Originally Posted by
ROBsINtheHOOD
Is it me , or is it absolutely disingenuous bordering on blatant deceit that the statements from both Atlas and ATSG blame the Union leadership for a failure to reach a respectable and fair CBA ?
I don't see that in the ATSG statement. They just say they're in compliance with the current CBA, which is true enough, but sidesteps the issue of their failure to bargain in good faith for four years for an amended CBA.
But for the Atlas statement - yeah, that was bad. I don't know enough about the situation to comment much, but I'd be surprised if you could lay the blame squarely on the union.
Your anger needs to be directed at replacing the useless RLA , ( politically ) the local judiciary ( under corporate influence ) and these crooked and greedy airline managers and owners. Good luck.
Good luck replacing the owners. They're known in the vernacular as "shareholders". Maybe you're thinking more along the lines of the board of directors, but even they aren't really that involved with the day-to-day stuff, and when you start looking at them individually, they're not even people who are well-versed in the industry necessarily. They're happy as long as the numbers keep looking good.
But I don't think replacing the RLA is necessary, if it's even possible. I've been considering how to propose the idea of an amendment to the RLA to my congressional representatives.
It seems to me that the RLA has tipped the balance of power in contract negotiations toward management, thanks largely to the NMB's reluctance to release labor groups for self help until many years have passed. When there is upward pressure on pay and benefits, this gives management every reason to delay a new labor agreement for as long as possible, until release by the NMB is imminent. (This is assuming that there is no PR reason to move on an agreement. I think passenger airlines have an edge in that department. Unions are more likely to affect the opinions of the average consumer than they are to affect the management of large companies like DHL and Amazon, whose customers probably aren't much connected to the situation, or, in the case of Amazon, aren't likely to stop patronizing the company.)
My proposal to fix this would amend the RLA to stipulate a requirement that any new or amended labor agreement would be effective retroactive to the amendable date of the old agreement. This would give both sides a major incentive to reach an agreement quickly, no matter the conditions.
An alternative or additional amendment might set a time limit until labor groups are released to at least limited self help - e.g. work slowdowns and the like, short of a strike so stuff keeps moving, but maybe significant enough to make management pay attention.
There may be flaws in my ideas, and there may be other ways to get this done. Any way you go, there needs to be some balance restored to the process that the RLA and NMB have unbalanced.