Airline Pilot Central Forums - The Debacle of the RLA and a CBA

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From 2001 :

"The U.S. Supreme Court refused Feb. 25 to overturn one of the largest fines against a labor union, a $45.5 million penalty against the Allied Pilots Ass'n at American Airlines for civil contempt for failing to quickly end a 1999 sickout that forced the airline to cancel thousands of flights.The APA has already put $20 million in escrow against the possibility it would have to pay the fine. But the union estimates the total fine would exceed its assets by approximately $10 million.

APA made it clear that if the company tried to collect the fine the union would consider it a very unfriendly act. "The next step is going to be a management decision," said APA spokesman James Philpot. Philpot noted that American was "in the middle of lots of important discussions" with the pilots on a number of issues, including the proposed acquisition of Trans World Airlines Inc. and the purchase of 20 percent of U.S. Airways as part of the U.S. Airways-United Airlines merger."

What if 50% of the company turned in their two week notice on one day? That might send a message.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatsopilot (Post 1460989)

What if 50% of the company turned in their two week notice on one day? That might send a message.

That has been tried before, in Australia.

It didn't work too well.

1989 Australian pilots' dispute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The 1989 Australian pilots' dispute was one of the most expensive and dramatic industrial disputes in Australia's history.
The dispute began on 18 August 1989. As part of this campaign, AFAP pilots imposed on their employers (Ansett Australia, East-West, Ipec and Australian Airlines) a limitation on the hours they were prepared to work, arguing that if they were to be treated in exactly the same way as other employee groups (the stance adopted by the Government), their work conditions should also be the same. This initially took the form of making themselves available for flying duties only within the normal office working hours of 9am to 5pm.
The dispute severely disrupted domestic air travel in Australia and had a major detrimental impact on the tourism industry and many other businesses. The Royal Australian Air Force provided some limited domestic air services at the time to ease the impact of the strike. The dispute was superficially resolved after the mass resignation of a significant number of domestic airline pilots to avoid litigation from the employers. The employers obtained significant support from the Labor government and 'successfully' recruited new pilots from overseas."

Pay and working conditions in Australia are a lot better than here aren't they? Sounds like a success to me. Besides, who's going to replace us? Chinese pilots?

It was a huge success for the strikebreakers who are now working in Australia.

Pay and conditions for pilots in most of the world are better than the US, so lets not use that as a measuring stick for success.

Oh, replacement pilots? They would come from Europe, Africa, South America, New zealand and the bits of North America that the USA doesn't own.

the "pro-labor" president has been in office 5 years, no contract yet

[deleted] duplicate information

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisherman (Post 1461028)

the "pro-labor" president has been in office 5 years, no contract yet

If you want to drag politics into it, the anti labor Congress has blocked him from filling 2 vacancies on the 3 member NLRB too...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magpuller (Post 1460662)

So I just had a pleasant phone call from my nephew who is at RAH. He gave me the rundown their latest negotiation issues and it seems that pilot group may now face yet another year of stagnation in the potential of getting "fiscally parked" by the NMB.

I started thinking or a bit of a crazy rant...

Isn't it time that a pilot group say the hell with the RLA and just walk consequences be dammed? I almost feel like until a pilot group RAH or otherwise does this the industry will continue the race to the bottom with no end in sight. The RLA is antiquated and the NMB is owned by Airline execs. Southing's gotta give.

So if they walked, they'd get sued right? Or the President could even order them back to work? They can't get arrested for refusing. And it's RAH that would sue the IBT but what if as a condition of returning to work the IBT simply said if you sue we won't come back? It seems to me the IBT would have BB over a barrel.

This is more of a thought experiment I suppose but those guys at RAH seem just about fed up enough to take drastic steps. Maybe it's about time a PG stand up to it al land collectively said.."no more."

Man....I'd love to see it happen. You guys all deserve more.

I agree the RLA can be frustrating but bear in mind, it has protected many pilots from themselves over the years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magpuller (Post 1460662)

Isn't it time that a pilot group say the hell with the RLA and just walk consequences be dammed?

The RLA provides for individual members to be held financially responsible for financial damages caused by illegal work actions, and also provides for civil penalties (including jail time).