Jim;Oldweirdharold said:thanks twu, Just received my latest installment of '' why we're sticking with our union'' and read it with interest, unlike some of your minions that patrol AA destroying all AMFA literature despite a court ruling upholding 1st amendment rights.... Noticed of late teamtwu and cio calling for AMFA to file as they have over 50% of needed craft and class and I am also wondering why in a true democracy where majority decides that you are ignoring the will of the membership.. Over 50% that's a majority have decided to hold you accountable and bring this to a vote, if in fact you are truly unionists instead of obstructionists you'll recognize this.. True strength in numbers would be all AMT's and related being represented by one union, why has afl-cio ignored this for decades?? If you have all the power and are comfortable in your performance as our representative then please list the positive things you've accomplished here and now... The time for healing our craft and class is now, lets dispense with the verbal wars and just get down to business, Looking forward to debates on the issues with equal time for both sides and may the best man win.. Are you ready??
The truth is that the AFL-CIO has not ignored this.
We should remember that the TWU and the AFL-CIO are not synonomous. While the AFL-CIO can be a valuable assett to any union it is certainly not a good enough reason to stay with a bad union. Its like going to a lousy mechanic because he has Snap-on tools, good tools can help a good mechanic but good tools in the hands of a bad mechanic does not make him any better.
The truth is that the unions involved all know that we would be better off united in one union but none of them is willing to let go of those RLA protected dues. Clearly in order to unite us two of them, if not all three would have to let members go.
Its greed that makes them keep us apart. Workers under the RLA still have to pay dues even if in a RTW state. So airline workers provide a guaranteed supply a dues to these unions who in most other industries must work very hard to stay certified. Even if they do manage to stay certified they may have many members that simply choose not to pay, even if the union fights hard and gets them good wages and benifits. Thats not fair to the unions or the members that pay but its not fair that members are forced to pay dues to a union that they have no control over either. (RTW is not the solution-democratic reform is the solution). The lack of accountability where we can not vote out the leaders or stop paying dues is why our industry has been hit so hard compared to other industries. If workers in this industry were under RTW, which I am no way in favor of, more than likely at least 50% of the members would no longer pay dues, probably more. Why would they pay dues to a union that stood by and said that there was nothing they could do about it while our contract and wages were slashed to bits? If these unions were facing the possibility of no dues they certainly would have come up with some sort of plan to protect us instead of out doing each other with concessions.
Even the cuts were fashioned to minimize the loss of dues to the union. There was a proposal to leave everything the way it was as far as holidays, vacation, sick time ,doubletime, IOD time etc and meet the number with a flat 25% pay cut which the International rejected because dues would have been cut by 25%. The way they did this maximizes our losses while minimizing the loss of dues to the union.
Three years ago I wrote a letter to John Sweeney. I explained to him what I felt was going wrong in our industry and why AMFA had such a strong appeal with line mechanics. I wanted him to pressure the TWU,IAM and IBT to merge their ATDs into one union and allow the seperate class and crafts to make up their own divisions within that union. I mailed the letter on a thursday and the following weds I got a call from the AFL-CIO stating that they agreed with the concept and felt that I should work from within to get these changes as the structure of the AFL-CIO is not top down and they could not do it. THe unions themselves would have to go to them.
I had asked that the AFL-CIO put together a committee to come up with a plan and create a survey to be mailed to every airline worker in an affiliated union to see how the members felt about such a plan. I did this because I doubted that any of the leaders of these unions would be willing to move on a plan that would at the very least upset the apple cart and in the end mean that they would lose their RLA airline workers dues. I felt that most airline workers would favor a plan to unite workers across the industry and that once faced with this from the survey they would be backed into the corner and have to act on it less they be exposed as self-serving.
Since the AFL-CIO did not want to get into this it meant I had to turn my efforts towards lobbying the heads of these unions. So I started to work on Sonny Hall, and copied in Hoffa and Buffenbarger. We had an exchange of letters on this subject, most of which I still have. I was successful in getting him into a corner where he admitted that the idea was valid and suggested that we meet face to face to discuss it. Obviuosly he did not want to create more documentation on the issue. I made the appontment at a time that he said was convenient to him. I was halfway to his office when his secretary called and cancelled the appointment. I let Sonny know that whatever date was convenient to him I would make myself available for a new meeting. He assured me he would set the meeting as soon as possible. He never called. I interpreted this as resistance to the idea.
Without going on and on I will cut to the chase. The blame for us being divided up among three unions that could care less does not lie with the AFL-CIO. The stuff you are getting now from the AFL-CIO is because they are doing what their structure demands it does.Three powerful member unions have requested help to fend off what it claims is a Raid by an outside organization. Its not the AFL-CIOs function to see what is really going on. As far as all that stuff you are getting now from the AFL-CIO regarding AMFA- ignore it, it means nothing.
Our problem is the TWU, not the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO is a toool, they are using it as such. In a duel the weapon is not the object of contempt, the holder of the weapon is. Many member unions in the AFL-CIO are craft unions but they are only getting one side of the story. One day we will be able to tell our side and attacks on the AFL-CIO just make the barrier harder to overcome. We want to unite our class and craft into one union. We should support the efforts of others to do likewise. If we are successful all the other unions will see where we are coming from and where we look to go. We want one union for all mechanics. Lets stay focused on that.
). I do look forward to the debates. AMFA doesn't stand a chance. I have said it many times before, AMFA comes in when times get tough and promise to "save the world". They have yet to do that. AMFA would be detrimental if it got in at AA. That would be a sad, sad day for many hard working men and women.
