WN Mechanics seek mediation

[sendmeupacrowsfoot]

Believe me, many of us who have been watching this industry for 25+ years are well aware of how things went down at NW and know WN would go for the jugular like a rabid vampire. Strike is no longer an option and it appears just doing your job and being compliant has become a nightmare for an airline that has gotten away with intimidating its mechanics into pushing aircraft. What they fail to comprehend is taking away day trades, overtime, vacations, and eo's has driven morale from dismal into the abyss. I have never, in my 29 years in this industry, seen so much anger and hatred towards maintenance upper management as I've seen in the last 2 weeks. Cooler heads must prevail for this issue to get resolved.

That Human Factors video we have been required to watch all these years is ringing kinda hollow right now. Nice atmosphere to work a safety sensitive job in. Safety is paramount as they say.

 

[B737 driver]

Good to hear from you Glenn. It has been a while.
Thanx so much for the good wishes. Hopefully this new guy from ALK will come in and get something back out for a vote.
Like Bird already said, strike is not an option, and I don't think they would release us anyways.
Both sides need to put all past issues behind them, get the personalizations away and off the table, put the big boy pants on and get back to professionalized negotiations. Think about the co. and the employees as a whole.
If the co., or the union tries any more games or goes backwards, it will not end good.
I think this new guy, with his cooler head, can get it done.
Here is to the hopes that he becomes a hero and not a zero...

Glad to see you seeing both sides and not walking blindly into a mine field.

 

[dgaf]

The 3 years was a guesstimation PRIOR to SWA announcing that they needed the 5 year pay freeze to wait for all the other airlines catch up. The very same 3 years was given to other airlines in nego's now as well, and they too are over that also. You can stop beating that dead horse, the entire environment changed when the co called for the 5 year freeze as well as all the ridiculous demands they first were asking for. They knew this contract was going nowhere for about 6 years at the very beginning in 2012.
driver, C'mon. They can, as can AMFA, can sue for any reason they want to. They will have to prove this was a job action and NOT legit safety write-ups. The ones that grounded the a/c NOT the ones that always get MEL's or fixed prior to next day of flights. The suit is just a chess move by the company to scare some. IF they even think they will win that suit, then why is it that NONE of the 100 mechanics that they CLAIM are all the cause of these huge number of a/c out of service for bogus write-ups, haven't been wrote up? Disciplined? Suspended? Or even terminated? If they could prove it, they would have taken action.

BTW Here's the unions answer to the suit filed. You watch guys, if the March meetings bring a possible T/A out again it will have the typical language to drop all lawsuits if it were to get voted in, you watch. So that suit really holds no weight driver, see what I mean? They will also say all greiv. will be thrown in the trash, which I do not agree with either...

Memo: Southwest Airlines Files Suit Against AMFA
March 3, 2019 -- On Thursday, February, 28, 2019, Southwest Airlines filed yet another federal lawsuit against AMFA, as well as your elected negotiating representatives individually. This is but one more step in a long-standing campaign aimed at your Union and at you and the very job that you do. his lawsuit comes on the heels of the Company’s self-styled “State of Operational Emergency” at several maintenance locations where it believes too many discrepancies were being generated and resulted in aircraft not being pushed back into service fast enough.
Read More

I have not been on this site in a long time. I've been a member here since 2005. In fact, I think I joined the first day of our strike on NWA. I see a lot of revisionist history with what happened to us back then.

I know exactly what happened. Now that many years have past, I am able to coherently see the mistakes made by AMFA leadership. I still say the main reason for our membership being so willing to strike, was that so many of our members had zero debt at the time. We were so short staffed for a few years leading up to the strike. Everybody was working 12 - 16 hour days, many 7 days a week (double time on 2nd RDO and after 12 hours). Everyone was willing to go out for a month or so with no financial penalty. With my seniority, I was at a small warm wx station working a 4/10 day shift with S/M/T RDO's. My manager was a 40-year lifer. He warned us all that if we went out, we not be coming back (he was a very honest & decent guy). He had been in meetings with senior NWA management, preparing for over a year to replace us. That plan was put into action when OV surprised NWA by calling the strike.

There were a few bumps for the airline right after the strike, but they killed us. When the F/A's and Pilots didn't back us, I knew we were done. Personally, in the year leading up to the strike, I returned to college to finish by bachelors degree. That was the best thing I ever did. Without that degree, I would be lower seniority guy at another airline, much like the broken guys from Eastern that I worked with at NWA. Many of those guys went out on strike with us. After the strike, I was very fortunate to land a great job. I am now making much more than I would ever make as a lead mechanic (or other position) at any airline.

My advice to the SWA mechanics: don't think it cannot happen to you. You are a much smaller group than us at NWA at the time. I know unemployment is low, but you can/will be replaced. Many tough guys who you think will not cross the picket line, will stab you in the back. Instead of work actions from within (we played that game with limited success), convince your leadership to do chaos. It is legal and the F/A's effectively used it in the past.

If I do not respond, yes it is because I am ignoring you. I have no intent on re-litigating our NWA/AMFA strike more than I just did here.

Good luck to the SWA folks.

Thanks for the walk down memory lane Glen. I did not work at NWA, but the damage that was done forever changed the AMT industry. I have walked a picket/strike line, and thankfully it did not last but a few days. I also was young and like you said, had zero debt, was a young man with no deep seeded roots, and much more of a risk taker back then. That survey they sent out, what a year ago, specifically asked that question. Are you willing to strike? I answered, not just no but F no! The summer of 2005 rings very clearly in my head and anyone here thinking the pilots and flight attendant are gonna stop collecting a paycheck because we aren't getting one, is to naive or to young to remember. I'll just keep doing what my a/p ticket requires me to do, keep everyone safe and compliant.

 

[WeAAsles]

FYI Mitchell Shnurman and the Dallas Morning News has always been in the pocket of both AA and SWA Management.

Ft Worth Star Telegram slanted more towards the employees.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/...ould-get-lot-worse-especially-mechanics-union

 

[B737 driver]

FYI Mitchell Shnurman and the Dallas Morning News has always been in the pocket of both AA and SWA Management.

Ft Worth Star Telegram slanted more towards the employees.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/...ould-get-lot-worse-especially-mechanics-union

That judge is a hardass he is the very judge that handed American Airlines pilots a 46 million dollar fine for their sick out. He was appointed by Reagan. He doesn't play.

 

[sendmeupacrowsfoot]

That judge is a hardass he is the very judge that handed American Airlines pilots a 46 million dollar fine for their sick out. He was appointed by Reagan. He doesn't play.

He is now a lawyer not a judge and here is his opinion:

“Ordering a mechanic to certify a plane as safe would be a tricky business for any judge,” said Kendall, who’s now a lawyer in Dallas.

 

[swamt]

FYI Mitchell Shnurman and the Dallas Morning News has always been in the pocket of both AA and SWA Management.

Ft Worth Star Telegram slanted more towards the employees.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/...ould-get-lot-worse-especially-mechanics-union

The person writing this article is not educated on aircraft groundings and aviation/FAA law. The planes listed in the para below are NO reasons an a/c gets grounded for. Sure, maybe those write ups did increase, but they are NOT grounded for small items like these that can and do get MEL. When it is shown in the courts that these were all legal write-ups and the a/c were grounded per the rules it will all go away.

Don’t blame the weather -- not when aircraft are being flagged for broken arm rests and tape on cargo bins. Or my favorite violation: missing a row number on an airline that doesn’t assign seats.

That judge is a hardass he is the very judge that handed American Airlines pilots a 46 million dollar fine for their sick out. He was appointed by Reagan. He doesn't play.

The AA Pilots sick out was illegal, was proven and was delt with as such. Two very, very different situations.

 

[B737 driver]

The person writing this article is not educated on aircraft groundings and aviation/FAA law. The planes listed in the para below are NO reasons an a/c gets grounded for. Sure, maybe those write ups did increase, but they are NOT grounded for small items like these that can and do get MEL. When it is shown in the courts that these were all legal write-ups and the a/c were grounded per the rules it will all go away.

Don’t blame the weather -- not when aircraft are being flagged for broken arm rests and tape on cargo bins. Or my favorite violation: missing a row number on an airline that doesn’t assign seats.


The AA Pilots sick out was illegal, was proven and was delt with as such. Two very, very different situations.

Well if you settle , and ratify the contract it will all go away. I love how you guys justify what a judge will do. Last time I looked we are aircraft mechanics. Even if you prove they are legitimate write ups, you still have to prove it wasn't a job action because someone got pissed off, and decided to C check the airplane.

 

[sendmeupacrowsfoot]

Senior Federal District Judge Joe Fish will be handling this lawsuit. Indeed he was appointed by Reagan.

 

[sendmeupacrowsfoot]

Well if you settle , and ratify the contract it will all go away. I love how you guys justify what a judge will do. Last time I looked we are aircraft mechanics. Even if you prove they are legitimate write ups, you still have to prove it wasn't a job action because someone got pissed off, and decided to C check the airplane.

You sure sound like you want your union and your union brothers to crash and burn

 

[B737 driver]

You sure sound like you want your union and your union brothers to crash and burn

No I personally want you AMFA cheerleaders to take your rose colour glasses off, and realize AMFA and Seham could easily lead to our destruction. Seham will keep taking the money as long as you pay him. I personally hope we settle and move on. You can't punch your company in the nuts and expect them to give you a bag of candy. You guys put your little red x s, and don't take this serious. You have no control what a judge will do. And my comments was the judge that will oversee this case. The last time I looked a Republican appointed judge in the state of Texas, will not be exactly labor friendly. If it gets that far, plus a state of venue change, very unlikely. So if SWA bankrupted our union, there would be no money to fight anything.In the same process you **** the Alaska Airlines guys, when AMFA has no money. If you guys complain about SWA violating the contract now, what do you think L.N. would do then, if AMFA is broke. The only choice you would have then, is to bring in a new union.

 

[sendmeupacrowsfoot]

No I personally want you AMFA cheerleaders to take your rose colour glasses off, and realize AMFA and Seham could easily lead to our destruction. Seham will keep taking the money as long as you pay him. I personally hope we settle and move on. You can't punch your company in the nuts and expect them to give you a bag of candy. You guys put your little red x s, and don't take this serious. You have no control what a judge will do. And my comments was the judge that will oversee this case. The last time I looked a Republican appointed judge in the state of Texas, will not be exactly labor friendly. If it gets that far, plus a state of venue change, very unlikely. So if SWA bankrupted our union, there would be no money to fight anything.In the same process you **** the Alaska Airlines guys, when AMFA has no money. If you guys complain about SWA violating the contract now, what do you think L.N. would do then, if AMFA is broke. The only choice you would have then, is to bring in a new union.

The only thing not taken seriously is you.

 

[I’ll have another]

Answer this. What leverage did the UPS mechanics have that the SWA mechanics apparently do no have?
UPS mechanics overwhelmingly passed a strike vote and twice asked to be released from mediation.
UPS has less mechanics and less aircraft than SWA.
UPS are Teamsters. SWA are AMFA.
???

 

[B737 driver]

The only thing not taken seriously is you.

Then put me on ignore, simple as that, and make sure you step on one of those bouncing Betty, that will blow your nuts off, when you're to stupid to see it. Good luck!

 

[B737 driver]

Answer this. What leverage did the UPS mechanics have that the SWA mechanics apparently do no have?
UPS mechanics overwhelmingly passed a strike vote and twice asked to be released from mediation.
UPS has less mechanics and less aircraft than SWA.
UPS are Teamsters. SWA are AMFA.
???

Teamsters aren't stupid, and can back stuff up. These guys don't have a clue, and trust everything our union tells them. SWA is doing exactly what they said they would do last year.