Unions made our nation strong?

[M2d]

So, I work at an airline. I'm in the corporate safety department working as an industrial hygienist. I'm considered "management", but it's probably only because I'm not in a union.

I have an undergraduate degree in chemistry, and an MBA. Later this summer, I plan to sit for my Certified Safety Professional exam (probably equivalent to a CPA for the safety field), and in a couple of years, I'll be qualified to sit for the Certified Industrial Hygienist exam (like a CPA, but for the IH field). Both certifications require educational and experience requirements to qualify for pretty rigorous examinations. Both are directly related to what I and my department do.

I will never be the vice president of safety for my company. Not because I plan to leave soon, and not because there are loads of more qualified candidates ahead of me in the department. I will never rise above director in this department because by contract, the vp has to be a pilot (and a part of the pilot's union). the justification is that flight safety (this concerns aircraft damage, etc anytime the plane is in the air, essentially) is a part of the group, and pilots are supposed to know about this aspect. The reality is that pilots are not safety professionals, flight safety is a small component of the group (it also includes ground safety which is any safety concern, Industrial Hygiene and environmental), but the pilot's union has the company by the short and curlys.

i'm a little pissed at this revelation, but i've never worked in a union shop before, so maybe it's just the way it is.