I would have to agree that "everyone else" in the airline labor bureaucracy did belly up to the bar to buy for the house. To their credit AMFA didn’t spend their members hard earned money to treat the boss to a round.
But the claim that AMFA forced a strike on Northwest is simply ludicrous. Seldom has a company used such hard ball tactics as spending many millions months in advance to assemble a scab workforce, and cutting deals with rival unions and the White House.
Let’s don’t forget the demands this "reasonable" carrier made and that the "idiot" workers rejected: agreement to outsource 53 percent of AMFA jobs and 25 percent cuts in wages for those remaining.
The craft union bureaucracy is committed to partnership with their employers. They see no alternative to rolling over for whatever demands the carriers make. If AMFA doesn’t accept their "fair share" of give-backs the pilots and IAM are afraid they will have to give up even more. And, if AMFA were to win they would have to explain to their members why they couldn’t have done the same. That’s the main reason for this shameful lack of the most elementary solidarity.
Fortunately, there are some in the labor movement who still recognize that "An Injury to One Is An Injury to All." They know a defeat at Northwest will encourage all bosses to press similar attacks. Dozens of IAM baggage handlers, ignoring their craft leaders, are honoring the AMFA line. Defying all internal memos, AFSCME Local 3800, representing clerical workers at the University of Minnesota, have proudly carried their banner at strike support actions. The International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union has endorsed the strike as well. Community support groups are active in the carrier’s main hubs in the Twin Cities and Detroit.
Solidarity is the life blood of any living labor movement. It must be offered freely, unconditionally. No matter what we think of the AMFA leadership and strategy this strike deserves the support of all working people.
