1. Northwest Airlines v. Association of Flight Attendants
Approval by bankruptcy court of NWA changes to AFA CBA under Section 1113 of bankruptcy code of NWA old CBA
Bankruptcy court-approved rejection of CBA by employer terminates status quo under RLA (Sec. 2, First and Seventh) and relieves them of duty to maintain status quo
Court-approved rejection does not relieve parties of duty under RLA (Sec. 2, First) to make “every reasonable effort” to make agreements and by making extensive use of dispute resolution procedures prior to striking where NWA not bargaining in bad faith and continues to be willing to bargain
“every reasonable effort”
Persuasion of its members
Take into account duty owed public
Dispute resolution procedures
Seek assistance of NMB
Dissent
Majority decision does not explain why AFA can’t strike if NWA rejection terminated status quo
Not a unilateral rejection because it was approved by bankruptcy court; therefore can’t strike