The Debacle of the RLA and a CBA
 

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 but pilots are a bunch of "what if" type of pansies. The last walkout in the regional world was Comair. What mgt is doing to RAH pilots is disgraceful. The company claims it cannot pay its a labor a better rate because they don't have the money, yet RAH announced a 20+ million dollar profit this past quarter...

There is one enormous difference between Comair and RAH: Comair was a wholly owned. I think RAH has that going for them if they balled up enough to walk. And Comair set a precedent...they did it...I think if RAH even threatened it they get a contact..but I'm just ranting still I suppose. I just want the best for my nephew and that PG.

Food for thought, it will cost American Airlines eight billion dollars for the twelve year feed for american by republic.

No worries man. Now that we finally got a pro-labor president in office I'm sure hell help out.

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

Ask the folks at PATCO how that worked out
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/op...ions.html?_r=0

That was a different time and PATCO striking was also a direct threat to the overall well-being of th entire nation. RAH walking out won't shut down air travel, it'll just **** off airline passengers for a little bit with delays and cancellations.

Though I do see your point of bringing up the PATCO strike the very fact that you did highlights an even greater need for the RLA to be busted by defiant labor.

Organize a sick-out and they'll take notice. Where's the issue with that?

The union should support a decertification vote followed by an immediate walkout. RLA doesnt apply without a union.

Why rely on a union when you can take matters into your own hands. Union can't organize a walk out. Companies are at the mercy of the pilots organizing. In the age of Facebook and other social media like this it shouldn't be too hard. Just someone anonymously coming on here and saying sick out every other Tuesday until we get a better contract.

What am I missing? Why wouldn't that work? Why hasn't it been done?

That would work if everyone on the line is really unified and ****ed about the contract negotiations. Something needs to happen, pick a date a month or so away and spread the word. Good luck to the RAH pilot group.

I'm not labor attorney but I do know that such an event would be an illegal job action. So if RAH pilots did this while the IBT still practiced a policy of RLA compliance then the pilot group would be liable in a law suit by management. A sick out would be annoyance but in my opinion nothing short of a total walk-out would give them any leverage. Sick-outs will just cause a political and legal fustercluck for that PG. It would make a point but it won't hamstring management potently enough to leverage suit protection like a walk out would. The PG has to be willing to risk a permanent RAH shutdown and job loss for any stand up action that defys the RLA.

The only reason that Spirit was able to strike was because they are not providing as much lift as any of the legacies or maybe even some majors and regionals (not sure of the numbers). The strike would've never happened if it was at one of the above.

Exactly. The big regionals like RAH have created environments where they would never be released from the NMB. It would be catastrophic for legacy airlines to lose feed overnight like that.

And like the other poster said, a wildcat strike would cause lawsuits against the union. That's why there has to be a vote to decertify the union, then an immediate walkout. No lawsuit, nobody can do anything about it. But it would take some serious cajones by the union leadership at RAH to publicly get this ball rolling.

sick outs, and walk outs are technically illegal job actions, not allowed by the RLA...if someone wanted to find out who started/organized the sick out, you might find yourself fired as a result...the good news is they can't fire everyone, just not enough folks out there to replace an entire pilot force.

As to the PATCO reference, I highly doubt there'd be any presidential firings taking place...if you worked for the federal government, you'd be out of a job...but eh, you're a private citizen, working for a private company...if you choose to stop showing up to work, no one can force you to do so. Just gotta pray that your peeps have balls and can stick to the strike...if folks started going back to work, it shows division in the workforce, and you'll just be separated and conquered by the company.

You don't need to resort to illegal methods. Just fly the contract. Nothing more nothing less. If you're sick call in sick. If your fatigued call in fatigued. Don't ask for directs. If the plane is broken wrte it up. Do this job like it should be done and you can legally send a real strong message when the system screaches to a halt.

Hate to disagree but that's not good enough.
Fly the contract? That's what sucks and needs to be changed. Not to mention, the company breaks the contract and all you can do is grieve it. What a joke grievances are. All the other stuff you mentioned has no effect unless it's done in masses. You want to get the company's attention, hit them where it hurts. Cost them money and they will take notice.

Always seems ok until the last day of a four day...when the guy sitting in the "big $$" seat says "I wanna get home, and i'll be d*mned if i miss my commute"!

Unfortunately and believe it or not there is precedent that would make what you are suggesting a job action. If a PG suddenly changes they way they operate and it negatively impacts operations its a job action. Even when it means doing everything by the book.

There is only one answer..an illegal strike consequences be damned. But thats easy for me to say when its not my income at stake...I'd like to think I'd support such a thing if I were there...hard to say. Those guys are in a tough spot.

Hahaha,not quite.Decertify the union...So who is your bargaining agent ? No lawsuit ? Dream on.The company would sue a few sacrificial lambs.Can you afford a lawyer to defend you ? So you then have NO union and thus,NO contract .The company would be free to impose pay/work rules.Sure,you can illegally shut the company down,do you think that would go unpunished ? They can wait longer than you.Do you have bills to pay ?

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.

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

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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...

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

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).

I understand the meat of the RLA as I've read the whole thing cover to cover...but the suggestion that the Govt. would imprison over 2000 pilots for refusing to work under a sub-standard contract is very unlikely. Technically, you are correct, but realistically it wouldn't happen. I understand the fear that such penalties impose. But think about this..if the RAH PG wallked out they would be ordered to return to work...Well...then they just say, only if the company continues to negotiate in good faith, no fine is assessed will we return, otherwise we collectively resign from RAH.

They need to set precedent in how they handle it and as I stated before they need to all be willing to risk unemployment. That alone means it won't happen anyway. Too many armies of one in the ranks of pilots these days.

Yep and unity among pilots is just a feel good thing. Sounds good to say it but in reality it will never happen.

What does this have to do with the NLRB?

The PATCO strike has absolutely nothing in common with a civilian strike under the RLA.
The PATCO guys were government employees and their strike was actually in violation of Federal Law.
They even used the document they were each forced to sign as a condition of employment that stated they understood it was against the law for them to strike.
And actually I don't think it's the RLA that is the enemy.
The enemy is the NMB and what it has become.
I believe an understanding of what the NMB is; a government agency with a "Mission Statement" that has become corrupted and contaminated by politics over the years, is the key to changing things.
The NMB has just as much responsibility to declare an impasse (when one exists) as it does to continue to try to help the parties reach resolution.
Use any and all political clout you can muster to force the NMB back in to its original and mandated "Mission Statement".

Well put, I agree 100%

100% true. In fact this is HR day 1 today and you have to be sworn in(!) as agreeing to the terms too. I know because I signed it and left the profession to be a pilot. What I was smoking when I quit, I still don't remember and it keeps getting through the drug tests.

As I recall, the AFL-CIO leadership thought the PATCO strike was ill-advised and might cause future harm to organized labor. Publicly, they criticized Reagan for overreacting, but privately, they were upset with Robert Poli for not consulting them, and they did virtually nothing to help PATCO.

Well yeh, and shame on the AFL-CIO.
But things were very complicated regarding this.
PATCO was not a member of the AFL-CIO and they harbored a grudge against them for supporting Reagan. Not to mention again it was strike in violation of federal law.
The fallout from the strike while it has been significant is more a matter of impression than conception.
At any rate the issue today with pilots is confined to forcing the NMB back to its mission rather than allowing them the power grab they've engaged in over the last 25 or so years.
They are a government agency; any power you allow them to take, they will use.
They actually have gotten to the point where they think their mission is to "successfully" resolve the issues before them.
They actually think that's their goal.
They don't have a goal; they have a mission, spelled out in their Mission Statement.
They must be held accountable to it or anyone under the RLA will be held prisoner to their tainted definition.

another graybeard

HAHAHAHAH I literally just laughed up my beer!

The ATO (air traffic controllers) guys still have the best contract in the FAA...food for thought.