I totally disagree. Anyone is free to disobey any law. However, no one is necessarily free of suffering the consequences of that.
Like I said to a dispatcher a long time ago - "You can't make me do something I don't want to do, you can only (possibly) punish me for not doing it."
(I hesitate to call
any dispatcher a superior or an official, but it is what it is) Anyhow, comparing a refusal to do something a dispatcher tells you to do is completely different from refusing to comply with a written law.
The first one can get you fired for insubordination. The second can get you fined and/or thrown in jail.
In my working days, I was in conflict with dispatchers a lot over what they said they wanted me to do. The way I handled a disagreement was to get a steward or at least another union "brother" to be a witness to what I was being ordered to do, especially if it meant violating union work rules or safety. If it violated work rules concerning job protections of another member, I let it be known that there would be grievances filed on it by that other member and money would be paid. The steward, BA or other union person present would be witnesses. If it was a safety issue, I refused on those terms, a safety concern, with a witness present. I made sure I was on the clock when all this was taking place, taking pictures of the safety issue, noting the whole thing on my trip sheet complete with time clock punches and names of dispatcher and witness. Documentation, names of witnesses and supervisors and requests of signatures on the trip sheet does amazing things. (On one occasion, en-route to another terminal,a trailer wheel and hub broke on a trailer haz mat load that was maxed out on wt.. Central dispatch wanted me to get a chain and have a mechanic chain up the front axle of that trailer tandem and take it another 60 miles to a repair shop putting all the weight on just one axle. I told them it was too much weight and Haz Mat. They said to do it anyhow. I called the nearest State Trooper office. They said if they saw it, it would result in a BIG fine for both me and the company. I got the Sgt.'s name and called Cent Disp back. They got pissed, but that trlr didn't move until that hub and both wheels were replaced. I made my point. Once all this was done, not a single time was I forced to do something that involved safety violations, over-weight violations or anything that would have meant a grievance pay-out for someone else. They ALWAYS backed down when it came to a company official signing off (literally) on what I considered unsafe or a work rules violation.
They
really hate to actually sign their name to anything. They would much rather be able to pass the blame off onto someone else if there was a pay-out , an equipment violation by the DOT or an accident. I even had one of them say to me, "We just want to get it out the gate. After that, it's
your responsibility". I thought.."OK, we'll just put the responsibility back where it belongs
before it goes out the gate". Sadly, dispatch used intimidation to get someone else to take equip with safety issues.
On the written law issue......it's pretty simple. The law is the law until somebody changes it. If you
choose to break the law, be prepared to pay the price. As a judge once told ME, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse.... Guilty....... Pay the bailiff" ................ Next case.