Gomer,
It is safe to say that when management is confronted by a union negotiation there are three sets of interests in contention....management, union organizational, and employee interests. Throw in an outside representative like this situation, then I would imagine a fourth set appears.
Depending upon the mandate given ol' Homer by management....and the way his contract was negotiated....could have an effect on the outcome of the process....but to a lesser degree than the others. He might bring that horse to water...but making it drink is another thing. The interesting question to me is whether management instructed ol' Homer to settle with the union or attempt to de-certify the union.
If I were wanting to settle this thing as a manager...why would I hire an outfit with a mouthpiece like ol' Homer that advertises itself as being the world's leading expert on de-certifying unions?
I have heard the union negotiatiing committee at one time went directly to the senior manager and tried to resolve the outstanding issues with him directly....but were referred to the good hands of ol' Homer boy.
Again.....one would think if resolution was the goal....the management would take any route possible to get there....not rebuff a direct approach. The least they could have done would be to summons ol' Homer off his veranda and mint julips to assist in the discussion.....not merely refer the negotiating committee back to the guy that failed to win them over.
History will tell us what the driving factor behind the Air Log situation really was.......hope it isn't a story like the Eastern Airlines, American Airlines, US Air....story.
Latest rumour suggests there was more to the Training Captain being suspended than was originally reported....and had nothing to do with his reporting of the suspected safety issue.
Perhaps someone closer to the facts can clear this up for us?