Originally Posted by
flyguy81
My last job was with a regional who was involved in negotiations for 7 years. We asked repeatedly for a cooling off period and was always denied by the NMB. 99% voted to strike. Vote of no confidence in management. Hamstrung by the NMB and the RLA.....for 7 years.
Only got a contract when codeshares threatened to cancel contracts over the extreme number of canceled flights due to FO’s quitting and going to other regionals. We had less than 200 airplanes.
Maybe SWAPA can buy those idiots in the NMB off to move things along but consider me jaded in regards to prolonged negotiations. I’ve got my list of things I want fixed and have no problem voting no if it’s not there. But I don’t see the largest domestic airline ever getting released.
The NMB’s job is to settle the dispute without an interruption to interstate commerce. They only care about unfairness to the extent that it doesn’t slow down the settling of the dispute.
The NMB will put pressure on whichever side exhibits more susceptibility to settling. That side is almost always the less educated and less informed side. That side is almost always labor. Thus labor ends up believing the RLA hamstrings them when, in reality, their own lack of awareness holds them back. You need more than a RLA flowchart/1st grade understanding of RLA dynamics to be successful when you’re going up against highly competent airline management groups and their paid assassins like FordHarrison.
The NMB can and does lie to one side or the other as a tactic to create pressure in order to spur on the settlement of a dispute. Labor, almost always the less educated and informed side, is typically targeted more by the NMB for lies and half-truths in an attempt to get them to settle because they are easier to lie to. Management is more difficult to lie to because they’re much smarter about the RLA.
I’d be curious which regional you were at and exactly how the story played out.