Originally Posted by
Coto Pilot
The US Air lawsuit was not dismissed based on merit, but based on not being ripe (the pilots had not yet been harmed), the lower court had already determined that the suit warranted a "day in court". As soon as the company accepts the revised seniority list, the pilots will have been "wronged" and a lawsuit will again proceed. The same will be true here. If a United pilot with 11 years with the company and 7 years of active service goes junior to a 5 year Continental pilot I assure you there will be lawsuits, and the only claim has to be that the merger committee/MEC did not present a "vigorous defensive" of their due seniority in the integration. The MEC at United is on record as stating that they have a legal obligation to represent all United pilots, including those furloughed, and thus far it certainly appears that they are. Not negotiating a contract before the merger close date is going to prove very costly for the company.
I have read and reread this a couple of times. I think you either don't understand the case you are trying to cite or you are trying to use completely different facts to support your argument.
The case you are referring to was the West Pilots against USAPA. The West Pilots filed a DFR lawsuit. The pilots the court said had not yet been harmed are the West pilots NOT the East pilots. The court was not talking about the East pilots in this case. The Nicolau award list was thrown out by USAPA, but since the two groups are not yet merged under one JCBA the judge has indicated the West's case is not ripe. IF a new JCBA is ratified that uses a list other than the Nicolau award, then the West pilots would have been "wronged" and their case would be ripe for hearing.
This situation is different. We have agreements in place that state the SLI will not take place prior to the ratification of a JCBA. Should the SLI go to an arbitrator as 125% of us believe, it will be his binding decision on the groups. From what you are saying, your group is ready to use the USAirways East dictionary version of "binding" during the SLI? And what makes you think that when it goes to an arbitrator that both sides will not fight vigorously, vocally, and emphatically for their position? How could that result in a lawsuit over the SLI for lack of fair representation in the process? Or are you suggesting that the UAL folks will somehow perform below their best in order to have an argument to make if the SLI goes in a direction not to UAL pilots' liking?