Actually, this doesn't surprise me. The reasons they give (higher fares, etc.) are complete BS. What they're really fighting are the base closures in NYC and BOS. And to be honest, I can't really blame them.

If the slot swap had gone the other way and Delta announced it was closing NYC as a base, I'd bet our MEC would be fighting this too.

Bottom line is that the base closings are going to affect a bunch of Easties' QOL and their union is sticking up for them. They can't use the QOL argument, so they're using higher fares, reduced service, etc. to try to stop the process.