Union negotiations have nothing to do with "market rate for labor." In fact the fundamental reason for unions is to protect labor against it. Any schmuck can be a longshoreman but those guys have such a strong union they can charge a massive premium for their services despite the fact the company could find an army of people willing to do it for less.

Atlas will not have trouble finding warm bodies to fill classes. They could hire pilots that even the regionals would think twice at if they wanted. They may see their pass rate suffer and get an even closer look at by the FAA (who's already quite interested in the way things are being done around there). They might even have an accident or two (much like the 2 hard landings in the 747 lately). However they won't ever not be able to fill classes.

The union on the other hand doesn't have to play that game. Informational picketing at job fairs will help by keeping Atlas from hiring the pilots they want and resort to lower qualified guys willing to take the risk. However to bring the company to the negotiating table it will take slowing the operation down by following the CBA exactly, liberally writing up airplanes for mechanical issues, and most of all not pushing to get an airplane out on time.

Saying there are plenty of pilots out there to accept the current contract (or even a worse one after amalgamation) is a strawman argument to a contract negotiation. Union pilots should have no concern of who a company could hire but solely on how to make life better for those who are currently on property.