There are several problems with that. First of all the Company isn't going to risk a collusion lawsuit which they have been advised will happen if they accept a non-NIC seniority list. So all of the "good faith" negotiations will not yield more than they already have on the financial sections of the CBA until a court answers the legal questions about the SLI.
The second problem is that even if Management ignored the risk and completed negotiations with USAPA on a non-NIC JCBA, the existence of a ratified TA does not in any way take the DFR claim off the table. USAPA already lost the first DFR lawsuit for not using the NIC in a federal court and with a fully ripe matter before the courts they should have every expectation that they would lose again, even without $eham driving the USAPA bus off the cliff.
This is all academic anyway. Management will never accept a non-NIC list unless a federal court gives them the all clear to accept something else. So section 22 must be closed before any superseding agreements can be reached and that is very unlikely to occur until all of the court challenges run their course. Besides, if what the USAPA zealots are claiming will happen tomorrow actually does result in restored east wages, then a JCBA is more than just a few years away. By their own admission they will stop seeking a JCBA and trying to overturn the NIC. They will apparently be happy to remain in status quo until they are forced to abandon that strategy. That says a little something about their true lack of confidence in what the Ninth said (and didn't say) versus the bluster we see on these boards.
I thought this thread was about the possibility of a merger with AA? If that is the case a new transition agreement will have to be negotiated and the old one scrapped. The old one will be moot anyway as the parties have not fulfilled the agreement.
So we are then faced with the possibility that any pilot group, APA, of USAPA East or West, could invoke section 3 and 13 of Allegheny Mohawk as provided in the McCaskill Bond amendment as follows:
Civil Aeronautics Board Reports- Allegheny-Mohawk Merger
Section 3. Insofar as the merger affects the seniority rights of the carriers employees, provisions shall be made for the integration of seniority lists in a fair and equitable manner, including, where applicable, agreement through collective bargaining between the carriers and the representatives of the employees affected. In the event of failure to agree, the dispute may be submitted by either party for adjustment in accordance with section 13.
Section 13. (a) In the event that any dispute or controversy (except as to matters arising under section 9) arises with respect to the protections provided herein which cannot be settle by the parties within 20 days after the controversy arises, it may be referred by any party to an arbitrator selected from a panel of seven names furnished by the National Mediation Board for consideration and determination. The parties shall select the arbitrator from such panel by alternatively striking names until only one remains, and he shall serve as arbitrator. Expedited hearings and decisions will be expected, and a decision shall be rendered within 90 days after the controversy arises, unless an extension of time it is mutually agreeable to all parties. The salary and expenses of the arbitrator shall be borne equally by the carrier and (i) the organization or organizations representing employee or employees or (ii) if unrepresented, the employee or employees or group or groups of employees. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It doesn't look like the Nicolau award or a straight Date of Hire list will survive this outcome. It effectively means a do over for the East / West pilots as part of a greater seniority list integration with APA. I don't see how judge Silver will mandate that the parties come to an agreement implementing the Nicolau award with Judge Wake and the Ninth said that the courts could not impose a solution without membership ratification.
The transition agreement will be moot as it does not conform to the new reality of the situaition vis a vie APA / American Airlines, and any party can invoke arbitration. Doug Parker will like this because it gets him off the hook for DFR liability because he is just complying with the law and the transition agreement that he was bound to is now not valid and a new one will have to be negotiated.
A merger under the provisions of the McCasskill Bond amendment is a whole new ballgame for all the parties involved.
