It's not about the lanyard, and it's not even really about negotiations. It's about control and the proper pilot-management relationship. Management sees us in a subservient role and thinks we should be willing to take whatever scraps they give us. The previous union leadership didn't really do anything to dispel that notion, and clearly there's a certain portion of the pilot group that still sees themselves in that role. "If my commanding officer, err boss, says don't wear union swag, I'm not going to wear union swag." The new guys are trying to recalibrate this relationship as a partnership as equals. The highly visible orange is a symbol of that. Now I know some LCAs see themselves in management's camp, but not all or even the majority, and so making them enforce the lanyard policy would have been a truly dumb@ss move on management's part. Not surprised they're not going that route, and it seems like they've backed down on lanyard enforcement altogether.