Bob,
When you negotiate contracts, sometimes, old work rules become obsolete and new ones replace them.
When you agreed to changes in your contracts, you also got something in return. What that was, you would know better than I. If not new work, more pay to offset what was given up. It could have been new stations or a number of things.
In the early 80s they received pay raises that brought them back up to where they once were in exchange for massive concessions. It’s a bad deal. It’s like the farmer who keeps selling land to buy seed. Pretty soon he has nothing left. Pay raises lose value over time due to inflation. Giving up language and benefits for raises it a bad move.
As far as Title I goes it has been give -give to the company and other work groups. Work was taken away from us and given to them. The Union received the benefit at the expense of the mechanics. Mechanics were removed from stations across the system and much of their work is now done by fleet service. The Unions lack of initiative at addressing FAR 66 and 145 reveal that they have little concern over the craft. The benefit that the Union received was that it put AA in a better competitive position and swelled the ranks of TWU members. In the early 80s there were around 10,000 AA-TWU members, it’s now over 30,000.
One thing you guys always had working against you was Bob C.
He was a sharp guy who influenced so much of what all the airlines did.
I recall a quote that was used by Jim Larkin, an Irish Labour leader- (I don’t think he is the originator) “Our enemies appear large because we are on our knees. Rise people! Rise!â€
Perhaps Crandall appeared so sharp because his opponents were so dull.
The market place has a way of changing how business is done everywhere. What happen to workers who made products that went out with change. The workers adapted or were out of work.
The problem with that logic is that this industry, overall, despite the current economically driven setback, is still expanding. Our workers, especially mechanics are more productive than ever, have embraced new technologies and innovations and in return have seen their living standards decline. The problem is not that the industry or technology is becoming redundant, it’s that the representatives of the workers are unwilling to challenge Capital.
Maybe it is time for unions to become involved in their company. That means you and you and you, and you. If you guys have been taking this crap from yourselves for 20 years, and you are the union. The union doesn't stink unless you guys do because you are one and the same.
Give me a break.
One and the same. It sounds nice but it simply is not true.
Union members fail to get involved because they have no real input into the organization. They are so deeply insulated from the levels of power that to them it does not exist. The members cannot vote for Sonny Hall. They cannot vote for the head of their division and they cannot even vote for their International reps. Members vote out their Local leaders only to see them get appointed to higher positions within the organization. How should a member respond to such practices?
Members can only vote for leaders of their Locals. The local’s power is very limited. The locals do not have rights to the contract. Jim Little and Sonny Hall have those rights and Sonny appoints Jim. Neither of these guys is accountable to the members. It would be like letting the President of the United States appoint all the Senators and Governors and then letting the state legislators vote on who becomes President. The public would be so excluded from the process that it really could not be called a democracy. The people could only elect those with the lowest levels of power and only on a local level. Accountability beyond the local level is non-existent. Without accountability there is no Democracy. The members really only are left with two choices, acquiesce or revolt.
This latest deal where we gave up more than other airlines did in BK can only be explained as a continuance of what was started back in 1983. Concessions for dues. The union grants concessions far and above the industry standard in an effort to put its host company in a superior competitive position. This leads to further consolidation of the industry as other airlines are put out of business. This allows AA to expand further and swell the TWU ranks. Over the last twenty years the TWU has been the leader in concessions. We have many concessionary firsts for the industry, and it has swelled the ranks of dues payers at AA from 10,000 to over 30,000.
In fact, aren't you one-step up from the normal employee?
I’m an elected as opposed to appointed representative. So in other words since I’m elected and not appointed I’m actually accountable to members, thus I’m on one of the lowest rungs of the organization. Accountability to the members is cut off beyond the local level.
----------------
When you negotiate contracts, sometimes, old work rules become obsolete and new ones replace them.
When you agreed to changes in your contracts, you also got something in return. What that was, you would know better than I. If not new work, more pay to offset what was given up. It could have been new stations or a number of things.
In the early 80s they received pay raises that brought them back up to where they once were in exchange for massive concessions. It’s a bad deal. It’s like the farmer who keeps selling land to buy seed. Pretty soon he has nothing left. Pay raises lose value over time due to inflation. Giving up language and benefits for raises it a bad move.
As far as Title I goes it has been give -give to the company and other work groups. Work was taken away from us and given to them. The Union received the benefit at the expense of the mechanics. Mechanics were removed from stations across the system and much of their work is now done by fleet service. The Unions lack of initiative at addressing FAR 66 and 145 reveal that they have little concern over the craft. The benefit that the Union received was that it put AA in a better competitive position and swelled the ranks of TWU members. In the early 80s there were around 10,000 AA-TWU members, it’s now over 30,000.
One thing you guys always had working against you was Bob C.
He was a sharp guy who influenced so much of what all the airlines did.
I recall a quote that was used by Jim Larkin, an Irish Labour leader- (I don’t think he is the originator) “Our enemies appear large because we are on our knees. Rise people! Rise!â€
Perhaps Crandall appeared so sharp because his opponents were so dull.
The market place has a way of changing how business is done everywhere. What happen to workers who made products that went out with change. The workers adapted or were out of work.
The problem with that logic is that this industry, overall, despite the current economically driven setback, is still expanding. Our workers, especially mechanics are more productive than ever, have embraced new technologies and innovations and in return have seen their living standards decline. The problem is not that the industry or technology is becoming redundant, it’s that the representatives of the workers are unwilling to challenge Capital.
Maybe it is time for unions to become involved in their company. That means you and you and you, and you. If you guys have been taking this crap from yourselves for 20 years, and you are the union. The union doesn't stink unless you guys do because you are one and the same.
Give me a break.
One and the same. It sounds nice but it simply is not true.
Union members fail to get involved because they have no real input into the organization. They are so deeply insulated from the levels of power that to them it does not exist. The members cannot vote for Sonny Hall. They cannot vote for the head of their division and they cannot even vote for their International reps. Members vote out their Local leaders only to see them get appointed to higher positions within the organization. How should a member respond to such practices?
Members can only vote for leaders of their Locals. The local’s power is very limited. The locals do not have rights to the contract. Jim Little and Sonny Hall have those rights and Sonny appoints Jim. Neither of these guys is accountable to the members. It would be like letting the President of the United States appoint all the Senators and Governors and then letting the state legislators vote on who becomes President. The public would be so excluded from the process that it really could not be called a democracy. The people could only elect those with the lowest levels of power and only on a local level. Accountability beyond the local level is non-existent. Without accountability there is no Democracy. The members really only are left with two choices, acquiesce or revolt.
This latest deal where we gave up more than other airlines did in BK can only be explained as a continuance of what was started back in 1983. Concessions for dues. The union grants concessions far and above the industry standard in an effort to put its host company in a superior competitive position. This leads to further consolidation of the industry as other airlines are put out of business. This allows AA to expand further and swell the TWU ranks. Over the last twenty years the TWU has been the leader in concessions. We have many concessionary firsts for the industry, and it has swelled the ranks of dues payers at AA from 10,000 to over 30,000.
In fact, aren't you one-step up from the normal employee?
I’m an elected as opposed to appointed representative. So in other words since I’m elected and not appointed I’m actually accountable to members, thus I’m on one of the lowest rungs of the organization. Accountability to the members is cut off beyond the local level.
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