I don’t agree.

If most pilots in a pilot group believe, for example, one of the commonly believed myths about the RLA like “the mediator can put us on ice forever,” then they can also develop the mindset that attempting to walk further down the RLA path is pointless. “Therefore,” they’ll claim, “we should take whatever it is the company is offering because we’re never going to get released.”

Believing something like that, members of the pilot group apply pressure to the MEC, many of whom don’t really understand the RLA themselves, to settle the negotiations sooner rather than later, and on terms that are less favorable to pilots than could have been achieved if their leverage under the RLA had been more fully developed. The argument among the MEC then becomes something like, “Look, the pilot group wants a contract And the RLA is pointless anyway. It gives all the advantage to the company. The mediator can just hold us in mediation forever. We’re here to represent the pilot group. They want a contract now. So let’s just settle this thing and give the pilot group their contract.”

It matters very much what the majority of the pilot group believes about the RLA because, at the end of the day, the MEC is going to do what it believes the pilot group wants. If the pilot group believes the RLA neuters them as most pilot groups do, they’ll be willing to settle for much less. If the pilot group believes the RLA empowers them with leverage, they’re likely to be willing to settle for less and demand that the MEC not settle for less.