Nice theory, if you ignore the fact that Doug in all his interest in getting a joint contract stalled and stalled from the announcement of the merger until after the Nic award.
The real fact is, he thought he could let the East starve under LOA93, and no raise for the West until he had to move for a merger. However he never anticipated NIC. By the time Nic came out it was too late.
As of now I agree with you, he wont be in any hurry unless a new corporate transaction is in the works.
So you can blame the East now as Doug has no interest in giving a new contract, but you cant blame the East pre Nic. That was management getting as much as they could from labor.
Revisionist Easthole history once again. You AS@holes walked away from negotiations...in direct violation of the Transition Agreement, (more on that later). You walked away from the only leverage you'll have in the next decade. You're the ones who donned yellow coward lanyards and stomped your feet until you got some semblance of "your way".
The only win you've had is proving you have a majority of pilots...profound losers all. You guys made your beds, now you get to lye in them all the while fielding lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit. Same goes for the company.
If you thought you were close to a contract, forget it. Get real used to Mesa (LOA) 93. Contract negotiations are about to be hamstrung in federal court for the foreseeable future and the company won't touch anything from USAPA with a 50 foot pole. Who needs to kill USAPA when the leaders keep hanging the group themselves?