Originally Posted by Carl Spackler

Well, I've found the first time ALPA lost a legal battle with Seham. It was in the early 1960's when the pilots of American Airlines were represented by ALPA. The American pilots had set a strike deadline and ALPA national tried to subvert their member pilots at American by cutting off strike benefits, expelling their MEC officers from ALPA, cutting off their funding, then refusing to sign a contract that the American MEC ultimately obtained with management and the NMB.

With very little money left and mounting legal issues being launched by ALPA national against the American MEC, a young Harvard graduate by the name of ... Marty Seham came in to help. ALPA's court injunctions were beaten back. An agreement with management was signed which prevented the strike. A card drive was started to form a new union. The NMB allowed an election to replace ALPA. American pilots voted overwhelmingly to leave ALPA, and have been represented by APA ever since.

A link to this story is below. It's a long read, but a terrific piece of historical record. In fact, it shows me that ALPA national has learned very little in over 50 years:

The Details and Documentation


Carl