Originally Posted by
willflyforcash
Well, the bottom line is that ALPA should have taken serious actions when this was announced, not just filed a grievance. I feel like ALPA is setting a precedence that our CBAs are flexible and can be walked all over. This doesn't affect (effect?) just Eagle pilots. It shows management, industry wide, that we are all push overs and that the largest airline union in the world is powerless. Im really not one of those ALPA-bashers that you often run into, however, this is a major issue that I feel has not been given satisfactory attention.
The power of a union is the power to go on strike. There are so many hoops to jump through, cooling off periods, mediation periods, legal bs, etc before a strike can actually happen which makes it such a rare occurrence. At AE we are under a 16-year contract with a no-strike clause that expires in 2012. The company breaks the contract on occasion but there is no punishment or penalty against them. If you are forced to fly a sequence that breaks the contract the common saying is "Fly it then grieve it" but youll never get that time off even if the grievance is won years later.