Probably a stupid question but what can a TRO actually accomplish? Hypothetically, If a pilot wanted to call out sick or not pick up open time, isn’t that their choice as an employee?
Originally Posted by
Lewbronski
Spirit filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Spirit ALPA and their “rogue” work action that violated the status quo provisions of the RLA. The TRO compelled Spirit ALPA to essentially force all of their dudes who were calling in sick and refusing to pick up open time as a form of protest to stop doing that. The judge granted the motion and issued the TRO. To be clear, afaik, Spirit ALPA was not behind any of that but the judge basically put the onus on them to end it.
In the motion, Spirit actually quoted from pilots on this forum as evidence supporting their case. They also quoted from at least one Spirit pilot’s vm greeting saying something like, “If this is scheduling, I’m not talking to you.”
The TRO was to remain in effect until (off the top of my head) a cooling-off period was entered or a PEB was ended. That doesn’t make sense based on how the RLA should work but I believe that’s what it said. I don’t have it in front of me.
The bottom line, though, is that the “rogue” pilots probably kind of screwed Spirit ALPA because it handed the NMB ammunition to keep them in mediation for way longer than they otherwise may have had to be in mediation. It increased the pressure on ALPA to settle because it significantly delayed the timeline of getting to a release. Unions have no leverage without the credible possibility that they can get to a release. It really handed Spirit management an advantage. ALPA likely could have gotten quite a bit better results without the illegal work action.
Should be a lesson learned for all unions going forward. They still did relatively well, though. That’s probably because they had proven their resolve with their 2010 strike and their stance up until the point they made that one big mistake.