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It is interesting to me that, on opposite sides of the country, conversations are happening right now about erecting barriers on the big bridges that attract suicide jumpers. In Delaware, a conversation is going on about erecting a barrier on the Delaware Memorial Bridge, from which 140 people have jumped to their deaths in the past 55 years.   

In San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District's board of directors recently approved a two-part, $2 million engineering and environmental study on the construction of a suicide-deterrent project on the bridge.

Engineers are considering putting up a net under the bridge and a fence along it, which would block jumpers. Since 1937, more than 1,200 people have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge. The interest in this project is so significant that private donors contributed money for the new studies. 

Here is a story from Augusta, Maine, about how a safety fence on a local bridge is believed to have reduced the number of suicides there. The reasoning is that suicide is an impulsive act, and if you make it more difficult to achieve, a person attempting it may reconsider.   

Look at major bridges in your area. What is the track record for suicides? How accessible are the places from which jumpers most often leap? 

Delta/Comair Strike Could Pose Major Legal Issues

We don't know yet if Delta Air Lines pilots and Comair flight attendants will strike this month. A judge is to rule by Monday whether or not to void the pilots' current contract.

But there are major legal questions involved. For example, would the pilots have to go through the typical 30-day cooling-off period before striking? The answer is unclear. The (Cincinnati, Ohio) Enquirer has been on top of the developing story, which could cause a heck of a mess for travelers if a strike occurs. The paper discovered that the details of a potential strike are still ambiguous:  

[A]s the labor disputes at both airlines have progressed, another key question has arisen: Can those workers legally walk out?

It goes on to explain some background on the issue:

The question is whether unions can resort to strikes or other job actions if their contracts have been thrown out under the Railway Labor Act, the 1934 law that was crafted to cover labor relations in the railroad and airline industries.

The law has different bargaining provisions from other labor laws, primarily because of the nation's reliance on transportation as well as the fact that the work forces in both industries are scattered across the country.  

The Railway Labor Act has specific step-by-step procedures both parties must follow before being "released" to self-help (such as a strike by the union and imposition of new work rules and wages by management). Those include 30-day "cooling-off" periods, the involvement of the National Mediation Board (an independent government agency that oversees such labor relations) and even the possible involvement of the president.  

Yet Section 1113 (c) of the federal bankruptcy code allows companies to reject labor deals under Chapter 11 protection. The code was changed in 1984 to require court approval before such a rejection, a direct result of a situation that year at Continental Airlines. The carrier, then led by Frank Lorenzo, was able to use bankruptcy law to void labor deals and then get approval from the court.  

Since the law has been changed, however, no union has gone on strike after having a contract rejected in bankruptcy court. United Airlines used an 1113 (c) motion to get cuts from its workers without a strike, while Northwest Airlines recently struck a tentative deal with its pilots with the same process.  

In the Northwest case, the judge overseeing the filing extended a possible ruling deadline twice and then didn't rule at all -- and the two sides worked out their own deal. "What you have is a situation where you have a very arcane law against a relatively new one, and no one has tested it," Craver said.  

So whether a strike is legal in a bankruptcy is unknown, the sides in the respective disputes certainly have their own diametrically opposed opinions on the subject.  

The Enquirer says if the judge rules in the airline's favor, you can expect quick requests for injunctions and restraining orders.   

Here are some more resources that you might find helpful as you cover this story:

• The latest developments
• Statement from the Air Line Pilots Association
• What should travelers do to protect themselves?
• Previous coverage on Al's Morning Meeting
  

Pets in Protective Orders

Did you see the story on the wire about how Maine now recognizes the need to protect pets in domestic abuse cases? The Associated Press reports:

Spurred by growing evidence of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse, Maine has enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges to include pets in protection orders for spouses and partners leaving abusive relationships.

In helping pets, advocates hope to help battered women and others who aren't willing to abandon their animals to be saved themselves.

"This is a very innovative, new approach, and it makes perfect sense because the protection order is a critical stage for women and others seeking protection," said Nancy Perry of the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci says the law, which provides for civil penalties such as fines or jail time for those who violate a protection order, should give pause to abusers who might resort to violence or threats against pets as a means of keeping their victims from leaving a relationship.