President Clinton did not have the power to prevent the American pilots from striking in 1997. He only had the power to delay them from striking for a total of 60 days by establishing a "Presidential Emergency Board" (PEB). That is exactly what President Clinton did on February 15, 1997 after the American pilots had gone on strike for 24 minutes.

32 days later, on March 19, 1997, the American pilots reached a tentative agreement with management. You can read about that here. The tentative agreement was then ratified by the membership of American Airlines pilots on May 5, 1997. You can read about that here. The American pilots never went back on strike because they came to an agreement with management, NOT because President Clinton had the power to stop them from striking had they failed to reach an agreement by the end of the 60-day PEB. A President gets 60 days. That's it: nothing more without the agreement of both parties.

A President cannot unilaterally extend a PEB nor can he/she establish a second PEB in order to prevent a group of organized labor from striking under the RLA. You can read the applicable section of the RLA yourself here.

Then, you can read the detailed 11-page legal analysis by a Deputy Assistant General under the first President Bush explaining why the President cannot extend a PEB nor establish a second PEB here: Presidential Authority to Extend Deadline for Submission of an Emergency Board Report Under the Railway Labor Act.

You can read a synopsis of the 1997 American Airlines pilots' episode, written by John Livingood, the current NMB Director of Mediation Services, here.

It is extremely important that you, and every pilot in an American airline pilot union, understand that your claim in this post is not correct. If pilots believe what you said to be true, then the response is, "Well then, what's the point of trying to leverage the RLA? The President will just shut us down."

Again, for clarity, the President cannot prevent a union from striking under the RLA. The President can only delay a strike for 60 days by establishing a PEB.