TWU-IAM Association thread
- Thread starter Buster CRC
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WeAAsles
Veteran
- Oct 20, 2007
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Wanted to come back to this one more time as I add more posts. Just personally feel very sorry as Chuck calls all of his Brothers and Sisters pitiful. I only think a few of you who post on here are pitiful. Although I really don't take any pity on you personally. Now if you were on minimum wage with a wife and 4 kids I might. Actually I think you posters are pathetic more so than pitiful.FWAAA said:
Hope that doesn't disturb you? Ah actually I don't care.
WeAAsles said:
WeAAsles said:
Most unions considered the strike ill conceived from the very beginning. AMFA had no strike fund
and, reflecting its separatist philosophy of mechanics acting alone, went on strike while the Pilots,
Flight Attendants and Machinists' Union were still negotiating under pressures of bankruptcy court
proceedings. AMFA bolted ahead of all the other unions, characteristic of their often-stated mantra
that "strength in numbers doesn't necessarily mean strength. " This was the wisdom offered by
AMFA Assistant National Director Steve MacFarlane on the eve of the August 2005 strike. He
couldn't have been more wrong.
Underestimating solidarity with other unions on the property was only one of AMFA's strategic
mistakes. Extremely damaging to unity with other unions was AMFA's negotiating proposal that
NWA take more concessions from IAM members and less from AMFA members. As reported by
Robert Roach Jr., IAMAW General Vice- President Transportation: "AMFA, as an institution, has
proposed and is actively advocating, that Northwest Airlines demand $150,000,000 more [from IAM
members] in concessions than the $107,000,000 Northwest has requested from our membership. "
While AMFA supporters dismiss these claims as slander, most 'unskilled' airline workers who have
been the target of AMFA's scorn since their formation in 1962, are not at all surprised by AMFA's
breach of solidarity at NWA during the 2005 summer contract negotiations. In fact, this breakdown
in solidarity is exactly what occurred only a few months earlier in an AMFA settlement with United
Airlines that directly led to 550 IAM jobs being contracted out. As a result of complex legal
proceedings between AMFA and the IAM over the jobs in question, AMFA negotiators demanded
and received from UAL financial 'credits' for this IAM job loss; thus increasing the hardship on fellow
workers, IAM members, but reducing concessions of AMFA mechanics.
The whole AMFA experience has been a bitter, devastating blow to airline workers. It has led to
division and defeat by an organization that claimed to be more militant and democratic than
established unions but was not. None of AMFA's major claims have stood up; they are neither more
democratic nor more militant than traditional unions they seek to replace.
AMFA suffers from the same political weaknesses as other unions only compounded by active
attempts to split unions and separate 'skilled' workers from other employee groups
Less than 3 years ago when AMFA won an election to represent 9000 UAL mechanics, AMFA's
major campaign slogan was that they would never negotiate concessions. They claimed to always
have rank and file observers at negotiations. They claimed to be the most democratic.
None of these claims have stood up; during NWA on concession bargaining for example, AMFA
members were never given an opportunity to vote on the 'Final and Best Offer' by NWA before the
strike was called in August 2005 and 'rank and file observers' were barred from the recent
negotiations with NWA on the tentative agreement.
Realityck said:
Really, who penned that little gem? Jim Little? Pure BS. The way I see it, the TWU is living in a glass house, and throwing stones at the AMFA. The AMFA constitution is far superior to anything you catch-all union supporters have. Open negotiations, true democracy and enforcable accountability. Only a POS international suck boy would post such AMT hating drivel as you just did.
ThirdSeatHero
Veteran
Vortilon said:
It was penned by Carl Finamore.
A former IAM President of IAM Local 1781 in SFO who has carried a grudge since we decertified the IAM in 2003, and it is indeed Pure BS.
ThirdSeatHero said:
This is certainly not an article by the IAM
Northwest Airlines Strike
[SIZE=16pt]Most recently, AMFA launched a strike against Northwest Airlines on August 19, 2005. The strike failed to significantly disrupt flight operations, as Northwest, in preparation for a strike, organized for replacement workers to immediately begin performing maintenance at hub cities. In the subsequent months, hundreds of AMFA members crossed their own picket lines and returned to work at the airline, rescinding their membership of the union. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]Union leaders have been quick to brand anyone crossing their picket lines negatively. AMFA Local 33 in Minneapolis St-Paul has taken pictures and listed names of those skilled workers who crossed picket lines by listing these people on[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]their website. However, many who have crossed and others who have not point out that AMFA refused to allow its members a vote on any of the company's first three offers. Critics have also pointed to voting irregularities when AMFA finally did allow a vote on Northwest's fourth proposal in December. The offer was rejected.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]On October 9, 2006, AMFA leadership and Northwest reached a strike settlement agreement[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt](http://www.amfanatl.org/Pages/06_News&Information/NWA/20061009_Strike_Settle_Agreement-TA.pdf) . Under the settlement, all AMFA workers still on strike as of that date will be converted to lay-off status with 5 weeks of severance pay (10 weeks if they resign from Northwest). However, these employees will have a right of recall to their old jobs.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]The strike ended on November 6, 2006, when 72% of the AMFA membership accepted the tentative agreement reached on October 9.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt]Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Mechanics_Fraternal_Association 8/1/2011[/SIZE]
[SIZE=16pt] "At their request, AMFA was subsequently decertified as Union Representative for NWA AMT's"[/SIZE]
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