Thrustfuljet said:
I bet Micheal Quill in rolling over in his grave, embarrassed by what the twu has turned into here at AA.
I'll bet you are right.
What Mike Quill did for the Transit Workers of NYC 75 years ago AMFA will do for the mechanics.
The labor situation in Transit at the time was similar to what we have in the Airline Industry. At the time the NYC transit system consisted of a multitude of competing companies offering basically the same service. The unions representing transit workers were a mishmash of unions that only cared about securing a dues base and organized along company lines, trade lines whatever, but there was no cohesive plan between the unions. Unions competed with each other by helping their company grow by undercutting the other unions. For the members the unions were minimally effective. After years of paying dues to unions that could do nothing for them they took a chance with a small start up union where the leadership was made made up of ex-IRA fighters and communists. Things turned out well for them for many years.
Unfortuneately, as with many things time takes its toll. The Communists were driven out, and the IRA remained. These were fighters who knew real risk, and werent afraid to take it. They were flawed leaders but they did help and lead the members to improved lives. They were just as power hungry as todays leaders but they did not forget the mission, "get more for the members". In their quest for power, they surronded themselves with less able leaders without the same fighting background. They picked soft men, who would not threaten their power. Repeat this cycle a few generations and you have the likes of Sonny Hall and Jim Little. No longer is the mission to get more for the members but to consolidate power. Instead of having the courage to lead the members to better lives, they blame the members for thier own lack of courage. In the meantime they reward themselves financially for their success at consolidating power.
When we leave the TWU, the average wage of a TWU member will drop to around $21000 per year, in the meantime, Sonny Hall will be pulling down around ten times that from the TWU alone, we dont know how much he (or his family) gets in commissions for all the insurance policies he peddles to the members.
When Sonny talks of "us", who does he mean? Is he trying to act like he is one of us? You know, the working class, who have to find a way to pay the bills every month while so called leaders like him keep telling us we must work more for less? Does Sonny Hall sound like Mike Quill, or like the company?
The lesson learned from the TWU should not be lost. We should never compromise the Democratic principles that we seek in AMFA for expedience or "stability". The distancing of the International from the membership that is a fact with the TWU, could happen to any organization if the members fail to police and hold on to their democratic rights. Our Union officials are not leaders, they are the same as the liberal rich who say they can feel our pain as they step on our hands. Just because they can feel our hand under their foot does not mean that they can feel our pain. (The Conservative rich step on our hands and say "quit complaining").By paying Sonny Hall over $200,000 a year he has lost touch with the financial reality that we face, the structure of our union allows him to remain unconcerned because he is not accountable to us. He is out of touch and out of reach.
The only remnants of the TWU of Mike Quill is the logo and the slogans.
When we go to AMFA lets not forget the lesson of the TWU, of how something that was once good and effective can become the opposite.
