Here is what that judge said, BTW:
"The only federal case in point on endtailing which we have found is Hargrove v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 116 F.Supp. 3 (D.D.C.1953), which holds that a cause of action for a breach of the union's duty of fair representation lies when, three years after the acquisition of a firm, the union abolishes seniority rights previously given employees for pre-acquisition work with the acquired firm. This case squarely supports our conclusion that an unfair labor practice may have been committed here."
Nicolau entails East pilots after 517 and IS AN UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE. In short, Nicolau does NOT have a LEGITIMATE UNION PURPOSE.
"In summary, since the established seniority rights of a minority of the Barton employees have been abridged by the 1972 collective bargaining agreement for no apparent reason other than political expediency, there seem to be sufficient grounds in this case to support the Board order. We thus are remanding the case to the Board for a determination whether the Union violated its duty of fair representation, and thus committed an unfair labor practice, by successfully negotiating for the endtailing proposal."
The Transistion agreement is NOT a JCBA. No dispute, FACT. It's a FREEZE agreement and that is all. There is NO JCBA for three years like there was in Barton. That IS the proper fact pattern.