Honest question....
The RAH IBT members will not hesitate to blame any past failures on the old local.
They also trumpet the "we are our own local, we are independent from Teamster national".
However, the new local was elected after the SLI hearings.
So if the SLI goes well, does IBT national get credit or the new local that had nothing to do with the process?
If the IBT doesn't go well, will you still blame the old local, or the ones that have been calling the shots, IBT national?
You had to live it to know what a mess the old Local was. It was a mess because it was not being run, it was being looted. Rumor has it the ousted president is looking at the better part of a decade in Club Fed. The last of that legacy departed when the new EC was elected. Two months ago. So yes: past failures are on the Old leadership.
IBT Locals are not independent. They govern themselves autonomously, and continue to do so as long as they are in compliance with state, and federal law and with the IBT constitution. IBT has the authority to intervene if illegal activity is discovered. Each local pays 22% of dues to IBT, which spends that on lobbying and logistical support to the Locals.
The purchase (merger, whatever) between RAH F9 and YX started right about the time IBT placed the old Local into trusteeship. There was a lot, and I mean a LOT of internal strife among the RAH pilots, between the RAH pilots and the then-sitting EC, between the EC and the trustees. Cats and dogs. It was decided to dissolve 747, place most of the 747 airlines with 1224 (ABX's Local) and charter a new local for RAH. the EC elections came up (in accordance with the bylaws) right about the time the new local was chartered which was also right about the time the SLI hearings ended. The RAH SLI committee worked independently of all the fun and games.
Defining "goes well" in terms of a SLI is mighty subjective. Hopefully, a lot of people will be a little mad rather than a little people a lot mad, and that is across the whole spectrum. When the dust settles, the respective SLI teams will get the credit or the blame, depending on point of view. As stated earlier, the RAH SLI team went through the transition of the Locals independently of all the other internal strife.
IBT did not call the shots on this and if you think about it, the way IBT is constructed of autonomous Locals, they had no reason to. What difference does an airline SLI with Local 357 have to do with the warehousemen at Local 264 in Buffalo? IBT paid for the lawyer, but that was because the accounts had been looted. That was the extent of IBT's involvement.
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