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TO ALL MEMBERS          -14-           February 16, 1943

impossible because they did not have the necessary personnel. I then said, why turn this sort of thing completely over to the companies -- why wouldn't a good regularly-scheduled air line pilot make just as good a supplemental C.A.A. inspector as a company official. They said they could see no good reason why such a pilot wouldn't work out all right and, in fact, suggested I submit the information to all the pilots and if anyone were interested in doing this work on the side, which incidentally doesn't pay any extra money, he should contact his regional C.A.A. officials and offer his services. Normally, air line pilots are not interested in this sort of thing but in this case think we should perk up our interest and get a fairly good sprinkle of our own people in this line of our work. As I see it, if checking is limited purely to C.A.A. check duty it should have no effect on membership status.

Much more could be said on this subject but, in plain words, the pilots now have just as much right to be the kind of check pilots that many have been griping about, so let's take advantage of it.

USE OF "AUTHORIZATION TO ACT" FORMS

At the 1942 convention several resolutions were offered to do away with the apprentice membership status for the duration of the war and to lower the present ALPA probationary period of one year's service on an air line, before a pilot could become an active member, to six or three months. All these resolutions were voted down and Headquarters was instructed to inform all members in its next membership letter that it was not necessary for an air line pilot or copilot to be an active member in ALPA to be represented by ALPA. All that is necessary to be represented by ALPA, provided it is acceptable to the organization, is for the pilot involved to give the organization "Authorization to Act" authority. Headquarters has made up special authorization-to-act forms and each chairman has an ample supply of these cards. Any newcomer in the line piloting profession, whether he be an apprentice member or otherwise, can authorize Headquarters to act for and in his behalf in the matter of making agreements and supplements thereto, and so forth, and it was therefore deemed by the 1942 convention a waste of time and not at all necessary to disrupt the By-Laws to the extent of eliminating and altering membership status probationary periods for new members.

We hope we have made ourselves clear and if any member is still not clear on this part of our membership and representing problem, please write us for a further explanation.

This, however, should not encourage new men to merely give Headquarters an "Authorization to Act" card and not take out the membership to which he is entitled. If he has less than a year's service he is entitled to apprentice membership, and if he has more than a year's service, uninterrupted or aggregated, he is entitled to active membership. Apprentice membership does not require payment of dues but it is not valid after one year of air line service. After that, transfer to active membership follows. All air line pilots should take out 
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