Ah, my better colleague BoilerUp speaks. You're absolutely right about "effective" and "actual staples", but I would like to add that one of the reasons the US/AW deal has had so many problems, and why ALPA was kicked out, was that the East guys wanted to effectively staple while the West guys obviously didn't. ALPA tried to get a compromise, knowing that even effective staples (even with AA/TWA type fences) are usually on iffy legal grounds. East didn't like that ALPA wasn't representing the majority, and booted ALPA out. Now they're working with USAPA which is having trouble with their seniority ideas because they are closer to an effective staple that perhaps the law is comfortable. This is partially fact, partially deduction, and partially conjecture, however, I believe it should at least hold mostly true. Perhaps a US or AWA pilot can correct where I have erred.