Originally Posted by
APCLurker
As you touched on, the contract also states that you do not have to acknowledge an assignment until 3 hours prior to report. So by requiring that we acknowledge within 2 hours, they would be in violation of the contract as well.
True, but the contract doesn't say that you have to acknowledge AT three hours prior to report - just that you have UNTIL three hours prior. You still "must be able to report for an assigned rotation which reports no earlier than 12 hours from the first attempted contact by Crew Scheduling."
Again, they are leaning on the "able to report" requirement (also contractual). Being "able to report" includes, among other things, that you are legal to report. By not acknowledging an assignment outside the 10 hour window, YOU are making yourself illegal for the rotation - and therefore, "unable to report." That puts you in violation of the contract. They don't have to unilaterally change the contract to REQUIRE a 2 hour acknowledgment window - the "able to report" clause along with FAR 117 requirements, takes care of it for them.
And, yes, I did change my tune from some of my earlier posts. I'm not sure we have the leverage that I once thought - but I really, really hope I'm wrong.