I sure hope so too.

But…

The signs that have so far come out of Empire Central this contract cycle are not promising.

The two most prominent being:

1. A failure to file for mediation until late in the game.
2. An almost complete lack of real RLA education that could be said, and IMO is, a necessary prerequisite for an overwhelming SAV. How many within our pilot group can answer basic questions like:

• What is the point of a SAV vote anyway? What does it mean about actually going on strike?
• What are the chances we actually end up going on strike if we vote in favor of a SAV?
• What leverage does the RLA directly give us access to vice other sources of leverage like the supposed pilot shortage, “a good economy,” or pilot group “unity”?
• What is the difference between mediation and arbitration?
• How long can we expect to be in mediation?
• Can’t the mediator just force us to accept an agreement?
• Wont the mediator just put us on ice “forever” if we ask for too much?
• Why use the RLA when “the President can just shut us down”?
• Why use the RLA when “Congress can just shut us down”?
• Why use the RLA when “it’s stacked against us”?
• Why not just wrap up negotiations sooner when “the economy is good” and before we lose any more value to inflation versus trying to use the RLA when they can just drag it out for years?
• How much can we really expect to gain anyway by using the RLA when “the law requires us to give something to get something”?
• How is the RLA more leverage than everyone wearing SWAPA lanyards?

Until SWAPA educates the pilot group on the “why” behind a SAV, we are unlikely to see much enthusiasm for a SAV. Since the “S” in “SAV” stands for “strike”, and the RLA is the law that creates the landscape that must be navigated in order to pose the credible threat of a legal strike, then until our pilot group has a thorough understanding of the RLA and “why” it’s a more powerful source of leverage than other potential forms of leverage, it’s not difficult to imagine that we will have trouble generating enthusiasm for a SAV. SWAPA has barely lifted a finger in that regard.

Am I pointing this out because I’m a malcontent? You might think so but I don’t. I’m pointing this out to, hopefully, motivate at least one person to learn more about the RLA, educate their fellow pilots, and maybe most importantly, contact SWAPA to push for real RLA education so that we can begin to wield our most powerful form of leverage. Note that even the most basic piece of RLA education published thus far by SWAPA, the RLA flowchart, is inaccurate.