Desert Snake; I would strongly recomend you to do your own homework. One step I would recomend is looking thru the history of any threads dealing with the unions of choice. The above poster, Anomaly, as well as some others, Overspeed, realityck, CIO and some others come on here posting lies about AMFA as well as other carriers such as Southwest Airlines. If you do look back you will find that all these individuals have been proven wrong on almost every single posting that they have posted.
In other words; anyone who disagrees or has an opposite point of view, is either lying or wrong according to swamt.
Para 1-- This guy is one of the top spinners on this forum. You will find this when you research all his previous postings.
Para 2-- This guy does not even know what a constitution is designed to do.
Para 3-- This guy seems to think the membership is loosing bennifits and wage increases by recalling an officer. Now that's pretty pathetic thinking.
Para 4-- He keeps saying "assoiciation", when in fact he means AMFA. AMFA has nego many successful contracts, this is a flat out lie. Matter fact AMFA has been successful at SWA as well as AS in re-nego a large amount of old teamsters language that allowed unlimited outsourcing in USA as well as out of the USA.
I have very rarely agreed with the rants of swamt. Likewise, I disagree with his his statement that amfa can negotiate successful contracts. Ozark Airlines, Hughes Airwest, Southern Airways, Braniff, Trump Shuttle, Pacific Airlines, and Airlift International are some of amfa's older represented airlines. They are either all out of business or merged with someone else. amfa's contract did not help any of them.
In 2002 amfa represented
more than 11,000 aircraft technicians and related personnel employed at Alaska Airlines,
American Trans Air, Atlantic Coast Airlines, Horizon Air, Mesaba Airlines and Northwest Airlines. Later they added Southwest and United airlines raising the total membership in amfa to it's highest levels of over 18,000 mechanics.
Ask yourself; what happened that all these members bailed on amfa? Northwest was a tragedy that never should have gone down that way. The rest of us perhaps took that as a sign. Nothing in amfa's contract or constitution helped any of these mechanics.
There is not one
original afmfa contract in play today.
Any union that is taking over from another union has no control over the fact that they have to inherit and follow the existing contract for the term to the amendable date. ONLY if both the union and the company agree to re-open the contract then can the contract be re-opned. The teamsters are still garrenteeing that they can re-open the contracts at AA as well as at your carrier US. Do some homework brother it will pay off in the long run.
3 teamster lawyers, two in house and one hired firm, have contradicted this claim by swamt. But what the hell do they know about law? They are only legal experts, not mechanics....
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Take that any way you want.
Now you just gotta love this statement; "What good is it to recall a leader AFTER he gave everything away?" Really? So by his thinking, after your leader has givin everything away (just like the TWU did at AA) then the membership should not remove him, and he can do it again. Again pathetic.
At UAL one of our amfa reps gave away language in the contract that for years defended how you are bumped in case of a furlough. There was no vote, no membership approval, no notice, nothing. One day it was in our agreement, the next it was not. Sure he was recalled, but it did
NO GOOD for those people in the next furlough who were from the West, but were forced to stations on the East.
We vote our leaders in at the IBT just like they do at amfa. From Hoffa on down, every member on the executive board is electable. But when the inexperienced are voted in based on popularity, language and members sometimes suffer.
Desert Snake; I very strongly recomend you do your own homework. AMFA is a mechanics union ran by mechanics. Not an industrial union with candle makers, bus drivers or truck drivers running the union. With AMFA, mechanics are in every single union position from top to bottom.
We have no candle makers. However, it is true, some of the Local Presidents are not mechanics. Some are lawyers, economists, Pilots, and even truck drivers.
Membership can sit in on contract nego's as well as senoirity nego's.
At their own expense and time. amfa agreements are negotiated SOLELY by elected leaders. Just look at the last amfa update as proof. Each one of these negotiators are executive committee members.
The Teamsters, on the other hand has the stewards and members negotiate contracts with the full support and assistance of the IBT. The member represented negotiating team has the assistance of legal professionals who are always there, not on call as with amfa. The team is financially supported and has access to experienced negotiators as well as any other professionals required.
AMFA's officers are directly affected by any wage increases or decreases, all the other unions officers are not directly affected.
Because
MOST amfa reps including those on Local Executive Boards are direct employees of the airline they represent and are bound by all the rules governing these airline employees. How do you truly challenge your employer if you are still an employee? You don't. You wear two hats and go along with things until you become union/mgt. Teamster business agents are hired and not elected, as you will hear, but they are still held responsible to the Local President and the Executive Board. Teamster BA's are employed by the union, not the carrier and are free to openly disagree with the company without fear of retribution or political process. The Executive members are electable and together with the hired BA's create a system of checks and balances that has proven to be successful.
We fired the teamsters in a record 2 week card drive. If I were you guys at US I would keep the IAM for now, wait for the representational election to get done at AA. When AMFA prevails and becomes the new and improved representational union at AA, then when the merger is done you guys will become AMFA as well. Good luck in your research...
The truth in these last lines is questionable. Certainly, however, you will not become a part of any union merely by a merger with AA. Unless of course you are both represented by the same union, you most likely will be part of another election.