Latest from AoL. For those east pilots that can't read, have someone from USAPA read it to you.
A trial is where a defendant’s actions are proven before a jury, and the guilt, or non-guilt of those acts is measured against the law. Our case is about discrimination. Despite the objective fairness of the Nicolau decision, that will not be litigated as it has nothing to do with the central issue of discrimination. All of the whining and attempts to revise history by the East will not change the fact that the arbitration is long over. To be clear, the East should not construe this as any sort of tacit admission that we at Leonidas deep down believe that Nicolau is somehow unfair. Hardly. If anything, the great weight of evidence suggests that Nicolau was more than generous in dealing with the East and if any East pilot doubts this, then they should climb out of their hole and read the recent three-arbitrator opinion from the Delta-Northwest seniority integration. The fairness of Nicolau is not at issue and it will have no bearing on our DFR trial which will commence in 44 days.
What is at issue is whether a union breaches its duty of fair representation under the facts of this case: (i) two labor groups participate in a binding arbitration; (ii) and the larger of the two groups then decides they are dissatisfied with the arbitrated result (because it did not comport with their unrealistic position); (iii) it then uses its obvious numerical advantage to change unions, repudiate the arbitration, and formulate a new seniority list, which; (iv) harms or disadvantages every member of the minority while advancing every member of the majority; and (v) the union unequivocally asserts its plan to incorporate this new list into a contract using its majority to overpower the minority without consideration of the smaller group. This is not a question for us or USAPA to answer. Rather, it will be up to a jury of working Americans to decide. They will analyze the facts of our case through the prism of discrimination, and decide as they see fit. We are confident in the merits of our position as the West has never acted in any way other than to do what is right and what is fair. Take comfort, because in the vast majority of cases, juries do get it right. We believe that this case will be no different, and that is exactly why going to trial for USAPA and their counsel is “unthinkable.â€
The jury will receive the case on or before May 8th, 2009, which is the scheduled completion date of the trial. Judging from the actions of USAPA’s counsel and considering USAPA's virtual silence, one cannot help but think that USAPA is terrified to go to trial. Their apparent panic over the mere scheduling of a trial is quite interesting, as it leads one to question whether USAPA was convinced by their attorney that this would not occur for years. Why else would USAPA be so desperately trying to avoid going to trial - as evidenced by their nonstop, assembly line production of meaningless filings - if it did not somehow conflict with what was promised? USAPA should have known last November when Judge Wake issued his order finding that he had jurisdiction to hear this case that a trial would occur. The only disconnect we can think of is that USAPA was completely sold on an idea that was too good to be true: Get your own mob-derived seniority list crammed down the throats of the West, tie the DFR case up in court for years and then run into retirement. Even better, what recovery the West might eventually obtain would then be from a union in which the plaintiffs had become the majority. The West would essentially be recovering damages from themselves. No doubt it must have sounded like one heck of a plan when hatched, so long as one completely divorced himself or herself from reality.
What is really of interest to us in the West is how USAPA will break this unpleasant news to its fanatical supporters. The second firewall has been breached; the first was the motion to dismiss and now it was the scheduling of the trial. We admit that this is pure conjecture on our part, but we feel confident that we are right. All one has to do is piece together USAPA's responses this past week and that of their hysterical attorney and it all points to the inescapable fact that to them, A TRIAL WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. Well, it is. And the reason is that in America there are limits to what one group can do to another. Or to put it another way, a “wide range of reasonableness†is not synonymous with a blank check to trounce upon anyone.
Most West pilots have known this all along but the point we wish to underscore to the West readers is that injustice, by itself, does not get one before a judge. We are heading for trial mainly because of two reasons: (1) the early financial support by a handful of West pilots; and (2) the good fortune of having a talented legal team including Mr. Marty Harper, Dr. Andy Jacob, Mr. Don Stevens, Ms. Kelly Flood, and Ms. Katie Brown take on our case for all. Now that we are off the ground, we are flying pretty high and that is because of the amazing support from our fellow West pilots. So much has occurred since USAPA began their quest to destroy the careers of every West pilot, and we as a group owe a debt of gratitude to the legal counsel that has so far stopped USAPA cold.
The founding leadership of USAPA has operated in a way that has pushed all US Airways pilots into a “winner takes all†contest. Interestingly, we stand to lose everything and forfeit that which we are owed, yet the opposite is true for USAPA and their angry followers. Think about that for a moment: We in the West have little to gain except for the realization of an arbitrated award. On the other hand, USAPA, its founders and supporters really have nothing to lose if we prevail, other than misplaced “pride,†wasted time, and LOTS of wasted income. This is the reality of our opponent. They have a proven, mind-blowing sense of entitlement. They cared not to fight for its losses in the past, but suddenly felt the urgency to win at all costs against the West pilots. They thought nothing of characterizing one of the most respected arbitrators in the world as being "senile" merely because he would not facilitate their theft of every West pilot’s career. When they couldn’t quite capitalize enough on their leverage within ALPA National to force us to capitulate, they thought nothing of embarking upon their own ambitious plan to simply take that which does not belong to them. Aided by a lawyer who all but guaranteed the impossible, USAPA sold its promises on the foundation that the law will turn a blind eye to whatever is done to the West pilots-fairness be [d a r n]ed because fairness can be defined by a mob. Sorry, but that's not the way it works in America today. We believe that is a totally improper characterization of what the law will allow. The good news (we believe) is that a jury will agree.
Although the setting of a trial date may appear to many West pilots as the light at the end of the tunnel, we must point out that there is much work to be done between now and April 28th. It would be inane to believe that we can merely coast to victory as the opposition is already swinging into full crisis mode. Everything is now at stake for the founders of USAPA, their angry followers, and especially for their legal counsel. We have already witnessed a constant parade of antics and legal tactics which shock the conscience. The vast majority of union members in America would bristle at the thought of a union using union dues money to attack individual union members through malevolent and frivolous lawsuits. But, this is precisely what the self-appointed leadership of USAPA embarked upon within days of becoming the bargaining agent. This event should have cued anyone on the East who cared that the pilots running the new pilot union are not normal. Unfortunately for all of us, East and West, these same individuals continue unchecked. They have already advertised their willingness to sell everything to Parker in exchange for their DOH (minus Trump Shuttle and Empire) seniority list. Their mocking use of off duty police officers at West road shows illustrates their deep contempt for all West pilots. But, nothing compares to their open willingness to sell every bit of unionism down the river in order to cut a deal with Parker just to get “their†“seniority†list incorporated into a contract. Now, think about the type of people who would do this, and consider whether they will suddenly change their tune and begin to participate in good faith in the remainder of the pre-trial process and during the trial itself. Please consider what our attorneys (and all of us, for that matter) are dealing with, and think about how much raw talent, fortitude, and moral authority it must have taken on their part just to get us to this point.
The bottom line is that we are going to trial, and yes, we believe the West has a compelling case. There are, however, no guarantees in life, or in arbitration, or in court. All we can do now is to stay focused on the task at hand as a lot of work remains to be done. Expect delay tactics all the way through April 28th. True to form, Seham has already appealed (or is threatening to appeal) the judge’s decision to certify the West as a Class. It also appears that he believes an April 28th trial date is prejudicial to his client, as it is not enough time to properly prepare for trial. Never mind that this trial was originally supposed to commence February 17th. Never mind that it was Seham alone who has asked for extensions in filing responses, and never mind that Seham is seeking to depose just about any West pilot who has ever had anything to do with ALPA including those who have no association with Leonidas or the Plaintiffs. And the East all thought that this was to be a “slam dunk,†for USAPA. Why then the reluctance? To the East pilots who still subscribe to USAPA's date-of-hire cram down, we ask the following rhetorical question: “If USAPA’s position was so fair and so sound, then what justifies USAPA’s attempt to avoid litigating on the merits?â€
We will be making arrangements with the court to accommodate the maximum number of US Airways pilots (East and West), as we anticipate that many of you are eager to be “ringside†at the trial. Make no mistake about it, the two weeks of April 28th through May 8th will probably be the most significant during any West pilot’s professional career. In the event of a guilty verdict, the jury will be thanked for their service by Judge Wake and then dismissed. The remedy/damages phase will then begin. This phase will be bifurcated into two components: equitable and legal. Since we need to get beyond the liability question [is USAPA guilty?] before getting to damages and remedies, we will not discuss either damages or remedies until the time is right. Our focus now is on what we must do to slam this case shut. Suffice it to say, a union’s liability for breach of its duty of fair representation opens the door to a number of remedies, in both equity and law.
