Wino,
Unfortunately the outfit I used to work at was not a union shop, and our only "safety" comittee so to speak was the FAA, and they don't want to seem to know.
In any case, I sat in the trailer with the said mechanic and told him I was 100% behind him. His situation was he was working for a major cargo carrier and we were sub-contracted by this carrier. As a result he had the responsibility to oversee the daily's and a/w's on our 727.
I told him flat out I wouldn't risk my license for a cr@p outfit like mine if I were him. He agreed.
As a result of the a/c being grounded on the Wed before Thanksgiving (the #2 compass system was the main culprit) I felt I had had enough and tendered my resignation last Monday.
Interestingly enough, another Capt and crew flew it out Wed night, which just goes to show that there are still Wh@res out there with no integrity.
With the way my former company operates I hope I'm wrong but it won't be long until there will be a serious (or worse) incident coming.
By the way, this company is starting to hire all F/E's and F/O's directly out of one of those "pay for training" FAR 142 schools, so the Capt's that stay have got a lot of babysitting to do this winter.
YIP down to mins with a packed rwy and blowing snow is not the place for a 250 total time F/O...