Just a few comments back on topic:

1. ALPA hasn't been found guilty of a thing. That's a criminal term and doesn't even remotely apply here. And no it's not just semantics. They have been found liable for as yet to be determined damages. I can almost guarantee you that the damages award will be far below that 1.2 billion dollar number.

2. The appeals aren't even remotely over. The trial judge denied motions for a new trial and a motion for a verdict, n.o.v. The previous appeal was by the plaintiffs side from an earlier dismissal of the whole darn case. After the damages portion of the trial and when the judgement is finally entered I will bet you my seniority number that there will be appeals by ALPA. And they'll be long ones. And yes ALPA likely has more money than either the plaintiffs or their attorneys. You do, generally, have to put up the judgement amount (more or less) during the appeals process usually in the form of a bond.

The only way ALPA won't appeal is if they win hands down at the damages phase, such as a verdict awarding a single dollar (yes juries can do that) or some other absurdly low amount.

3. I'll be retired and dead before this is resolved. And my family has some seriously absurd longevity genes.

4. Any assessment do indeed have to be voted on by the membership.

5. The upstart Delta pilot's "union" has reasons for painting this as gloom & doom, and they're not altogether altruistic. Oh and the Delta pilots have more than 12,000 members. Shooting for 6000 cards is seriously low in a union election. Many of those who signed won't vote for another union. And just as an aside, there's no procedure for decertifying a union under the RLA or by the NMB. It can be done, but it's a rather convoluted process. Been through this 3 times at FedEx, it's one of the few areas my aging, time zone handicapped, sleep deprived brain actually remembers -- well.

You can go back to your regular thread creep and discussion about whether FedEx pilots should remain in ALPA now.