Ironies in the discursive struggle of pilots defending the profession

This article examines discursive forms of resistance used by a splinter group of a U.S. airline pilots’ union in its campaign against a contract settlement supported by union leaders. Forms of resistance included oppositional tensions, military metaphors, and dualities that surfaced in central themes of the campaign. These discursive strategies revealed ironies of advocating unity while promoting division and arguing to eliminate a two-tiered pay scale while supporting class distinctions between pilots. These tactics were similar to and different from approaches that oppositional groups within conventional unions typically used. Overall, these strategies pitted pilots against pilots, professionals against professionals, union against union and suggested that organized resistance is constructed discursively, ironically and in tandem with routine resistance practices.