Maybe its time APFA gets decertified and IAM is brought on the property for the FAs. Clearly APFA has been unsuccessful at negotiations with the company and IAM has a proven track record.
Josh
Yea, we can look and see what a great job they did at USAIR, the IAM started the concessions train in 2002 by opening up their contract to supposedly avoid BK, they gave the company everything they wanted, the company filed, then went back for two more rounds of concessions in BK, then they helped NWA bust AMFA only to be rewarded by being decertified when the owners of NWA sold the company to Delta.
The IAM abandoned their members at TWA. The IAM had a successorship clause but abandoned it rather than risk being screwed out of money TWA owed their pension plan and lease payments for an engine they owned.
I once had a high opinion of the IAM, they have negotiated many good contracts over the years but for the last ten they have been in a downward spiral.
While the number may look high, top out of $57/hr, those are flight hours only. If you figure they work 80 flight hours per month (they dont get paid on the ground even though they are working) that comes out to just $55,000 after 16 years at the end of the contarct. A new hire would be making around $25000/year. My 16 year old daughter would be making more than that if she worked full time.
What "Josh" seems to forget is that long negotiations seem to be the case when labor is in a position to make gains. It took three years for the NMB to release tiny little Spirit Airlines, who later successfully struck the carrier, when the NMB starts releasing the workers at AA, who are at or beyoind that three year mark now, then the company will have to start negotiating because they wont win a strike. People arent eager to work for airlines anymore. Delta was trying to intmidate their FAs by bragging that they recieved 87000 applications but with 15 million unemployed that means that 14.9 million would rather remain unemployed than work for Delta as a Flight Attendant.
While the company has been successful at getting Flight Attendants to return (at top pay rates with full vacation allotments) they havent been that successful at getting their mechanics back. In the Northeast they've wiped out their recall lists, and had to trick upgrades into filling vacancies. New York wiped out their list which had around 300 names on it quite a while ago, Boston had around 38, 5 came back but three immediately put in for MIA, so out of 38 they eneded up with two.
If tiny little Spirit could not bust their pilots then the larger carriers have even less of a chance at busting their unions.
