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Download NowWhat happened. When Trans World Airlines (TWA) declared bankruptcy,
American Airlines agreed to purchase its assets and hire former TWA pilots.
TWA's pilots were represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA),
while American's pilots belonged to the Allied Pilots Association (APA).
American set a condition on hiring TWA's pilots, howeverthat they
waive their seniority rights. They were to be "integrated" into American
pilots' seniority list and not be allowed to arbitrate any disputes about
their placement. ALPA resisted waiving the TWA pilots' rights, which were
part of their union agreement. But TWA asked the bankruptcy judge to set aside
the union agreement, so ALPA reluctantly accepted the waiver in exchange for
American's promise to "use its reasonable best efforts" to integrate
TWA pilots' seniority.
But things went from bad to worse. The sale to American closed in April 2001;
ALPA and APA negotiated but couldn't agree; in November APA created seniority
proceduresand TWA pilots went to the bottom of the list. A year later,
APA became the union for both sets of pilots, and ALPA dropped out. That's
when one former TWA pilot, Leroy Bensel, representing all the others, took both
ALPA and APA to court for failing to represent them fairly. A federal district
judge in New Jersey dismissed all his claims, in particular ruling that the
unfair representation charge against ALPA was filed too late, past the 6-month
deadline. The pilots appealed to the 3rd Circuit, which covers Delaware, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
What the court said. A majority of appellate judges felt that the 6-month
deadline should not apply. The pilots needed more time after the waiver of their
rights to assess their situation. They shouldn't have been expected to
challenge the only union that had promised to negotiate on their behalf, judges
said. They agreed with the lower court in dismissing all other charges, but
sent the case back for the pilots to present more evidence against ALPA. Bensel
v. Allied Pilots Association, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit,
No. 03-3176 (10/26/04).
Point to remember: The court said the 6-month limit was trumped by
the "ray of hope" concept, which states that employees need not abandon
or alienate protection while they still hope it will help them.