No Hawaiian Airlines strike for at least three months

Here's something to be thankful for: it is extremely unlikely that Hawaiian Airlines will be hit by a strike before Thanksgiving. The arcane process that leads to a strike virtually ensures this. And who knows? Maybe pilots will get a contract by then. In the airline industry, union contracts do not expire. They merely become "amendable." The hundreds of pilots who work for Hawaiian Airlines have had an "amendable" contract for years, but the company has not been amenable to amending it unless, it can undo work rules that can be pay for raises. Hawaiian pilots are reluctant to give back all that time off, though in the end they may do so to get serious wage increases. Several pilots are talking to me about the negotiations; some are hardliners and some are not, and I'm insufficiently connected to know which faction is larger. I assume a contract will be reached. I also assume it will go down to the wire because a lot of money is involved and negotiators have a tough task on both sides. On the management side they want to be sure they don't lock in so big an increase in payroll costs that the next run-up in jet fuel prices sends the company into Chapter 11 again. Union negotiators want something ratifiable. After years of negotiations, a federal mediator is now involved. A recent bargaining session in Washington, D.C., has been described by both sides as producing some progress but not as much as either side wanted. The next session has been scheduled for October 12. The Hawaiian unit of the Air Line Pilots Association has begun a two-week vote on whether to give the union the authority to call a strike. This is mostly a formality, except insofar as the margin of victory, if it's large enough, could signal to both sides how the pilots feel about things. After years without a new contract, though, I think we can guess how they feel about things. Before a strike can be called, several other things have to happen. First, the federal mediator has to declare an impasse. In the dictionary and in the real world, an impasse means two parties can't agree. In labor negotiations that involve a federal mediator, it's not legally an impasse until the mediator says it is. ALPA can say it's an impasse, Hawaiian Airlines can say it's an impasse, I can go on the air and dramatically remove my glasses and point at you and say, "These guys are at an impasse," but until the mediator says so, nothing further can happen in the direction of a strike. The next step is for the mediator to offer the two sides "binding arbitration." Unlike a mediator, who merely tries to facilitate an agreement by acting as a go-between, cajoling, feeding the two sides pastries until they calm down from carbo-loading, etc., an arbitrator is a more Solomonic figure whose job is to decide where the middle ground is. Under binding arbitration, the two sides are bound to accept the arbitrator's sometimes arbitrary ruling on what's fair. (Remember this, not because there's a test, but because contract talks with Hawaii state employees could go this route.) If one or both sides reject binding arbitration, there still can't be an immediate strike because a 30-day cooling-off period kicks in. This means, even if the October negotiation sessions ends in one day in abject failure and the mediator, contrary to all past practice, declares an impasse the same day without even trying again, it would still be mid-November before a strike could be called. Even then, the president could appoint a panel to look at the situation and that would delay a strike. In brief, a strike before Thanksgiving is virtually inconceivable even if everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Now let's see if the two sides can hammer something out without going this route. P.S. I may make adjustments to this post. Both sides in the talks watch what I write closely, and I am grateful to both sides for helping me correct factual errors.

Comments

[johnfromberkeley]

since i'm visiting in mid-september, i am personally relieved. however, i do respect the pilots. i hope both sides will come to a point of resolution.