Original Message

"Can a pilot opt out of the union?"

Yes, but you still pay agency fees. You still "benefit" from negotiated contracts, so you pay.

Not joining the union is surrendering your vote on policies to somebody else.

Winston Churchill once said that: “democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.”

Unions work best when members are active. If members don't control the Local, they're surrendering one self interested bureaucracy for another. Your principled opposition is valuable.