One of the things that seem have been left out of the discussion is the ability to strike. While I don't want to start up a massive political discussion (which I know will get deleted and banned ) our union (along with many others) endorsed many Democratic Candidates and this president because they were supposed to be labor friendly. One of the reasons we achieved C2K was because we had a strike vote and the ability to at some point be released to self help (a strike). Under this and the previous administration (Bush 2) it seems like there is no way (no matter the impasse with NMB) that anyone (including this supposedly labor friendly admin) will ever release a major airline employee group (or even a minor one like Spirit) to strike. Without that weapon (or threat if you will) it's hard to see how we can achieve significant (C2K or similar) in any contract, ever. Just wanted to hear some thoughts on this. If we can't strike, then we are captive to the benevolence of the company and there is really no incentive for them to finish a contract any where near the amendable date.