RPC,
Under Federal Labor Law and the RLA, the Duty of Fair Representation falls to the Elected Representative to a group of Unionized Employees.
Has the NMB accredited or recognized the RPC as a bargaining Agent? No.
Therefore, until the "Council" is formed, who then has Representational authority over the Republic Pilots should RPC win? What is the time frame for RPC by-laws when one group is un-represented, because by federal law, the IBT would no longer be recognized for the Republic Pilots.
So, following this line of questions, if the IBT no longer represents the Republic Pilots, and no "council" has been formed, who has the burden of Duty of Fair Representation? Is it FAPA? If you say no, it is not FAPA, then these Republic Pilots could be unrepresented for an extended period of time. If you say it is FAPA, then there is no legal document that provides that a "council" must be formed, as FAPA has its own by-laws.
The legal research is obviously limited then by which RPC has authority to act as a bargaining agent, by which power it has to form a council, and by what authority it will control over the "two separate bargaining" units. All of these statements can be summed up, by "we don't know."
Therefore, legally speaking RPC is a front for FAPA, by which there are no by-laws creating the "Council" to which it will answer, or this is purely a method to de-unionize the Republic Pilots.
Either of those, is bad news for Republic Pilots. You can claim otherwise, but show me the legal authority or change in FAPA by-laws to show it. FAPA will refuse to make itself sbu-servient to a "Council", while requiring the Republic pilots to do just that.
Once again, I ask for logic, not emotion. Show me the documentation, the by-laws, and the recognition by the NMB to allow this to happen. By the way, the Gate Gormet/IBT which has been touted as the example to follow for RPC, was separately ratified and then recognized by the NMB prior to the election.
Respectfully,
Dan Sneddon
Capt. Republic Airlines