Actually, this one's much simpler than that. It's aimed at painting as bleak a picture as possible so that when PBS gets finished up, we will be far more likely to vote yes.
The next approach you will see is that management will start to "leak" rumors out that say the United RFP is a "done deal" IF we can get PBS in place by then.
It's basic posturing guys. No different than us taking a strike vote and publishing the results in big ole letters for management to see. It's meant make the other side feel a bigger sense of urgency.