If you had to replace your beloved amfa that can do no wrong, which one would you want? I'll give you a choice. IAM, TWU, SWAPA, IBT, or my favorite THE SWAMP (Southwest Airlines Maintenace Professionals) and you can be my greatest cheerleader.
If you read my post I said there will not be a strike or a strike vote, SWA has had one mechanics strike in 1980, it lasted 1 week. What I said is everyone is scared of that, too much money involved to lose! I asked what do you do if the company only comes so far and that's it, what do you do?
I get how it works. The majority have nothing to do with the union. The majority don't even bother to vote. The majority couldn't even tell you two of the names on the negotiating committee. But, the majority will lash out if they get screwed with a lousy T/A. It isn't gonna be a recall process, it will be a replace process. AMFA has had it easy at swa so far. This front to back contract change is the big test. If they bring home the bacon sort of speak they will stay. If not, they won't last long. The majority could careless about recall, or how the money is controlled and so on. They want job security, competitive wages, decent work rules. The inside workings of a union is meaningless to the majority.
We are waiting on a T/A to vote on, we do not want excuses, we already had a replacement of the officers in the last election, nobody here wants Northwest Airlines, we want results, everyone I talked too and we are all talking among ourselves will wait until we have a contract and if it a turd kick them out, like when we conveniently kicked the Teamsters out in 2003 after they got us a contract, and AMFA swooped into the rescue, see when have to do full contract negotiations and not just an extension , it doesn't go so well, so go back and tell that to the pom pom supporters!
Hope everyone is safe in Texas I see Hobby is closed till August 30 th because of flooding I imagine this will have an impact on our 3rd quarter earnings !, stay safe!
You either accept the terms or you continue with the process of the RLA. If the NMB calls an impasse, arbitration is offered, then PEB if the president appoints one, then 30 day cooling down, then self help. In self help there is no contract. You are an at will employee. The company can lockout and the union can strike if an authorization vote is had beforehand and the National Director calls for a strike. That's it. The contract goes in the trash if it gets to self help. Along with seniority, wage rates, work and wage rules. The RLA, of course is in the company's favor especially when you get to self help. Mainly because of the small work group and the massive outsourcing SWA has inplace. It's obvious by now the company is going to reset maintenance with higher percentages of outsourcing one way or the other. We either accept or eventually fight them on a strike line. I still believe that a strike authorization vote is in order after 5 years. "Let the membership decide the direction". Isn't that what AMFA boast?
We would take a crap deal before people would walk AMFA knows that, the company knows that, and once that happens and people realize that AMFA is like the great and powerful Oz, then what happens ?
AMFA came to SWA with eyes wide open. They knew of the massive outsourcing and small work group. I won't accept any excuses from them. Eventually you will hear, this is the best we could do. It's coming.
Oh you know that's coming, this was their we are not like the industrial unions, but when you are faced with self help, which would be failure on their part and the negotiating committee that has to work under this language they will decide that a best they can get and hope they survive is better than the alternative of losing their membership livelihoods and if they get replaced they will still survive to eventually try to organize someone else 5 to 6 years down the road, in their minds they lost a battle they didn't lose the war!
Where the rubber meets the road is does our union try to help, or does SWA do it all that will speak volumes who cares and who does not, I saw when I made a comment about Houston , didn't get one feed back from the pom pom group on here, sad !
I think they threw their pom poms away and went home. The truth has sent them free!
