Monday, April 9, 2007

Mordkoff on The Demise of the Right to Strike in the Airline Industry

David Mordkoff, Virginia, has posted a new paper, From Bonehead to Chaos: The Demise of the Right to Strike in the Airline Industry. Here's the abstract:
This paper chronicles the demise of labor's ability to strike in the commercial aviation industry in the United States. The analysis starts with the airmail strikes of the early 20th century and progresses to the present day, where the Northwest Airlines flight attendants' attempt to strike was enjoined by the District Court (a decision that was upheld by the 2nd Circuit). The first part of the paper is historical. The second part focuses on the NWA case, analyzing the District Court's decision (an analysis of the 2nd Circuit decision will be added). The paper concludes with a legislative proposal for amending the Railway Labor Act to make it easier for unions to strike a formerly-bankrupt carrier, once the carrier leaves bankruptcy protection.