DECISION 2007,Apr 26 2005, 07:32 PM]
I agree AMFAMAN, pajama parties would not be my style of establishing a rapport with the company. I am told times have changed and the union and company must now work together to become again profitable. Why now?
Well you must be an ex-IAM worker because if you were a long time TWU member then you would realize that the TWU has been saying that they must work together with the company for the last twenty years.
Where was the company years ago, not so chummy during the good times, this situation indeed sux.
I have to dissagree. The company and the TWU have been "chummy" for a long time. The last time the TWU struck AA was 1969.
It is indeed revolting to AMFA supporters AND to TWU supporters alike.Â
If you support the TWU then more than likely its simply because they happen to be the union in place. I can understand taking the position of supporting whatever union is in place when the choice is between supporting what the company wants to do and what the union wants to do but as you are learning supporting the TWU is the same as supporting the company.
My feeling is this, pay me to be your comrade, to assist you in making a profit. Give my benefits and pay back to me, then discuss how "we" can evolve into a competitive airline.Â
Yes, and that is a perfectly sensible plan, but the TWU does not feel the same way. Instead the TWU says cut the workers pay as much as you want, just keep the dues flowing.
The deeper you look at the TWU and you can see how they are a company union. Mechanics and related as a whole have actually suffered less as a group than other members who have not had the threat of going to another union to throw at the TWU. Look at FSCs who have been devastated by part timers. The TWU loves part timers because each part timer pays the full amount of dues so the TWU collects more dues from the same amount of work hours.
I suggest you will not see this with the TWU, nor your AMFA, AMFAMAN.AA is the last airline to holdout and retain it's heavy O/H abilities...this I feel is going to be short lived, protectionary clause or not....just my 2¢.
Well what do we have to lose by going with AMFA? What do we have to gain by staying with the TWU instead?
If you feel that OH will eventually be eliminated then why would you want to lock us into the TWU? THe TWU has no interest in our profession, they only care about the dues.
Dont you realize that the company still has another carrott for the TWU? If the company told the TWU that they would not challenge representation of the 20,000 or so ticket/gate agents in exchange for getting rid of OH what do you think the TWU would do? Dont you realize that such an exchange would increase the TWUs dues flow and reduce their expenses at the same time?
As a unionist what is wrong with the idea of having all the M&R in one union across the industry?
How does having our profession being split up between several different unions who compete with each other for members by trying to help their host airline put other union members airlines out of business benifit us when the means through which these unions compete is by lowering our compensation?
WE keep hearing about third party maintenance taking over our work. Well the answer to that is pretty simple, ORGANIZE THOSE WORKERS and bring their compensation up. The fact is that Unions like the IAM and TWU have the money to do that, AMFA would if they got AA. The addition of AA would nearly double the size of AMFA. But, as it stands now, nothing is being done.
I'll admit there are things about AMFA I would like to see changed, but at least with AMFA the avenue for change is not blocked with insurmountable obsticles and everyone in the union is pretty much in the same boat. With the TWU its difficult to get government workers, school bus drivers and transit workers, who dont face the risk of seeing their employer go out of business or see pay cuts understand what we face in this industry or see the need to change. For the most part, with a few exceptions, they simply believe whatever the International tells them
If the McCormick group is using up too much of the money, get rid of them. I certainly do not think that the McCormick group should see an increase in their current rates based upon the number of new members that are brought into AMFA once we go there because first of all the organizing was done by volunteers, not McCormick.
AMFA has no real organizing department. That needs to be changed because like I said earlier we need to organize those facilities that employ mechanics. Perhaps funds that currently go to McCormick could be diverted to organizing with full time organizers on staff. When it comes to organizing non-union workplaces AMFA can no longer simply thow it on the laps of volunteers because in those places organizing for AMFA is even more riskier than it is at unionized workplaces. AMFA must become more proactive in organizing.
AMFA must become more politically active, because our profession is heavily regulated by the government and to sit back anbd only have our employers giving input to the government would be disasterous.
However AMFA is the only avenue in existance for us to unite across the industry. We can not do that within the AFL-CIO structure because of the "No Raid" clause and because the unions we have in place still would not be run by airline workers. In the TWU the head of the ATD is hand picked by the International President, who never even worked in this industry. OUr current ATD Director, Jim LIttle, is a former member of Management whose father in law was also in AA management, not exactly a strong union culture there.
