Northwest Said To Suspend Union Official

[Fly]

March 31, 2005


Northwest Said to Suspend Union Official


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:54 a.m. ET

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) -- The president of the Twin Cities mechanics union at Northwest Airlines has been suspended by the airline for questioning the safety of outsourced aircraft repairs, the union said.

Northwest suspended Ted Ludwig from his job as a mechanic for 60 days without pay, the union he heads, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, said Wednesday.

While refusing to comment on the suspension, Northwest said aircraft safety is never compromised.

Two weeks ago, Northwest warned Ludwig he could lose his job if he continued to suggest that aircraft maintenance performed by third-party repair facilities could pose a danger to passengers.

Shortly after that warning, Ludwig held a news conference and showed pieces of an exploded aircraft brake that he said resulted from outsourced repairs.

Ludwig said he will continue to speak out, though about the industry as a whole and not specifically about Northwest.

 

[Busdrvr]

Now that is a "real" man. He's risking his job for what he believes in

 

[mweiss]

He simply has to stop tying it to outsourcing. As union leadership, such statements smack of political grandstanding in the interest in saving jobs.

He may well be correct about the safety of the aircraft returning from particular maintenance facilities (I'm inclined to believe he is), but it is imperative that he recognize the political subtext and remove any doubt that this is a safety concern, and not a jobs concern.

 

[NWA/AMT]

He simply has to stop tying it to outsourcing. As union leadership, such statements smack of political grandstanding in the interest in saving jobs.

He may well be correct about the safety of the aircraft returning from particular maintenance facilities (I'm inclined to believe he is), but it is imperative that he recognize the political subtext and remove any doubt that this is a safety concern, and not a jobs concern.

[post="259768"][/post]​

What would you have him do, set himself on fire on the steps of the FAA building? He brought forth legitimate safety concerns, got ignored by the public, punished by his employer and all you can do is criticize his political subtext?

 

[Bigsky]

Now that is a "real" man. He's risking his job for what he believes in

Agree 100%. Enough with the outsourcing of jobs.

 

[UAL_TECH]

He simply has to stop tying it to outsourcing. As union leadership, such statements smack of political grandstanding in the interest in saving jobs.

He may well be correct about the safety of the aircraft returning from particular maintenance facilities (I'm inclined to believe he is), but it is imperative that he recognize the political subtext and remove any doubt that this is a safety concern, and not a jobs concern.

[post="259768"][/post]​

You raise these types of concerns to the management and they blow you off.
Raise it to the FAA and you get canned.
Bring it into the public eye, and now it's a political grandstand.

You are beginning to sound like a 'one trick' pony and you will never be convinced otherwise until there is 'proof'. When 'proof' is provided, you dismiss it as insufficient or politically motivated through the ‘union collective’ and not admit the 'collective mindset' that you are a participant of.

I have little doubt that when the 'proof' includes great loss of life, that you will marginalize the significance as well.

B) UT

 

[mweiss]

all you can do is criticize his political subtext?

[post="259821"][/post]​

I would have figured that mechanics would care more about the results than the effort. What I would have him do is focus on the facts (which, incidentally, appear to be solid) instead of beating the outsourcing drum. "Outsourcing" is a term too closely tied to "I'm losing my job." There's a time and a place for that, but this wasn't it.

When you have a very small number of shots, it's better to aim carefully than to try to hit everything at one time. Message confusion creates undesirable results.

When 'proof' is provided, you dismiss it as insufficient or politically motivated through the ‘union collective’ and not admit the 'collective mindset' that you are a participant of.

[post="259884"][/post]​

Hmmm...let me see...I said that I'm inclined to believe the guy, so obviously I must mean that I think he's lying. <_<

One can only credibly be called a one trick pony by those who actually read the posts. B)

 

[NWA/AMT]

I would have figured that mechanics would care more about the results than the effort.

[post="259939"][/post]​

We are, but nobody wants to hear it.

What I would have him do is focus on the facts (which, incidentally, appear to be solid) instead of beating the outsourcing drum. "Outsourcing" is a term too closely tied to "I'm losing my job." There's a time and a place for that, but this wasn't it.

Since an outsourced brake vendor's consistently shabby work was the safety danger he was trying to expose, exactly how would you have him do that without actually mentioning outsourcing?

The fact that outsourcing is the greatest danger to airline passengers in decades is the reason we "beat[] the outsourcing drum". If you choose to continually see it as an act of union job protectionism, I believe that has more to do with you preconceptions of unions than anything the unions are doing.

 

[UAL_TECH]

Hmmm...let me see...I said that I'm inclined to believe the guy, so obviously I must mean that I think he's lying. <_<

One can only credibly be called a one trick pony by those who actually read the posts. B)

[post="259939"][/post]​

Sorry, I left my P'uter on and my dog must have replied in my absence.

Respectfully,

UT

 

[mweiss]

We are, but nobody wants to hear it.

And yet, you applaud his effort and ignore the results? Something doesn't add up.

Since an outsourced brake vendor's consistently shabby work was the safety danger he was trying to expose, exactly how would you have him do that without actually mentioning outsourcing?

Easy. Don't call it outsourcing. Don't even make the oblique reference. In fact, if baited to do so (which reporters will inevitably do), make sure to clarify that it's not at all about outsourcing, that there would be no objection if the brakes were maintained correctly, regardless of who does the work.

If you choose to continually see it as an act of union job protectionism, I believe that has more to do with you preconceptions of unions than anything the unions are doing.

[post="260059"][/post]​

It's not about how I see it. I've long ago been convinced that the way outsourced maintenance is handled is dangerous. No, it's how the "men on the street," the great unwashed masses, see it.

 

[NWA/AMT]

And yet, you applaud his effort and ignore the results? Something doesn't add up.

[post="260392"][/post]​

I do indeed applaud his effort because far too many are willing to let people find out how dangerous outsourcing is through other, far more painful, means. That he knew the risk he was taking and still thought the issue was important enough to warrant taking it apparently carries no weight in some quarters but it does with me.

Easy. Don't call it outsourcing.

Ignore the disease but complain about the symptom? Ludicrous. The effect of outsourcing can only be placed in context when the cause is identified as well.

 

[Boomer]

It will be interesting to witness the meeeting of AMFA, Northwest Airlines and the Landrum-Griffith Act in front of a Federal Judge.

LMRDA of 1959, Landrum-Griffith Act

AMFA Local 33 Pres. Ludwig is due a debt of gratitude by all of us that turn a wrench, "for hire", on things that don't have a breakdown lane.

 

[mweiss]

I do indeed applaud his effort

and ignore the results.

Ignore the disease but complain about the symptom?

Without that symptom, it's no longer a disease ... unless the important thing to you really is keeping your job. :huh:

 

[NWA/AMT]

and ignore the results.

[post="260560"][/post]​

No, far from it. I regret that his words fell on deaf ears, but that was not unexpected. I regret that he had to suffer for his effort, and am glad to be a member of the union that will make sure he and his family doesn't go hungry for it. I am glad that he said what he said and that his warnings are part of the written record. I wouldn't call that ignoring them, I'd call that being a realist.

Without that symptom, it's no longer a disease ... unless the important thing to you really is keeping your job.

Actually I'm close enough to retirement that it won't effect me on that level, yet I still care - and not just so I can say "I told you so". What selfish motive will you ascribe to me now?

If outsourcing becomes the norm and anyone who dares criticize it can count on being punished for doing so, I'd rather take my chances on Amtrak.