But I thought there were no "fence sitters." I thought there were already enough cards.
I disagree. The EC said this:
"The Council made a firm commitment to support a fast-track negotiating strategy to raise the pay of AAA pilots in order to achieve pay parity with AWA pilots and to achieve major raises (pay parity plus) for both pilot groups. These negotiations—which will move AAA and AWA pay rates beyond current AWA levels—will be conducted by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC)."
The EC will put the JNC on the fast track, and if the East stalls, then the EC will sit in place of the East at the negotiating table. They have committed to defending the award, and this would include attempts to delay it's implementation.
I disagree again. Now that the award will be submitted and defended, it makes it even more of a certainty that any successor union will be bound by the award. This will make it even more likely that the majority of East pilots will realize the situation, and decide that their best hope for significant quality of life improvements will be to vote on a joint contract that will increase their pay and benefit their families in the shortest amount of time.
Haven't you figured out yet that the West is not interested in giving in to threats and extortion? They haven't seen this through all the way to the end, just to throw in the towel and submit to the will of the East. The only deal cut will be at the JNC table.
This will be over, and a tentative contract will go out for a vote before the USAPA can even finish counting their cards.
