If there were no union, AA would just send around an email stating that there was an error in the scheduling software, and that everyone now needs to go in and

If there were no union, AA would just send around an email stating that there was an error in the scheduling software, and that everyone now needs to go in and re-do their schedule for December. Sorry to those folks who already booked vacation for Christmas week, counting on having the time off. Companies do this all the time, with zero repercussions. Of course, that would never work if they had made an error in their purchase of jet fuel futures -- the futures market does not have a do-over function. The union is forcing the company to be professional in its dealings with employees, in the same way that it is professional in its dealings with vendors, regulators, bankers, customers -- pretty much every other stakeholder.