Posted by Joe Baker on February 25, 2002 at 11:00:41:
In Reply to: OVERWEIGHT LUGGAGE FEES posted by Janne on February 25, 2002 at 07:18:56:
There might be an even more appropriate (and much more powerful) advocate: the union. Now, anyone who knows me knows I'm not exactly a big fan of the union, because I'm a free market guy when it comes to wages (and I'll stipulate that I'm one of only a few here who feel that way, so we don't need to travel down that road again). But even I think it would be a great idea for the unions to get involved in this. After all, it's not just tubas, but basses, cellos, harps, keyboards, amps, percussion - all kinds of big equipment. I think everyone agrees that paying a little extra is appropriate, but it should be appropriate and consistent, and the status quo appears to be neither.
If the musicians union could get ahold of the various airline unions and win their support, I'll bet some sort of reasonable agreement could be negotiated industry-wide. Similar negotiation should yield some reasonable solution for owners of moderate-sized but delicate instruments (violins, for example) to loosen the carry-on size limits.
Joe Baker, who thinks this is the kind of things unions should be doing.