RLA, the railroads and Airlines
Posted in Majors also since it affects us all.
It appears the railroad workers are headed for a strike. One wonders how they managed to get released to strike in the first place. The law is called the Railway Labor Act after all. In our industry the last strike I can remember was the Spirit pilots in 2015 and the last major airline pilot strike was AA for 4 minutes in 1997. The last major airline strike of any length of time were the FA's at AA in 1993 for 5 days. Many pilot groups in negotiations over the last few decades have been told via back door channels that they would never be released to strike due to the "hardship" it would put on the US public. Yet a railroad strike would cause much more pain to mom and pop 'mericans if they go on strike. You think gas was expensive a few months ago? It would look like a bargain if the railroads shut down. It seems to me that all of the various airline unions (ALPA, IPA, SWAPA, IBT, TWU, AFA and any I missed) need to figure out what is happening with the railroads because our current system on the airline side has effectively taken the best tool we have for improving our contracts from us.