Am I the only one that sees he asked a question...."And am I now not in the Union?" not I am not in the union! I believe he was asking once he begins his ground progression, does he have to requalify. Here, initially, you don't join the union until you make your probation period. I'm thinking he thinks every time he has to qualify for a new classification, he leaves and then rejoins the union.
No you don't. Once you're in the union, you're in. If you're simply delivering ground as an air driver, you don't need to qualify either. It does however give you a start date for your ground wage progression. If you do become a RPCD, you will have to qualify (30 days), but you never leave the union in this process.
Not backpedaling, not being a scab! Easy guys...