When Irony Attacks?

What happens when those who strike... strike against their own? That is now an issue for the Air Line Pilots Association after the union's clerical and support employees walked out Friday, closing ALPA offices around the country.

Since March, ALPA and the Union of ALPA Professional and Administrative Employees, Unit 2, have been negotiating with a goal of reaching a consensual agreement regarding their collective bargaining agreement. On Wednesday -- just before the midnight deadline on their contract -- the two sides completed a tentative agreement that ALPA leaders say contained merit salary increases, delayed health care cost increases, and improved several other areas of the contract.

Not good enough, said Unit 2 members. They rejected the agreement Friday... and by noon EDT, ALPA offices around the country were shut down.

How this strike will impact the union's ongoing negotiations with such companies as FedEx -- which has been in talks with the union over an agreement with its pilots since March 2004, and was expected to return to Washington for mediated talks Wednesday -- remains to be seen.

"We have no idea how it will affect negotiations, but we hope to continue to move forward as rapidly as we can," said FedEx spokesman Maury Lane to commercialappeal.com.

ALPA says it won't stand in the way of its employees' efforts... although the organization feels it's given them the best deal it can.

"ALPA strongly believes in and supports the right of all employees -- including its own -- to strike," the union stated. "The officers of the association will do nothing to undermine or interfere with their strike."

"Management believes that the TA sufficiently balances the economic realities of the airline profession we serve and the needs of the fine employees who work so hard for our members," added the union in a written statement. "The hard reality remains that our pilot members have suffered grievously these past five years. Salary cuts, furloughs, pension losses and escalating health-care costs make it impossible for ALPA to grant the salary increases and health care caps Unit 2 seeks."

ALPA represents 62,000 airline pilots at 39 airlines in the U.S. and Canada.

FMI: www.alpa.org