Did the IAM get this mechanic back to work?

[sfomm]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2003/2...>
04/23/2003 - Updated 03:04 AM ET

United to pay $3.2M to settle safety allegations

By Marilyn Adams, USA TODAY

United Airlines has agreed to pay the government and a whistle-blower $3.2 million to settle allegations of substandard maintenance work on military transport planes for the Air Force.

Under the proposed settlement agreement, filed Monday in federal court in South Carolina, United denies all allegations brought by the whistle-blower, a former United mechanic who worked on the C-17 planes. The settlement must be approved by the South Carolina judge and the judge in United''s bankruptcy reorganization case.

The allegations were brought by former mechanic Douglas Niven of Charleston, S.C. United helps maintain the engines on C-17 planes at Charleston Air Force Base under a federal contract. Niven''s allegations were brought under the federal False Claims Act and were investigated by the U.S. attorney''s office in South Carolina and the Air Force. The U.S. attorney''s office did not return a call seeking comment.

The maintenance allegations had delayed United''s receipt of a $388 million federal tax refund. In March, United sued the government to recoup the refund. The government agreed to release $360 million but withheld the rest partly because of the allegations.

Niven, 43, alleged United fired him in 2001 after he resisted and reported what he considered unsafe maintenance practices on the engines. After his discharge, he alleged United pressured his new employer at the base, AAI, to also fire him, which it did.

Niven, will get 20% of the settlement, but United will not reinstate him. He says he has been unable to return to aircraft maintenance.

This is definitely a vindication, but I lost a career over this, Niven said. United threatened me with the loss of my job unless I falsified documents. I''d worked for them 11 years at Chicago O''Hare airport and never saw anything like this.

United has not disciplined managers who fired him, he said.

Our commitment to safety remains our No. 1 priority, said United spokesman Chris Brathwaite. Both sides avoided the time and expense of litigation.

Brathwaite said the case didn''t prevent United from keeping the contract on the C-17s.

In a court complaint made public this week, Niven alleges the airline refused to provide mechanics with necessary tools and equipment, attempted to hide oil or fuel leaks in engines, and pressured mechanics to falsify reports.

 

[wts54]

Lets see would I rather 600,000+ dollars or a job at UAL??


DING DING DING, I WILL TAKE THE CASH AND LET UAL PANCAKE IN TO THE GROUND.

 

[novaqt]

Take your $600,000 and go get a job at Burger King! The company doesn''t need your attitude and any mechanic who thinks like you.

 

[novaqt]

Sorry WTS54, you are not in control here. You are only in control of your own life with or without UAL.

 

[wts54]

Take your $600,000 and go get a job at Burger King! The company doesn't need your attitude and any mechanic who thinks like you.

Dont worry about it novasquat.We dont need any Nazi thought police like you.
You arent in control anywhere.The employees dont need your management suck
attitude.

 

[sfomm]

On 4/25/2003 9:05:43 PM wts54 wrote:

Lets see would I rather 600,000+ dollars or a job at UAL??

-----------------

He was fired at United and then got another job because the IAM wouldn''t get him back again. At the time there was no assurance he would win a lawsuit.

 

[sfomm]

On 4/26/2003 9:58:48 AM novaqt wrote:

Take your $600,000 and go get a job at Burger King! The company doesn''t need your attitude and any mechanic who thinks like you.



The company is full of dishonest maintenance management it doesn''t need, why not get rid of them instead of cutting mechanic pay?

 

[ualflynhi]

One night on a A-Check I found out we had no main engine oil filter
o-ring.Well not to worry the foreman said after notifying him said I
could put the old one back in.I didnt and cut the o-rings on every job
after that night on the ones I removed so they couldnt be put back on
any aircraft system.

 

[novaqt]

----------------
On 4/26/2003 11:52:58 AM wts54 wrote:

Dont worry about it novasquat.We dont need any Nazi thought police like you.
You arent in control anywhere.The employees dont need your management suck
attitude.

----------------​

WTS54:

Novasquat...aren''t you cute!!! You have just demonstrated my point. You are disrespectful, lacking in integrity, and a mental moron who is so self-possessed you cannot see beyond your own nose. You are right about one thing though, I am not in control and neither are you!! I am in control of my own destiny!!!! I choose to support UAL and its current management team who is doing a good job of saving the airline.

Face facts, the airline is restructuring to the economic realities of the airline industry in general. UAL intends to be one of the survivors in the new market place. When the restructuring is complete, it may or may not be the place for you. If you cannot support the new UAL, the exercise your control and look elsewhere for a job that will make you happy.

 

[scot]

Warning 1 to those on this thread. Stop the personal attacks and stick to the topic.

 

[sfomm]

On 4/27/2003 7:42:43 AM ualflynhi wrote:

One night on a A-Check I found out we had no main engine oil filter

o-ring.Well not to worry the foreman said after notifying him said I

could put the old one back in.I didnt and cut the o-rings on every job

after that night on the ones I removed so they couldnt be put back on

any aircraft system.

----------------------------------------

This kind of thing happens all the time...pilots or mechanics will write up a tire tread as being worn, then a foreman signs it off as OK.

B check airplanes come in at 11 p.m. and are routed out at 6 a.m. the next morning. The mechanic is told "you find it, you fix it"....so the more things a mechanic finds wrong the more work he gives HIMSELF.

Management thinks that if there''s something wrong with the airplane the pilots or flight attendants will write it up. Pilots and flight attendants are told that if something is wrong with the airplane the mechanics will write it up and fix it. Accidents occur when a lot of stuff piles up in the middle ground between these two self-serving and dangerous assumptions.

 

[sfomm]

On 4/27/2003 11:24:36 AM novaqt wrote:

WTS54:

I choose to support UAL and its current management team who is doing a good job of saving the airline.

Face facts, the airline is restructuring to the economic realities of the airline industry in general. UAL intends to be one of the survivors in the new market place. When the restructuring is complete, it may or may not be the place for you. If you cannot support the new UAL, the exercise your control and look elsewhere for a job that will make you happy.

----------------------------------------------

You can''t have a new UAL with the same old management. You can''t have a new UAL with the same old IAM. Exercise your vote.

----------------

 

[wts54]

Im not voting yes to any threat issued by management.Never.
I dont support managementand or Tilton.

 

[atabuy]

----------------
On 4/27/2003 3:16:11 PM sfomm wrote:


On 4/27/2003 7:42:43 AM ualflynhi wrote:

One night on a A-Check I found out we had no main engine oil filter

o-ring.Well not to worry the foreman said after notifying him said I

could put the old one back in.I didnt and cut the o-rings on every job

after that night on the ones I removed so they couldnt be put back on

any aircraft system.

----------------------------------------

This kind of thing happens all the time...pilots or mechanics will write up a tire tread as being worn, then a foreman signs it off as OK.

B check airplanes come in at 11 p.m. and are routed out at 6 a.m. the next morning. The mechanic is told "you find it, you fix it"....so the more things a mechanic finds wrong the more work he gives HIMSELF.

Management thinks that if there''s something wrong with the airplane the pilots or flight attendants will write it up. Pilots and flight attendants are told that if something is wrong with the airplane the mechanics will write it up and fix it. Accidents occur when a lot of stuff piles up in the middle ground between these two self-serving and dangerous assumptions.




----------------​

sfomm,
Your message contradicts itself with other messages, when you say mechanics might be lazy, and not write up problems they see because they would have to fix them.
Other arguements state that mechanics are so valuable because they are so conscientious about their responsibility to the public and doing the best work possible.
There isn''t a lot of difference then if a mechanic sees something and doesn''t write it up and a foreman signing off a tire he thinks is ok.

 

[sfomm]

----------------
On 4/29/2003 7:07:05 AM atabuy wrote:

----------------

On 4/27/2003 3:16:11 PM sfomm wrote:



On 4/27/2003 7:42:43 AM ualflynhi wrote:


One night on a A-Check I found out we had no main engine oil filter


o-ring.Well not to worry the foreman said after notifying him said I


could put the old one back in.I didnt and cut the o-rings on every job


after that night on the ones I removed so they couldnt be put back on


any aircraft system.


----------------------------------------


This kind of thing happens all the time...pilots or mechanics will write up a tire tread as being worn, then a foreman signs it off as OK.


B check airplanes come in at 11 p.m. and are routed out at 6 a.m. the next morning. The mechanic is told "you find it, you fix it"....so the more things a mechanic finds wrong the more work he gives HIMSELF.


Management thinks that if there''s something wrong with the airplane the pilots or flight attendants will write it up. Pilots and flight attendants are told that if something is wrong with the airplane the mechanics will write it up and fix it. Accidents occur when a lot of stuff piles up in the middle ground between these two self-serving and dangerous assumptions.





----------------​

sfomm,

Your message contradicts itself with other messages, when you say mechanics might be lazy, and not write up problems they see because they would have to fix them.

Other arguements state that mechanics are so valuable because they are so conscientious about their responsibility to the public and doing the best work possible.

There isn''t a lot of difference then if a mechanic sees something and doesn''t write it up and a foreman signing off a tire he thinks is ok.

----------------​

When a maintenance foreman tells a mechanic to put the old o-ring back in when there isn''t a new one, some mechanics would do what the foreman says and other mechanics would cut the old o-ring on all future overhauls. Some are valuable and some will pencil-whip.