1- They are claiming that we are the only US Major Airline where Captain's can still refuse an airplane with a legal deferral.
But a lot of Captain's see this as questioning their authority and/or pilot pushing.
A poor example is; would you take a 767-300 with APU inop, from US to say Buenos Aires on a 10+ hrs flt time, at night with some terrain/escape route concerns, limited airport availability, etc..
If you can still justify it like that, then is there a problem? Are some colleagues refusing to fly with APU inop from JFK-MIA perhaps?
I don't think we can comment here without knowing the culture of your colleagues, and whether some are substituting excess conservatism for valid experience of what is sensible v what is legal.