to lavman

[janitor]

Lavman, you shouldn''t be running your mouth about AMFA''s attorneys. If the AMFA is so bad then why are they kicking the IAM''s everywhere they go? Are members that stupid? Even you will be AMFA eventually Lavman, it''s inevitable. And I bet you will love it.

BTW, I heard something the other day that went like this, don''t bite the hand that feeds you.

Didn''t YOUR union broker a deal to make it acceptable for YOUR company to pay the professional contracted attorneys? And do any of us honestly trust ANY attorney who OUR own company is paying? Of course not! And where do you think the company got that money?

No attorney by definition is going to ''bite the hand that feeds them''.
What do you say to something like that? Will you stand up and say it was wrong or will you advocate the IAM''s position regardless?

You should be told that It''s teason against the worker and it is the result of having a union that is so arrogant that it is losing members left and right.

It''s no wonder at all that the IAM will continue to lose its while members decide to leave it.

 

[Todd B]

Please don''t direct an entire thread towards a person. Please PM Lavman next time.

Thank you

 

[LavMan]

First of all it is a free country and I can run my mouth as much as I want. The facts are out there of what sescam and scamfa have done.

Why would you want a law firm that helps companies bust unions to represent you?


Much has been said about amfa's use of attorneys. Amfa has claimed that it's law firm, Seham, Seham, Meltz and Petersen, is a key component in it's 'professionals representing professionals' philosophy. They are so important that they hold equal footing with amfa's National Director at the top of amfa's pyramid scheme, oops! We mean organizational chart. We are not denying that there is a need for attorneys, but the attorneys that amfa uses speaks volumes about amfa's credibility as a labor association.
Martin Seham, amfa's long time attorney, contributed to a book entitled Cleared for Takeoff, Airline Labor Relations Since Deregulation, published in 1988. In his own words, Mr. Seham describes his position as chief negotiator for El-Al Airlines, and how he aided union busting.
A quick summary, with Mr. Seham's own words:
"'The collective bargaining agreement between El Al Israel Airlines and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) expired on March 15, 1983, and I was retained by the company to be it's chief negotiator...In particular, the airline sought the union's assistance in developing a cost reduction plan. In short, El Al sought a concessionary agreement from the IAM that would match the concessions it had received elsewhere. The reaction of the local union committee was to serve a conventional list of demands for increases in wages and benefits and to reiterate that the union 'would not move back'"
Basically, the airline, under Mr. Seham's direction, asked the IAM for a concessionary agreement. The IAM, in short, told him where to put his concessions.
...to no ones surprise, a strike took place. Concurrent with the union's strike action, the airline implemented virtually all the proposals on which it had conceded. These included the elimination of certain employee groups who had previously been immune to layoff, the subcontracting of several operations, and the implementation of a wide range of scheduling, premium pay, and work rule changes. The union characterized these changes as creating a 'slave labor' environment. The airline made it plain, however, that it intended to operate despite the strike and appealed to it's employees to cross the picket line. "
These are the words of Mr. Seham, as El Al's chief negotiator appealing for employees to cross picket lines. This man, and his union busting ways, are now at the helm of amfa's legal team. It kind of makes you think about the true reason for amfa's dislike of strikes, and Lee Seham's, Martin's son, admission that the current Alaska Airlines/amfa tentative agreement takes away the unions right to strike. But when you elect and defend scabs as local presidents, would you expect less from amfa?
If you think that this type of behavior is over for amfa's lawyers, they recently acted as negotiators for Varig Airlines, and are still representing Varig in arbitration cases against union employees. These guys are nothing but two-faced and sleazy, even by lawyer standards.
In the same book, on page 70, another author talks about the birth of the B scale in our industry. Here we quote the author, Jalmer D. Johnson from the Air Lines Pilots Association:
"The benchmark B scale was adopted at American in November 1983, permanently reducing pay for newly hired pilots by 50%. Following American's lead, other airlines began to demand similar packages."
Why should this be important to you? The pilots unions' chief negotiator was the same Martin Seham. Click here to see what a pilots union official at American Airlines felt about the Seham's representation. It makes no difference whether the Seham's are employed by labor or management; the outcome is the same. The workers lose.
Amfa, who criticizes unions such as the IAM and TWU for not taking a stronger stance against airline management, employs the same man that proudly admits his involvement in helping to weaken unions. And the same fraternity that claims the big unions have not achieved the pay rates mechanics want, has the man who created the airline industries B scale negotiating on their behalf.
Amfa, Another Management Friendly Association.


Amfa boasts about it's use of a law firm during it's raids on legitimate unions. They would like you to believe that the firm they use, currently called Seham, Seham, Meltz and Peterson is going to look out for your interests. But history tells a different story.
The Sehams, father and son Martin and Lee Seham, are only moonlighting as amfa's general counsel. They spend the rest of their time representing airline management against workers. amfa does not see a conflict of interest in this, but any intelligent person would be able to. Do you want your union representative to work three days a week as your supervisor and discipline and fire people, and then spend two days a week as a steward representing you against his own colleagues?
Allied Pilots Association
This kind of conflict breeds the type of ineffectiveness that the Seham's displayed as the general counsel of the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the independent union representing American Airlines Pilots. When they were replaced as general counsel, amfa national director O.V. Delle Femine sent a letter to APA criticizing their action. APA answered Delle's letter by detailing just some of the Seham's failure while employed by APA. That letter is available here. It is obvious who benefited from the Seham's being APA's general counsel, and it was American Airline, not the pilots union.
Now that the Seham's have been replace at APA, they apparently have decided that they didn't do enough damage to the pilots union. So they have joined forces with the American Independent Cockpit Alliance, a splinter group of American Airlines Pilots that are trying to undermine APA by promoting that pilots withdraw from that union. Check out their legal counsel and administrator, the same as amfa's. This website has allot of the same information that you find on the website of the National Right To Work Foundation.
Fire At Will
An attorney from the Seham's law firm helped to write a book called "Fire At Will- Terminating Your Employees Legally". An excerpt that shows how an employer should deal with union organizers is shown here. There is no way any true union would be associated with a law firm that participated in a publication such as this. Yet amfa still claims that this law firm will look out for your interests. But how could you ever trust anyone who plays for both teams at the same time?
Seham - For the Company
Don't get the idea that the Seham's only work behind the scenes to help management. They have represented management directly in negotiations as well as arbitration cases against union members. Here is a copy of an arbitration case where the Seham's were used by Varig Airlines against a worker. Then there is a case where a company was charged by a union for unfair labor practices, and the Seham's were there to defend them again.
We also recently received a copy of a page from the IAM/Varig agreement, where it clearly shows that the Seham's negotiated the contract for the company. Take a minute and think...what have the Seham's ever done for any union. They have never accomplished anything for amfa except high legal bills (which it can not pay), and their tenure at the Allied Pilots Association referenced above ended in the Seham's being dismissed because of their pro-company negotiating stand.
Alaska Airlines
Amfa is currently receiving allot of flack from it's members because of it's failure to have lawyers at it's current negotiations with Alaska Airlines as promised during it's raid on that carrier. It looks like the Alaska mechanics and related are only the latest in a 30 years string of disappointed members who have been taken in by amfa's lies only to be shaken by the reality that a real estate salesman is negotiating for them

Cleared for Takeoff
Cleared For Takeoff, Airline Labor Relations Since Deregulation, is a book published in 1988 that discusses many aspects of labor relations in our industry. Amfa attorney Martin Seham contributed to the book, and actually discusses his involvement in a union busting campaign at El Al Airlines where union members were encouraged to cross picket lines. El Al, with Mr. Seham as it's chief negotiator, imposed work rules that eliminated union jobs. Read Mr. Seham's own words.

 

[LavMan]

AMFA’S True Feelings About Utility Employees

During the difficult bankruptcy negotiations with United Airlines, the IAM was faced with several issues concerning the Utility classification at UAL. For example, the company was determined to eliminate the Utility classification in all stations. The IAM continues to fairly represent Utility employees and is committed to bargaining aggressively to protect their classification and jobs under any circumstances. Unlike AMFA, the IAM represent all of its members in good faith. Read what AMFA thinks about the Utility employees and how they would defend your job and future:

A letter from National Director Delle -Femine April 28, 1994 -
" Our task, our mission is to separate from the cleaners/janitors. That’s our goal, and through your support and help we will win."

The Mechanic June 5, 1994 -
"AMFA makes no secret that it is only interested in representing skilled mechanics."

1994 AMFA bulletin signed by the national Director O.V. Delle -Femine -
" The cleaners/Janitors will be separated from OUR class and craft once we are in the class and craft separation hearing"

April 4, 1994 "The Mechanic" flyer -
"Mechanics and Inspectors wages historically have been sacrificed by the IAM in order to provide an artificially high scale for the unskilled workers who dominate the catch all union."

AMFA memo April 7, 1994 -
"The mechanics at UAL are being forced to make concessions for the unskilled class of cleaners and baggage handlers… AMFA is now currently accepting contributions for the mechanics/cleaners."

The IAM has always treated Utility Employees fairly and equitably, and brings their interests to the bargaining table. Utility Employees are treated as second-class citizens at every AMFA airline. At NWA, AMFA allows the mechanics to perform utility work and has refused to accept grievances on the cleaners behalf. Demand the truth don’t just take their word for it.

 

[cavalier]

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On 5/6/2003 7:15:05 PM janitor wrote:

Lavman, you shouldn't be running your mouth about AMFA's attorneys. If the AMFA is so bad then why are they kicking the IAM's  everywhere they go?

>>Because people are demoralized, downtrodden, beaten, near the end and looking for ANY change good or bad.

No attorney by definition is going to 'bite the hand that feeds them'.

>>Guess you never hired one then, they are NOT the end all solution either.

What do you say to something like that?  Will you stand up and say it was wrong or will you advocate the IAM's position regardless?

You should be told that It's treason against the worker and it is the result of having a union that is so arrogant that it is losing members left and right.

It's no wonder at all that the IAM will continue to lose its  while members decide to leave it.

>>The union is totally "THE MEMBERS" YOU & ME. Which is our own worst enemy. How many brothers are actually active, caring what's happening week to week, or even bother to vote when it's not some emotionally charged election. Bringing in AMFA because some (edited) accomplished what they set out to do will not rectify what they made happen. They set out to destroy our economy and made a big dent, changing unions is like sticking your finger in the leaking dike.

 

[LavMan]

I am not an officer of my local nor on its e-board. I am a shop steward.

 

[delldude]

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On 5/7/2003 1:02:43 PM LavMan wrote:


I am not an officer of my local nor on its e-board. I am a shop steward.

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the few,the proud......semper fi