Take THAT! Well played APA...
Full article:
APA: Airline’s threat has stopped chances for negotiations for the time being
By tmaxon
[email protected]
5:06 pm on September 27, 2012 | Permalink
The Allied Pilot Association board of directors, which had been scheduled to meet through mid-day Friday to discuss negotiations strategy, ended their meeting Thursday, a day early.
APA spokesman Tom Hoban said American Airlines’ threat to go to court to get a temporary restraining order against pilots “is pretty much throwing cold water on getting back to the bargaining table any time soon.”
Hoban said the union was prepared Wednesday to send its negotiators to sit down with American’s management negotiators by week’s end, following American’s request to resume talks.
“We were moving in that direction. It was only a question of specific guidance going to the negotiating committee,” he said.
But when the board and national officers received the Lynn letter late Wednesday afternoon, “that was it,” Hoban said. “It was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat after they extended the olive branch.”
Hoban, an American Airlines pilot, said there’ll be no negotiations for the time being. The board returns for its next meeting Tuesday, the day before pilots finish voting on a strike vote.
The Lynn letter came after a couple of weeks of elevated flight cancellations and delays. American spokesman Bruce Hicks said Thursday afternoon that the carrier hadn’t heard directly from the union that it didn’t want to resume negotiations.
“If that is the case, we are extremely disappointed the APA has chosen a path that precludes reaching a consensual agreement quickly with our pilots, as that remains the company’s goal,” Hicks said. “Our formal request for APA’s assistance to end the operational disruption by some pilots is not related to our desire and mutual need to reach a consensual agreement.”
He added:
“Our operation has been significantly disrupted for more than a week, causing economic harm to the company, alienating and frustrating our customers, and negatively impacting other members of our team. We repeatedly asked APA last week to take action to help end the disruptive activity, without the need for legal action. But it became obvious to us yesterday that the APA Board was not prepared to take such action.
“We have no desire to pursue the legal path to put an end to the unlawful job action activity; however, we must protect our operation. The disruption cannot continue for our customers or our people. If the disruption does not end immediately, we will have no choice but to seek injunctive relief, and will do so quickly. We will continue to closely monitor our operations and determine what next steps are necessary.”