Originally Posted by
ComAirColonel
Thank you for helping me make my point. As a pilot it is our natural tendency to want to help our enemy and support them. I wish what you said were true. The bonuses could not be there without the approval of the unions. They could easily go to federal court and get an injunction to stop the bonuses as a violation of the status quo. Truth is they either have bad legal advise or they want the bonuses.
And the new hires are under the CBA. The CBA covers everyone in the bargaining group by law. This is true even if the covered employee chooses not to be a member of the union. When union representation is voted in by a bargaining group and a CBA is entered into, individual ability to negotiate ones own deal is lost and the CBA controls. A company cannot pay any employee covered under the CBA except under the terms of the CBA. Special deals are not allowed.
Everyone on this site can research the limits of "status quo" and you will come to the same conclusion yourself. I posted a list of cases discussing status quo and how the bonuses are a violation of status quo and my posts were deleted by the administrator. I will start another thread discussing status quo and we can see how long it lasts. I'm happy to debate the issue anytime.
Thank you for the basic lecture on how a CBA works. Unfortunately, your points are not applicable here because RAH does not follow your line of reasoning. Their approach has been "we'll interpret the contract any way we want, and sue us if you can". They know that in any court action, they can outgun and outlawyer the union. The union knows this as well as they do not have the resources to fight every violation of the status quo. And those who have worked at RAH for more than a couple of years would know that there are many.
If the union had agreed to the hiring bonuses, there would have been an LOA or an MOU to that effect. There was not, and anyone who followed the union's communications would know that they opposed bonuses for new hires.
Assuming that the union wants the hiring bonuses because they are not in court shows a lack of understanding of this situation.