united airline alpa pilots made a mistake, they are hogtied by a court injunction that they referred to in their latest update I have provided below. The united airline and continental airline pilots last contract amendable dates are 2007 and 2008 respectively. Maybe USAPA can learn by their failures of alpa expert advice.
"""Since the united airlines alpa MEC forum came down, some postings on other sites that reflect misunderstandings and questions about the nature and scope of the preliminary injunction currently in place have been sent to us. Below are the answers to some frequently asked questions and other questions that seem to underlie some of the postings.
1. How long will the preliminary injunction remain in place?
The preliminary injunction remains in place until either a JCBA is negotiated and ratified or until the end of the status quo period after the NMB releases United and ALPA so that they can engage in economic self-help as permitted by the Railway Labor Act.
2. Does the preliminary injunction apply to individual pilots?
Yes. The preliminary injunction states that it applies not only to ALPA and the other defendants but also to ALPA’s “members, agents, employees, and all persons and organizations acting by, in concert with, through or under them, or by and through their orders.”
3. Does the preliminary injunction prevent me as an individual pilot from making a decision as a pilot based on safety or other personal, individual factors that are consistent with our working agreement?
No. But the key to this answer is that we’re talking about an individual decision based on your own professional judgment, as required by the FAR’s, AND having NO relationship to negotiations with United or other aspects of our relationship with United and its management. Even an individual decision that is based on your feelings about United, United management, or United negotiations, not on safety or other appropriate factors, can be used legally against you and your union if there is anything more than an isolated individual impact on normal flight operations. That is because statistical impact is one of the legal measurements used by the courts.
4. But sick leave has often increased to levels similar to those in the time of the injunction. Why didn’t the company stop this?
Pilots should not fly when sick, so periods of high illness obviously justify increases in sick leave. But when sick leave goes up in ways that the company cannot readily explain based on its own historic data or knowledge of the current situation, you can be sure that they are examining the data for patterns and digging into what they might be hearing or seeing. And even more assuredly, should sick leave increase to such an extent as to cause significant cancellations, as was the case prior to the injunction, in the absence of any well-understood explanation we will be called upon to explain it in court.
5. If a lot of us act as individuals, without any prompting from leadership, like a flock responding to a threat, would the company be able to take action against us?
Of course. The participants wouldn’t just be acting as individuals but would be creating a pattern that any court would see for what it is. Concerted activity, to be unlawful, doesn’t have to be called by a leader; even if it seems to be spontaneous, it would be easy to show that it’s concerted.
6. Isn’t ALPA just simply afraid to stand up to the company and the court?
When a court of the United States issues an order against you, is it fear that leads you to comply, is it your responsibility, or is it just good sense? Decide for yourself, but consider the following: A Federal Court has real and lawful power. If ALPA, the MEC, ALPA committees, individual members, or others, violate the preliminary injunction, the court can hold us in contempt, placing heavy fines on the union AND on individuals. The company, too, can take action that can affect your career not only at United but elsewhere. The NMB would know about the actions. And a court that is dissatisfied with the pilots’ response to her injunction can take other steps that might make it even more difficult than it already is to negotiate a new agreement."""
