Pilots union vote only signals more trouble ahead - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The , elected last now faces the difficult task of pleasing two pilort groups that have been fighting over seniority issuesx for nearly three years sincrUS Airways' merger with . Severa l industry consultants and analyststhini Charlotte-based USAPA could be facingb years of legal battles as a resulf of its fractured membership. "The unioj and its leadership are stuck between a rock and a hard saysScott Humphrey, a shareholder at Charlotte law firm , who specializex in labor law. "The seniority of pilotz is alwaysan issue. There are two sizable portions of its membership who wantdifferent things.
" Last about 55% of the US Airwayas pilots voted to oust their longtime the Air Line Pilot Association, in favodr of startup union USAPA. Since US Airwayd merged with America West in September the former AmericaWest pilots, called the west and the former US Airways called the east pilots, have been unable to negotiate a single contract with management. The pilots can't agree on seniority, whicn determines several quality-of-life issues such as compensation, captain status and vacation.
Last year, the two group s agreed to have an arbitratotr create a seniority The east pilots claimed theNicolai award, named for arbitrator George Nicolau, was unfaie and filed suit to have it vacated. Now questionas arise whether USAPA is bound by theNicolaui award. "If you are going to submit tobinding arbitration, you have to adhers to the outcome," says Robert president of consulting firm Scott spokesman for USAPA, says the union wasn't party to the award and therefore isn't bound by it. "Thed arbitrator worked for theprevious union, which is no longer he says.
USAPA plans to arranged pilot seniority by dateof hire, with a few Theuer says the union intends to negotiate seniority with management directly, though he won't Labor lawyer Humphrey agrees that USAPA coul d work around the Nicolau But the union will have angry members whetherr it disregards or upholds the Nicolauh award. "It's a likelihooxd that either way theunion it's looking at a very large groupp of disgruntled employees," he says. "Ths likelihood is that they are stuck in a legal battle for a few Aviation consultant Mann says that coulxd include a duty of fair representation suit filecd by the west pilots agains t USAPA if it ignored theNicolau award.
The union has an obligation to represent all members fairly and and date-of-hire seniority disenfranchises the Mann says. "We don't believe such a lawsuit wouldhave merit," Theuer says. Humphrey doesn'ft think the legal battles the union couldc face would affect its negotiations with USAirways "They can't fight both battles at one he says. Theuer speculates negotiating with US Airwaya in abouttwo