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On 5/7/2003 6:24:41 AM KCFlyer wrote:
RV4 - lets reverse roles for a moment. Suppose you guys were represented by AMFA and you just found that many jobs were being sacrificed for the good of the brotherhood. This doesn't sit well with you, as you have been a dues paying member for years and cannot believe that the union didn't fight any harder for all employees...after all, strength in numbers you know. Meanwhile, a rather vocal coworker kept complaining about AMFA and was spreading the word that TWU was the way to go. His complaints have piqued your interest - do you accept his word as "facts", and blindly follow, or do you do a little digging on your own to see the entire view of the TWU? And if in your digging, you find that things over at ABC airlines (who is represented by TWU) are not that much better than they are at XYZ airlines - when you see that the members at MNO airlines (a smaller airline represented by the same union) got an increase thru arbitration that was LESS than management origianlly offered, because the union leadership was going to stand as one against a sh*tty offer, then maybe you start to think that just maybe the things that are being spouted by this vocal organizer are not really as good as he'd like you to believe. But when he posts anything he finds that is the least bit negative, he is a "liar" or "uninformed".
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OK, let’s suppose.
Point one – Jobs being sacrificed for the good of the brotherhood:
If any union member believes that the reduction in force language in a labor agreement is there for any reason other to dictate the rules in the event layoff occurs then they are fools. But let’s look at AMFA at NWA, the roles and facts appear totally different than that which TWU at AA has taken. AMFA signed a labor agreement with Northwest and is amendable in 2005, the members ratified that contract by 82.1% YES Margin. In that contract is a reduction in force procedure, job security, and force majeure provisions. AMFA refuses to volunteer to enter into “active engagement†type meetings with NWA, so their management has invoked force majeure due to Iraq War and laid-off workers. Nobody is “sacrificing†anybody, the management is within the labor agreement to do so. However, there are grievances filed, also within the labor agreement rights of the union members over a dispute as to the number of workers reduced compared to the fleet/schedule reductions. If anybody has been “sacrificedâ€, it has been the TWU member who had job security and now no longer has it, because the TWU illegally modified the agreement without a credible ratification. AA also had force majeure options but for some reason didn’t invoke them. Instead, the TWU propagated company fear and sold them and everyone’s pay/benefits out to save dues payers. This is not what was ratified in 2001. It appear the TWU was in the companies pocket the whole time. It appears the TWU and the other UNIONS are running American Airlines and this spells big trouble and failure.
Point Two - Vocal Member for Change and Digging for facts:
Competition leads to better service. I would not be opposed to change nor a member being vocal, nor do I expect anyone to “blindly†follow anything. I would research the facts and make a decision on facts. The scenario above is just one instance of facts that make one union much different than the other. As for that “arbitration†raise at Alaska which was agreed to and ratified by the membership, I know many co-workers who would love to have a two year agreement right now with a 5% raise. And we were told binding arbitration is bad. It doesn’t look near as bad as having a Union Dictator violate the members right to a credible vote.
Point Three – Being labeled a liar or uniformed:
KCFlyer, you are the one who claimed you could produce an instance where AMFA membership was denied a credible vote for or against a labor agreement ratification. You still have not provided us this fact. I find it most interesting that you admit that you are not even a union member, which would indicate an uniformed position to begin with, yet you are offended when the truth is told.
As I read your postings, I find that you claim to be an innocent bystander, a passenger, and nothing more. Yet you seem to have some working knowledge about AMFA when you bring up arbitration decisions at other airlines. You have been fanning the flames with rhetoric, and I suspect you are really much more than you claim. If fact, you sound very familiar to a well known past IAM Official who is now on the TWU Payroll.
Point Four – Something Worth Thinking About
The Bible says “Without a vision, people perishâ€.
