AOL attorney Marty Harper has now publicly abandoned the Nic award. He understands the 9th ruling that USAPA has a right to find reasonable alternatives to the Nic consistent with their DFR. Mr. Harper is now seeking to negotiate "real fences" with USAPA to protect West pilots from any potential inequities.
This has essentially been USAPA's position from the beginning echoing Steve Bradford’s early statements that "strong fences make good neighbors".
Marty's capitulation reminds me of Saddam Hussein's statement when he was pulled out of the rat hole....."I am the President of Iraq and I want to negotiate"......
underpants
From a news report filed on thestreet.com:
".....In its filing, the carrier seeks three court findings -- that a contract without the Nicolau ruling would not violate labor law, that a contract with the Nicolau ruling would not violate labor law, and that a contract without the Nicolau ruling would not subject the carrier to liability. Harper said he would oppose the first and third requests. In those request, he said, the airline "is litigating a bad faith bargaining position against USAPA, saying it's a violation of the Railway Labor Act for USAPA not to consider all reasonable alternatives.
"Whatever comes out has to be fair to both side," Harper said. He suggested that perhaps USAPA can devise "fences," or protections that entitle pilot groups to retain their existing flying but said that so far, USAPA "has not come up with fences that would be real."
Meanwhile, in an e-mail to its members late Monday, USAPA said it would oppose the airline's requests. "The company is seeking immunity," the union said. "The suit appears calculated to provide an excuse to hold up progress in bargaining."
USAPA's view is that the appeals court ruling clearly enables a contract agreement that does not include the Nicolau award, as long as that contract provides a seniority agreement that is fair to the west pilots. As a result, the union believes it does not need a second court's approval to negotiate such a contract.
The appeals court ruling also clearly anticipates that west pilots would file a suit after a contract agreement is reached. Union leaders believe they can structure a contract with fences that would prevent west pilots' routes from being flown by east pilots, and that over time many west pilots would replace retiring east pilots on the most desirable international flights."
