Rotorcraft
Rotorcraft labor group is spreading its wings
Claiming already to represent some 1,100 professional helicopter pilots and maintenance personnel, the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association (PHPA) ha

Claiming already to represent some 1,100 professional helicopter pilots and maintenance personnel, the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association (PHPA) has officially opened its doors. Beginning life as part of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), the new union got its start with the organized employees of Gulf of Mexico operators Air Logistics and Petroleum Helicopters Inc. and with the civilian instructor pilots at the U.S. Army’s primary rotorcraft training school at Fort Rucker, Ala.

Rotorcraft pilots at all three of these operations organized and signed up as independent locals of OPEIU in the late 1990s. “This union stresses the autonomy of its locals in determining their demands,” said union president Butch Grafton. “OPEIU supports its locals but does not dominate them.”

Loading…