Jim Martin,
No offense intended with the “AMFA boy†moniker. I call the TWU supporters “boy†too. To get right to the point, maybe you and your AMFA boys need to grow some backbone, what do you mean by “they gave up?†The membership made the call to live with the concessionary contract. Did the International claim that it was better than bankruptcy? Yes they did! This was not, as you know a “normal†negotiation process. If it would have been and we had the same result, I could see your disappointment if the negotiating committee had brought back an offer such as this. As it was, the committee had a choice to make, let the membership decide their fate or send the company into bankruptcy. We (the TWU) chose to promote not going to bankruptcy. The reason we did? We saw what happens to airlines that take that route. I don’t know who’s told you what but there are about 6000 mechanics on layoff right now from United airlines and more to come. The AMFA influence there caused the initial offer from the company to be rejected and propelled them into 1113© proceedings. The initial offer was to keep their scope, a 7% pay reduction and 4 holidays. What they ended up with was much worse, they (United) took their pay back to ’02 rates, cancelled upcoming raises and then took 13% from everything. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they received language from the proceeding that farmed out all of their heavy maintenance and 20% of all other maintenance on an annual basis. I can appreciate your “I’d survive†comment but frankly, there are thousands of others that deserved to make the same choice. These jobs at United and NWA are gone. You say, Jim Little “promised†a re-vote. His intent with the initial information that he had, lead him to move in that direction. Did he jump the gun? Maybe, but the company had just given us the “retention bonus†crap and we were making a huge deal out of it, and justifiably so. Unfortunately, had we done that , 1) the company would have filed bankruptcy and 2) the company would have won an injunction to put us back to work and then asked us for more money, causing more damage. The courts simply were not going to allow American to file after the membership had ratified the agreement the first time. The TWU legal counsel told us that prior to the attempt for injunctions was filed by the flight attendants and filed by local 562. Then low-and-behold, the TWU was right! Both judges (one in the same district that AA would have used to file) denied the injunctions on the basis that AA likely would have filed. Why wouldn’t you look at NWA as a model for AMFA operations? If not NWA, then any of the others that they represent, no matter which one you choose, they are at or near the top of the industry in either farming out work or lay offs. Lastly, if John McDonald mis-applied the contract during the bumps, there is a mechanism in place to deal with that. If there is a basis for your arguement, it's your fault if you don't pursue it. If there is no basis or proof, then stop slandering.
