A Qeustion For The Twu

[Bob Owens]

Excerpt from Railway Labor Act, Sect 152;

No carrier, its officers, or agents

shall deny or in any way question the right of its employees to

join, organize, or assist in organizing the labor organization of

their choice, and it shall be unlawful for any carrier to interfere

in any way with the organization of its employees, or to use the

funds of the carrier in maintaining or assisting or contributing to

any labor organization, labor representative, or other agency of

collective bargaining, or in performing any work therefor, or to

influence or coerce employees in an effort to induce them to join

or remain or not to join or remain members of any labor

organization, or to deduct from the wages of employees any dues,

fees, assessments, or other contributions payable to labor

organizations, or to collect or to assist in the collection of any

such dues, fees, assessments, or other contributions: Provided,

That nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a

carrier from permitting an employee, individually, or local

representatives of employees from conferring with management during

working hours without loss of time, or to prohibit a carrier from

furnishing free transportation to its employees while engaged in

the business of a labor organization.



I think a call to the DOL is in order.

 

[Johnny Lunchbox]

So you have been following this thread! Oh well with your track record at TWA I guess that you really dont have much to say about our twenty years of concessions, after all you guys made our agreements look good!

So biggun' .... how many at MCIE you calling inept? All of the TWA employees? Or just the ones that think AMFA is a joke?

 

[Bob Owens]

So biggun' .... how many at MCIE you calling inept? All of the TWA employees? Or just the ones that think AMFA is a joke?

The ones who failed to lead. The ones who told the members to vote YES on every concession that came down the Pike. So where does that put you?

 

[Bob Owens]

"or to use the

funds of the carrier in maintaining or assisting or contributing to

any labor organization, labor representative, or other agency of

collective bargaining, or in performing any work therefor,"



Around 23 Presidents and some International officers may be on unreimbursed company payroll while strictly on UB.

At Local 562 all the officers are now on this plan of company paid UB now that Schalk and I were removed.

According to the Vermont Plan this totaled $3 million dollars a year.

So what exactly should we consider these payments? Maintenance, assistance or perhaps a contribution? Regardless, it seems to contradict what the RLA says.

Such a rule as this is important. Unions should not be funded by the company, because then they work FOR the company. At $3 million a year, they pay nearly a third of what we pay, and they dont have to, in fact they shouldnt. The TWU has a fiduciary responsibility to us, why are they accepting $3 million from the company? The contract may give us a pretty good clue!

 

[local 12 proud]

So biggun' .... how many at MCIE you calling inept? All of the TWA employees? Or just the ones that think AMFA is a joke?

WELL PEANUTBUTTER BAT BOY, I WOULD JUST SAY THE ONES WHO STILL SUPPORT THE TWU ARE INEPT SUCH AS YOUR SELF! OH YEA ALMOST FORGOT....TWU HOTDOGS, TWU HOTDOGS, TWU HOTDOGS AND A COFFIN

 

[Bob Owens]

Still no comment from the TWU. Did they give the company $660 million in concessions from their members to keep the $3million(thats not reported on the LM-2) that the company gives them coming?

 

[Bob Owens]

Well I've been looking through some LM-2s . It seems that from what I can see that Local 514s President was very well paid indeed.

2000

Burchette $81898 from Local 514 plus $52,000 from AA? = $133890

compared to Robert Gless $21,900 from Local 562 + 52,0000 from AA=$73,900

2001

Burchette $68,779 from local 514 + 50,933 from the International + $72000 from AA?= $191712

Gless= 23188 from Local 562 + $72000 from AA = $95188



Well now we know why Burchette will do or say anything to get back into that Presidents slot, it appears that his income has declined by $130, 000 per year, while Bobby Gless's has gone up by over $100,000 per year. Hell even with the 17.5% off the AA check these guys are still making a killing. Hell even without the AA check at all they are still doing pretty good!


Does anyone out there have copies of the 1997, 1998, and 1999 LM -2 reports from Local 514 so we can see if the Presidents pay from the Local went down to reflect that the company was paying the Presidents salary? As a matter of fact we should look at all the locals to see if these guys all gave themselves a big raise when the seperate locals came into being.

 

[AMFAMAN]

Bob,

My sources tell me that the DFW Maint local has 7 on company paid UB.

Pres, vice pres, sec/tres, 2 eboards, eap, benifits cord.

 

[PORKCHOP]

Bob what the hell are you smoking. Can you provide actual evidence of this. If not I would keep my mouth shut maybe someone will hold you to what you are typing here.

 

[scorpion]

Bob what the hell are you smoking. Can you provide actual evidence of this. If not I would keep my mouth shut maybe someone will hold you to what you are typing here.

An honest person would welcome the chance to prove Bob wrong. The longer the twu stays silent on this issue the more people are becoming interested. Whats wrong with a little oversight on the memberships part. This is America where we have the right to ask these questions and if there's nothing wrong it's still good because it keeps the next group honest. If there is something to this double dipping it would be a strong negotiating tool for the company to use against us so why shouldn't we question the possibility.

 

[Bob Owens]

Bob what the hell are you smoking. Can you provide actual evidence of this. If not I would keep my mouth shut maybe someone will hold you to what you are typing here.

What sort of proof would you like?

Instead of giving it to you I'll just give it to the DOL.

You dont think its odd that union officials should be getting paid by the company to do strictly union business?

There is a lot of grey area but if a union official such as a full time International Rep like Bobby Gless, who is getting paid a salary that is far in excess of what he got as a mechanic, is also getting paid by the company then there are serious questions. At the very least this is double dipping. Gless has not worked the floor in many years. While many union officials in many unions do both-work on the job and do union business, this is not the case with Presidents or Bobby Gless. He no longer punches a time clock, hasnt done that in several years either, but he did still get an AA paycheck. The RLA is specific that funds of the company are not to be used to finance the union. In the Vermont plan the company claimed that they gave the union $3 million for UB. This $3 million went straight into the pockets of those who recieved those funds and is not reported on the LM-2.

Instead of making accusations why dont you ask questions? Ask your Local if what I'm saying is true. Ask them if the company pays the Presidents salary and ask if they pay the company back like they used to before 1999.

 

[MaryLou]

TWU guys on UB? Paid by their local? I'm sure once AMFA gets in we won't be paying for this kind of representation. We will force the company to keep their pay and benefits coming, and NO dues money for them! I agree, TWU is nonsense in this matter!

 

[Bob Owens]

TWU guys on UB? Paid by their local? I'm sure once AMFA gets in we won't be paying for this kind of representation. We will force the company to keep their pay and benefits coming, and NO dues money for them! I agree, TWU is nonsense in this matter!

Come on now MaryLou. Get real. What kind of game are you playing?

The problem is that TWU guys are being paid by the company while strictly on UB. Presidents of most locals no longer perform fuctions for the company in the capacity that they were hired at, as far as I know none of them at AA puch a time clock. Bobby Gless has not set foot in any hangar bay since he became an International rep, yet according to the company generated checkoff forms he is still paying his dues through payroll deduction. I was told that he was only removed from the JFK headcount last week. So these guys in theory, and legally should not be recieving any money from the company since they perform no work for the company,yet they recieve a paycheck for 40 hours of work.

This violates the RLA and for good reason. The union by allowing the company to pay them has two masters. They can not be representing our interests while at the same time accepting a full time paycheck from the company. When we look at this contract it apperas that this union ceased working in our best interests and simply preserved their shady payments from the company.

Their claim is that they saved jobs however it was the company that rejected any deal that would shrink the headcount more than what the company wanted.

Normally what happens is if the Union needs someone for UB they 'pull' the guy as in pull them off the clock. Then the local reimburses the person for the time they either lost or put in.There are circumstances outlined in the contract where the union can pull someone off the clock and request that the company continues to issue them a paycheck but then the union pays the company back, plus a 9% overide to cover SSI & benifits. This is not the case here and if it was it would not have shown up as a possible savings to the company of $3 million as listed in the Vermont Plan.

The fact is the Law is clear, company funds should not be used to support the union. By paying the salaries of union officers that is exactly what is going on here. THe union should not accept such funds as it is a conflict of interest to do so, especially in our situation where the members do not get to hold members of the International accountable. In other words they could accept such funds, as a bribe, then push the most concessionary contract in history on the members then just sit back and say "you voted for it" without having to worry that the members would remove them from office.

We can however remove the whole lot of them by voting for AMFA and the AGW.

 

[Bob Owens]

Just thought I'd bring this up to the top again for CIO, TWUEr et al. This way they cant say they never saw it.

Still no answer yet on the $3 million that the company pays the union.

 

[Bob Owens]

Still no reply from the TWU.