BJ will not do anything unless they are forced to. Having friendly meetings where we put our "requests" and letting them say No, then voting Yes for a substandard contract won't get us anything.


If we want something, we must become a market force to be reckoned with. Notice how a strategic informational picket, or the mere threat of it, resulted in a TA magically becoming an option. BJ won't budge unless people know about our dispute. We don't need to strike to do that. If TA 1.0 is voted down (and it should), we need to exert pressure continuously and without backing down. In other words, we can never allow our MEC to cancel an informational picket again. Clearly they do not have the resolve to fight an actual battle, as accomplished facts now demonstrate. We must demand through Voting NO that our MEC put their money where their mouth is. Doing informational pickets costs us virtually nothing and is very easy. We're not standing in front of tanks in Tienanmen square. We are fighting first world problems - if we don't get treated as professional pilots, it is our fault alone. All we have to do is draw a line in the sand and say NO, to which BJ will be forced to react by external pressures THEY are under.



Remember the RLA gives us virtually unlimited options even before a strike. BJ wants to go to Europe, they want to buy CS100s, and they need to deal with FAs now too. Their stock is perpetually in the toilet and during every investor meeting, BJ management is scrutinized for their labor relations. Our goal must be to leverage these circumstances to get them to agree to our demands. So far we have leveraged virtually nothing and that is our fault. It's time to hold our elected ALPA servants accountable. They want to pat themselves on the back for a horrible TA 1.0 and we must not allow them to. They've already given us excuses and non-sensical responses as to why profit sharing was not touched... guess what... their response should not have alluded to the RLA as it is not the reason for them not pushing the issue. Are they relying on our ignorance? Please read the RLA and pay attention to how many "voluntary" junctures there are... hint: 100% voluntary decision points.



The Railway Labor Act Simplified



This communique is for entertainment purposes only. It does not implicitly or explicitly acknowledge employment with any air carrier nor is any relationship implied. This communique does not represent the opinions or policies of ALPA or JB ALPA and does not represent the collective pilot group, ALPA, nor does it imply collective bargaining, advocacy, or workforce actions intended to disrupt operations.