Rakestraw v. United Airlines Inc‪.‬

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge. Two cases present a common question: does a union's duty of fair representation under the Railway Labor Act block the union from adjusting seniority in a way known to favor some employees over others? Both of these cases arise out of trauma at an airline: in one case its acquisition by a larger carrier, and in the other a strike followed by the hiring of replacement pilots. In each case the union (the Air Line Pilots Association, or ALPA) negotiated with management an agreement providing every pilot with seniority from the date of hire. In the first case, the pilots of the smaller carrier contend that they should have received bonus seniority or equivalent protection (such as denying TWA's pilots seniority credit for time on furlough) to offset the fact that dovetailing the seniority lists worked to the advantage of the larger carrier's pilots, who on average had longer service. In the second case, the pilots hired during the strike contend that another group of pilots should have received seniority from the day they went to work in the cockpit rather than the day they reported for training, in order to protect the positions that they assumed in the face of animosity from the striking pilots.