Yesterday I got a mailer from the "Fresh Start Committee" the IBT group over at USAIR.
The letter talks about how they are hoping that we all join the IBT and fight outsourcing. In fact they mention outsourcing at least three times, not once do they mention how our pay, and with it our standard of living, has been decimated.
They mention how we need to save the Tulsa base. OK, then send this to Tulsa, the Tulsa base is where they got the YES votes that destroyed our livelyhoods in exchange for the promise that more concessions would "save jobs"(only to see jobs go away anyway), its not an arguement thats going to sell anyone on the line, except Overspeed ,Soldivere and the 200 (out of 4000) people who voted for TeAAm Videtich.. I saw nothing in that letter that leads me to believe that their strategy is any different than what the TWU already has in place, other than the fact that I will have to pay $300 more a year in dues for them to give more concessions for jobs in OH. Not once do they say they plan on at least bringing us up to UAL or let alone UPS Wages, nope, they want to stop outsourcing of Overhaul but only at carriers that pay their workers bottom of the industry compensation. They say they will lead the fight against outsourcing even though UPS leads the industry in outsourcing and UAL/CAL outsources more than we do. UPS rejected $45 and hour in exchange for language that would limit outsourcing and went for $54 instead. The IBT allowed plenty of outsourcing when they were at SWA as well, and for much of the time they were there their mechanics made less than us in addition to outsourcing more work. So what exactly is the IBT saying other than "We are the biggest". How are they going to stop Outsourcing at AA when they have not stopped it anywhere else? Sure UAL may be bringing work back in house, but so is Non-union Delta, economics, not "IBT power" is driving that trend.
Here's the thing, the primary loss of jobs in Tulsa will not be outsourcing. Why? Because our labor rates are so low its not cost effective to outsource the MD-80s. As the MD-80s go away so will the jobs. The primary drivers of job loss in Tulsa will be new aircraft and the loss of Station and System protection, and there isnt a damn thing that the IBT or any union can do about that. The only way that the IBT could stop job losses in Tulsa is by allowing AA to get such low labor rates that they can compete for 3P work, and thats only if AA even feels like getting into a business where the profits are even smaller than the Airlines.
Tulsa will be getting smaller no matter what union we have. As the MD-80s go away so will the heads needed to overhaul them. If the MD-80s (and 757s) go away faster than the guys do they can lay them off, even if they have 30 years.
The IBT did not stop outsourcing at UPS, did not stop it when they were at SWA, did not stop it at CO, and did not stop it at UAL and all of them make a lot more money than we do, so why does anyone believe that they would be able to stop what AA decides to outsource? And one thing is certain, the IBT will not be able to stop job losses in OH driven by the retirement of older aircraft. So what are they really offering for the extra $300 a year? Like I said not once did they say anything about the need to address our compensation. Are they taking this position on compensation so later they can turn to us and say, as they did to the UAL guys, that we cant expect to earn what their members at other carriers earn because their situation is different (UPS)?
So from reading this IBT letter what I see is yet another big union that doesn't see correcting our industry lagging career destroying compensation as a priority. In fact they dont even mention it, not once!! What planet are these guys on!!! Is bringing back work and bringing new people(new dues payers) more of a priority at USAIR than bringing the people that are here now, back industry standard compensation??
After reading this letter it leads me to believe that should the IBT actually get in, and open the contract, that their number one priority will be Outsourcing and not compensation. Well then why bother?
These guys are clueless as to what our priorities are. Like I said, not once do they mention cuts to compensation. From reading this letter you would assume that job losses were the only things that we had to deal with over the last 15 years, not pay cuts, not benefits slashed, pensions and workrules obliterated, Holidays , vacations and sick time taken away. You would get the impression that those of us who surived are only concerned about bringing work back in so they can hire more mechanics that arent even out there. All I can say is that is probably the case for the person who actually wrote this because who ever wrote this did not experience what airline workers have experienced since 2002.
Clueless, absolutely clueless.
The letter talks about how they are hoping that we all join the IBT and fight outsourcing. In fact they mention outsourcing at least three times, not once do they mention how our pay, and with it our standard of living, has been decimated.
They mention how we need to save the Tulsa base. OK, then send this to Tulsa, the Tulsa base is where they got the YES votes that destroyed our livelyhoods in exchange for the promise that more concessions would "save jobs"(only to see jobs go away anyway), its not an arguement thats going to sell anyone on the line, except Overspeed ,Soldivere and the 200 (out of 4000) people who voted for TeAAm Videtich.. I saw nothing in that letter that leads me to believe that their strategy is any different than what the TWU already has in place, other than the fact that I will have to pay $300 more a year in dues for them to give more concessions for jobs in OH. Not once do they say they plan on at least bringing us up to UAL or let alone UPS Wages, nope, they want to stop outsourcing of Overhaul but only at carriers that pay their workers bottom of the industry compensation. They say they will lead the fight against outsourcing even though UPS leads the industry in outsourcing and UAL/CAL outsources more than we do. UPS rejected $45 and hour in exchange for language that would limit outsourcing and went for $54 instead. The IBT allowed plenty of outsourcing when they were at SWA as well, and for much of the time they were there their mechanics made less than us in addition to outsourcing more work. So what exactly is the IBT saying other than "We are the biggest". How are they going to stop Outsourcing at AA when they have not stopped it anywhere else? Sure UAL may be bringing work back in house, but so is Non-union Delta, economics, not "IBT power" is driving that trend.
Here's the thing, the primary loss of jobs in Tulsa will not be outsourcing. Why? Because our labor rates are so low its not cost effective to outsource the MD-80s. As the MD-80s go away so will the jobs. The primary drivers of job loss in Tulsa will be new aircraft and the loss of Station and System protection, and there isnt a damn thing that the IBT or any union can do about that. The only way that the IBT could stop job losses in Tulsa is by allowing AA to get such low labor rates that they can compete for 3P work, and thats only if AA even feels like getting into a business where the profits are even smaller than the Airlines.
Tulsa will be getting smaller no matter what union we have. As the MD-80s go away so will the heads needed to overhaul them. If the MD-80s (and 757s) go away faster than the guys do they can lay them off, even if they have 30 years.
The IBT did not stop outsourcing at UPS, did not stop it when they were at SWA, did not stop it at CO, and did not stop it at UAL and all of them make a lot more money than we do, so why does anyone believe that they would be able to stop what AA decides to outsource? And one thing is certain, the IBT will not be able to stop job losses in OH driven by the retirement of older aircraft. So what are they really offering for the extra $300 a year? Like I said not once did they say anything about the need to address our compensation. Are they taking this position on compensation so later they can turn to us and say, as they did to the UAL guys, that we cant expect to earn what their members at other carriers earn because their situation is different (UPS)?
So from reading this IBT letter what I see is yet another big union that doesn't see correcting our industry lagging career destroying compensation as a priority. In fact they dont even mention it, not once!! What planet are these guys on!!! Is bringing back work and bringing new people(new dues payers) more of a priority at USAIR than bringing the people that are here now, back industry standard compensation??
After reading this letter it leads me to believe that should the IBT actually get in, and open the contract, that their number one priority will be Outsourcing and not compensation. Well then why bother?
These guys are clueless as to what our priorities are. Like I said, not once do they mention cuts to compensation. From reading this letter you would assume that job losses were the only things that we had to deal with over the last 15 years, not pay cuts, not benefits slashed, pensions and workrules obliterated, Holidays , vacations and sick time taken away. You would get the impression that those of us who surived are only concerned about bringing work back in so they can hire more mechanics that arent even out there. All I can say is that is probably the case for the person who actually wrote this because who ever wrote this did not experience what airline workers have experienced since 2002.
Clueless, absolutely clueless.