Here''s one for all you management types out there.
My Co-worker,being unhappy as a TWU Union member, looked into being able to quit the TWU and still hold his job as an AMT with AA. Texas is a right to work state, and it is perfectly legal. AA management told him they would fire him if he followed through on it. If management really despises the union, they why not let this employee quit the union? DFW and AFW would not belong to the TWU before long if this employee was able to just quit. AA would then maybe have a non TWU work force in Texas. No, Tulsa wouldn''t go for that, and that is why AA threatened this employee with his job.
For all you who say just quit, go somewhere else... I have spent my entire adult life working on aircraft, since I was 17 in the Army working on helicopters, worked at a Mom and Pop FBO, worked a corporate flight dept. job, and of course AA. Until AA it was non union. When I hired on at the FBO I was the lowest paid, $7.25 hr. I left making $12.50 for the corporate job which paid me $30,000 yr salary. I was then on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After 6 months I went to $35,000. Tried getting a weekend off to be able to spend time with my family, I was told no, the airplane was flying that weekend, (the CEO was going to play golf). I quit right then and there. Went back to the FBO I had left. Lucky for me I got $18 hr. because I had been to the factory training on a popular business jet the FBO had contracts to work on, courtesy of the corporate job. I had just been rewarded for my experience and training and was able to obtain higher pay for that fact. I soon realized that I was at the top of the ladder at Mom and Pop''s. They paid me as much as they could, and I worked hard for them, but it was a dead end. Not happy? Time to leave. AA was hiring, I took a pay cut and started in the $14 hr range with a 12 year top out, but I was at least somewhere that had good benefits, the pay would eventually be good and I still loved doing my job.
Now here we are. I have over 13 years of experience and training. I belong to a Union that I cannot quit. I have signed an AMFA card in hopes of improving my situation. Hoping that one day if AMFA was nationwide, my seniority would carry one job to another. No luck yet, can''t get enough TWU brothers to see the big picture. I am not happy, I want to quit,and here is my dilemma. I have a mortgage, wife and kids to support. Can I go to another airline? Yes. Would the pay be the same? No,not for at least the first 5 years, then it is a gamble since the major Unions (IAM and TWU) are giving away everything their former AMT''s got them by way of pay and benefits. Pay might drop further by then. Are airlines hiring? Haven''t seen any in the want ads. What does that leave? FBO? Corporate? Can I work for an airline that is non union? Wouldn''t want to. Have a broken airplane on the gate, departure time, don''t sign it off, you are gone. AA just proved why you have to have a union. Management will walk over their workers for their own greed. Perfect example is the retention bonuses. Get 2x salary just to stay around for 2 years? Are they doing a good job? I personally don''t think so. Does a manager at AA have to go through set progressive pay scales if he hires on with a new company? No. Do I want to? No. Airlines are out then for now. Do the Mom and Pop FBO''s pay well? No, they always stay behind the airlines, they are usually the training grounds. Would a manager leave AA to go work somewhere else knowing he would never make the same pay? Probably not, be kind of foolish. The paths I can take are set. Unless I leave this profession, I have to walk these paths. With this latest concession package, I like thousands of other AMT''s are at a point where we have to make a decision to give up our careers for good and start from scratch. Leave aviation for good. Not an easy decision. It is swayed by the actions of the upper management of big corporations. Not all, there are some great ones out there, who are great at their jobs and I would love to work for. I guess the fact that perhaps if I can wait just a little longer, voice my opinion on how the management of the company I have devoted my life to is acting, so the public is made aware, then maybe I will one day work for a management team that will once again make me proud to tell people that I work for American Airlines.It happened for the workers of Chrysler, there is hope. For the first time ever, my local newspaper is publishing negative information about Carty ( the truth!). Hope he''s gone soon. If management thinks the union is full of bad workers, then do something about it. AA management does not know how to manage their work force, plain and simple. The airline needs to shrink, do it. The Union wants to keep all the people it can in order to get more dues. Better off with less workers! Bad management decision, should have laid off the necessary people instead of demanding concessions and upsetting the entire work force. Better look at how many people were in management prior to Don and after Don. Maybe this is why all the Yes men of this forum are so Pro Carty They know a good upper management team would chop heads, probably theirs. If my head gets chopped, fine, at least when if I try to work for another airline, the pay still might be there. Don, (I won''t call you Mr. Carty, because I have ZERO respect for you) please retire, pull the string on your golden parachute. Mr. Crandall, please come back, I''ve heard your statements saying you would.
Now since all you management types have all the answers, what do you suggest all us crying union mechanics do? Now remember,put yourself in my shoes; you have a house, kids and the usual utility bills and everyday living expenses, nothing extravagent though. Can you change careers today? Are you better off trying to improve your situation where you are at? What would you do?
My Co-worker,being unhappy as a TWU Union member, looked into being able to quit the TWU and still hold his job as an AMT with AA. Texas is a right to work state, and it is perfectly legal. AA management told him they would fire him if he followed through on it. If management really despises the union, they why not let this employee quit the union? DFW and AFW would not belong to the TWU before long if this employee was able to just quit. AA would then maybe have a non TWU work force in Texas. No, Tulsa wouldn''t go for that, and that is why AA threatened this employee with his job.
For all you who say just quit, go somewhere else... I have spent my entire adult life working on aircraft, since I was 17 in the Army working on helicopters, worked at a Mom and Pop FBO, worked a corporate flight dept. job, and of course AA. Until AA it was non union. When I hired on at the FBO I was the lowest paid, $7.25 hr. I left making $12.50 for the corporate job which paid me $30,000 yr salary. I was then on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After 6 months I went to $35,000. Tried getting a weekend off to be able to spend time with my family, I was told no, the airplane was flying that weekend, (the CEO was going to play golf). I quit right then and there. Went back to the FBO I had left. Lucky for me I got $18 hr. because I had been to the factory training on a popular business jet the FBO had contracts to work on, courtesy of the corporate job. I had just been rewarded for my experience and training and was able to obtain higher pay for that fact. I soon realized that I was at the top of the ladder at Mom and Pop''s. They paid me as much as they could, and I worked hard for them, but it was a dead end. Not happy? Time to leave. AA was hiring, I took a pay cut and started in the $14 hr range with a 12 year top out, but I was at least somewhere that had good benefits, the pay would eventually be good and I still loved doing my job.
Now here we are. I have over 13 years of experience and training. I belong to a Union that I cannot quit. I have signed an AMFA card in hopes of improving my situation. Hoping that one day if AMFA was nationwide, my seniority would carry one job to another. No luck yet, can''t get enough TWU brothers to see the big picture. I am not happy, I want to quit,and here is my dilemma. I have a mortgage, wife and kids to support. Can I go to another airline? Yes. Would the pay be the same? No,not for at least the first 5 years, then it is a gamble since the major Unions (IAM and TWU) are giving away everything their former AMT''s got them by way of pay and benefits. Pay might drop further by then. Are airlines hiring? Haven''t seen any in the want ads. What does that leave? FBO? Corporate? Can I work for an airline that is non union? Wouldn''t want to. Have a broken airplane on the gate, departure time, don''t sign it off, you are gone. AA just proved why you have to have a union. Management will walk over their workers for their own greed. Perfect example is the retention bonuses. Get 2x salary just to stay around for 2 years? Are they doing a good job? I personally don''t think so. Does a manager at AA have to go through set progressive pay scales if he hires on with a new company? No. Do I want to? No. Airlines are out then for now. Do the Mom and Pop FBO''s pay well? No, they always stay behind the airlines, they are usually the training grounds. Would a manager leave AA to go work somewhere else knowing he would never make the same pay? Probably not, be kind of foolish. The paths I can take are set. Unless I leave this profession, I have to walk these paths. With this latest concession package, I like thousands of other AMT''s are at a point where we have to make a decision to give up our careers for good and start from scratch. Leave aviation for good. Not an easy decision. It is swayed by the actions of the upper management of big corporations. Not all, there are some great ones out there, who are great at their jobs and I would love to work for. I guess the fact that perhaps if I can wait just a little longer, voice my opinion on how the management of the company I have devoted my life to is acting, so the public is made aware, then maybe I will one day work for a management team that will once again make me proud to tell people that I work for American Airlines.It happened for the workers of Chrysler, there is hope. For the first time ever, my local newspaper is publishing negative information about Carty ( the truth!). Hope he''s gone soon. If management thinks the union is full of bad workers, then do something about it. AA management does not know how to manage their work force, plain and simple. The airline needs to shrink, do it. The Union wants to keep all the people it can in order to get more dues. Better off with less workers! Bad management decision, should have laid off the necessary people instead of demanding concessions and upsetting the entire work force. Better look at how many people were in management prior to Don and after Don. Maybe this is why all the Yes men of this forum are so Pro Carty They know a good upper management team would chop heads, probably theirs. If my head gets chopped, fine, at least when if I try to work for another airline, the pay still might be there. Don, (I won''t call you Mr. Carty, because I have ZERO respect for you) please retire, pull the string on your golden parachute. Mr. Crandall, please come back, I''ve heard your statements saying you would.
Now since all you management types have all the answers, what do you suggest all us crying union mechanics do? Now remember,put yourself in my shoes; you have a house, kids and the usual utility bills and everyday living expenses, nothing extravagent though. Can you change careers today? Are you better off trying to improve your situation where you are at? What would you do?
