government Affairs provides important information in the daily and weekly ALPA National email blasts, so we currently do not publish much of what we get in the weekly Compass Hotline. If this is something you would like to see more of in the Compass Hotline, let us know and we will start sending out more information

Second, we generate interest in the ALPA PAC and the Calls to Action. One of the ways the ALPA National staff gauges the pilots’ overall interest in issues is via Calls to Action participation. At the bottom of each weekly Compass Hotline, you will see a list of the current CTAs. The Government Affairs committee urges you to take a moment and participate in one or more of the issues that you feel are important.
 

The ALPA PAC is another way you can show your support for our profession. We all know that one of the fastest ways to get into a Flight Deck argument and spend a day or two of a trip in silence is to bring up politics; an ever-increasing topic of interest now that we’re entering a Presidential election cycle. With that in mind, let me say this:
 

The ALPA PAC is pilot partisan. What does that mean? It means that the ALPA PAC does not care about party affiliation. It cares about pilots and our profession and nothing else. The ALPA PAC supports candidates on both sides of the aisle who support pro-pilot issues, and it regularly meets with members of Congress who might need a little perspective from the pilot’s side of an aviation issue.
 

At Compass, we are fortunate to have PAC check-off as a provision of our CBA. If you would like to donate to the PAC – and I urge EVERY pilot to do so – you can request a PAC check off card. When you receive it, fill it out and mail it in, and Compass will automatically deduct your specified amount from your paycheck and submit it for you. You never have to do a thing and you can cancel at any time. Another method is to click HERE and set up PAC donations via another financial source. You can make one-time contributions or set a recurring payment. It’s up to you!
 

Again, the Government Affairs committee asks that you PARTICIPATE in the PAC at whatever level you are comfortable, but recommends a minimum of a ONE DOLLAR per month contribution via PAC check-off.
 
Finally, the Government Affairs Committee searches for pilots at Compass who would like to meet with the elected Congressional representatives from both the House and the Senate from the district in which they reside, for the purpose of highlighting the ALPA Government Affairs agenda. This is particularly important if you reside in a district represented by a member of congress who is a swing vote or on the fence on a particular topic. If you are interested in meeting with your elected officials, there is a process to do so. The first step is scheduling you for District Advocacy training, which is a webinar that occurs approximately twice a month and takes about an hour. After that, a member of the ALPA National Government Affairs staff will research your district and prepare an individualized packet, just for you, and mail it to you. It will contain briefing cards and information about current issues, as well as instruction on how to contact your representative. It is a bit of a process, but can be extraordinarily rewarding.

If any of this interests you, or you would like to volunteer to serve on the committee, please contact us at CPZgovernmentaffiars@alpa.org

Jason Harbison
Chairman
Compass Government Affairs Committee