Lakeguy:
Lakeguy said: If your contract is abrogated, you have no RLA protections, no union, therefore no right to strike. You become an employee at will.
Chip comments: Lakeguy, it appears from reports from yesterday's meeting between the company and the IAM your comment is accurate. If the restructuring agreement is rejected, the company will seek immediate emergency relief and considering the judge has approved virtually every motion presented by the company, I believe it's unlikely the present contract will stay in force. Therefore, the IAM would be without any contract protection and the company would be free to do whatever they desire, maybe even draconian steps like furloughing out of seniority, hiring replacement workers, and obviously deeper cuts.
Maybe that's why Joe Tiberi, a spokesman for the mechanics, told the Washington Post the union decided to vote again after misunderstanding what could happen if they voted the tentative agreement down. Tiberi said the mechanics thought a bankruptcy judge would force US Airways to modify the proposed agreement or come up with another one. That would not happen. Instead, a judge would either leave the agreement intact or reject it totally.
The mechanics thought the judge could make some changes to the agreement and that they would take their chances with the judge, Tiberi said.
Chip