Originally Posted by
AA717driver
Maybe he is working on his ratings or hours. I had a college degree and made $3.35/hour (80’s pay) so I had the flexibility to fly.
ETA: No airline will ever be allowed to strike again unless they are intent on going out of business. The government is far too corrupted by corporate money and will never release a work group to strike under the RLA.
The only way out is for ALL the unions to declare a general strike until they are released from the RLA. Not gonna happen…
Me thinks you did NOT take the sound advice to make the RLA your bathroom reading go-to. It certainly is not simple or easy to ‘go on strike’, but if parties follow the RLA negotiation/mediation roadmap and do not come to agreement, there is a point (somewhere down the road) where the parties (company and labor union) would be released to self-help, after a 30-day cooling off period. The gov’t CANNOT keep parties locked in mediated negotiations indefinitely, despite what the Mediators might claim. They are allowed to bull$h— I mean use blarney, to drive parties to agreement.
At the end of the 30-day cooling off period, if an agreement hasn’t been reached, the use of self-help (company=lockout and/or hire replacements; labor union=strike actions) is authorized. But the RLA roadmap hasn’t ended. The President can convene a 30-day PEB, which would make NON-Binding recommendations to the parties. If those parties do not accept the recommendations, and they haven’t been negotiating outside the mediated process, then release to self help comes to fruition.
Is it likely to get that far, maybe. But the company would already be suffering as customers would likely book away their travel onto a carrier NOT racing headlong towards a possible strike. I mean, we gotta get to Bobby’s wedding, so how far in advance do we buy tickets? And how much does a major/mainline company lose PER DAY if not a wheel turns? The closer the parties get to self-help, the greater the incentive on the company to reach a deal. Of course, the union is feeling the pressure, too, for if a strike occurred, where goes the paycheck? Do you still have healthcare coverage?
Self-help actions are possible, but it only works if you follow the RLA roadmap, and do not engage in illegal job actions. It takes courage and discipline to get that far, but it is possible.
And you will not get ALL the unions to declare a general strike, because that is an illegal job action not in accordance with the provisions of the RLA, and the courts would would fine the unions into near bankruptcy. IIRC, a judge fined the APA about $55 million in the 1990s.