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On 2/9/2003 1:02:49 PM oldiebutgoody wrote:
PITbull,
Here is what I remember. There WERE some F/As that tried to walk (just like some pilots did), but it WAS NOT sanctioned by the AFA. The company went to court, which agreed that the F/As COULD NOT LEGALLY support the IAM strike. That's why they went back to work. To my knowledge there was no "court order", since there was no law allowing them to strike in the first place. Once it was pointed out that large numbers could be fired they went back, just like nothing had happened. That's what I remember, and I don't forget much!
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http://www.afausairways.org/IAMQA.html
What happened during the 1992 IAM strike?
In 1992, the US Airways AFA MEC voted to support the IAM strike. Our support included honoring the IAM's picket lines. When flight attendants struck in sympathy, the company went to court and argued that the AFA US Airways contract prohibited flight attendants from engaging in a sympathy strike. According to the company, the sympathy strike raised a contractual dispute that had to be decided in arbitration before the system board.
The court agreed, the parties were ordered to resolve the dispute in arbitration, and the flight attendants were ordered back to work pending arbitration. The IAM strike ended before the issue was arbitrated, but AFA decided to continue the arbitration, since the union would likely face a similar situation in the future.
The arbitrator ruled that the AFA US Airways contract does not prohibit the flight attendants from honoring the picket lines of other employee groups at US Airways. Therefore, flight attendants can legally honor the IAM picket lines without the threat of an injunction.
Again, the MEC will discuss the possibility of supporting the IAM's strike, and vote on that possibility once the strike's begun. If the MEC does vote to support the IAM's strike this time US Airways cannot stop us.