The truth from a newspaper for once.
Northwest mechanics on strike to save U.S. middle class
http://www.dfwpeople.com/papers/bill.pdf
DFWPEOPLE AUGUST 25, 2005
VOLUME 32, NO. 9 24 PAGES
Northwest mechanics on strike to save U.S. middle class
Northwest Airlines aircraft mechanics are walking
the picket line. But it’s not for more pay or better
working conditions.
• They’re walking the picket line because they
were willing to take a 16 percent pay cut.
• They’re walking the picket line to save some
2,000 jobs of their colleagues, and, they say,
• They’re walking the picket line to preserve an
American middle class under siege.
AMFA (Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association)
represents 4,427 aircraft mechanics, cleaners
and custodians. The company has stated it wants
the mechanics to take a 26 percent pay cut. And the
company wants to slash another 2,000 out of the
maintenance workforce.
Some American Airlines mechanics joined
Northwest mechanics in the demonstration Saturday
(August 20) at DFW International Airport. Aircraft
mechanics fear that the airlines are trying to return to
profitability by sending maintenance jobs overseas.
Do you remember Ross Perot Sr.’s “giant sucking
sound†prediction? What Perot termed as the
“sucking sound†was, he explained back in the early
1980s, the sound of American jobs leaving the country.
He also predicted Americans would become a
nation of people selling each other hamburgers.
Northwest Airlines mechanics believe their
company wants to eventually shut down all its maintenance
bases. Many of them believe the company
wishes to retain only line mechanics –– these are the
people who work on airplanes parked on the ramp at
airports. They take care of any problems that may
occur during daily service.
We can see both sides of the argument. With
the price of jet fuel escalating there is a need to cut
costs. Labor does indeed come much cheaper in
Asian countries. But taking U.S. jobs overseas is
only a short term solution for one company’s bottom
line.
The ongoing trend of exporting jobs overseas
where labor is cheap can only spell disaster for the
United States in the long term. With more and more
work exported overseas, how can this country sustain
its economy? With more and more people out of
work or forced into low paying jobs where is the
money coming from to pay for all these foreign
produced goods and services?
Is work performed overseas as good as that
performed in this country?
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)
demands that before anyone in this country works on
a commercial aircraft they must pass an exam to earn
a government license called the A&P (aircraft and
powerplant). These A&P licensed people have to
write up any work they perform on an aircraft, no
matter how rudimentary, and sign their names to the
work. These work sheets are carefully filed. In the
event anything goes awry with the work to which
they are assigned they will be answering questions at
an inquiry. If an investigation uncovers inadequate
workmanship, the federal license is pulled.
A&P mechanics are paid a reasonable wage.
Haven’t they earned it?
If these people’s fears are warranted and that
U.S. airlines are now looking at maintenance bases
overseas to perform work on, their jets –– thus
wiping out a U.S. profession –– what guarantees do
the public have they are flying in a perfectly maintained
aircraft? Do these same aircraft
mechanics overseas have to
go through the same training? Are
they expected to accept the responsibility
of every piece of work
they perform? How are they accountable
to U.S. citizens who will
fly in these airplanes?
On a larger scale, the possible
elimination of just this one
profession is another nail in the
coffin of the great U.S. economy.
Way back Henry Ford paid
his workers $5 a day! When his
fellow corporate brothers complained
pointing out that if Ford
were going to pay his workers
monstrous wages they eventually
would be forced to follow. Ford is
said to responded: “I want them to
be able to afford my cars.â€
The United States of America
was the first country in the world
where just the average citizen could
afford a car.
Economists tell us that it is
the circulation of cash that creates
a dynamic economy. Northwest
Airlines mechanics top out at
$35.89 per hour. This means they
earn about $74,000 per year. Not
great, maybe, for the skills they
must demonstrate and the responsibility
they must bear. But, enough
to afford a comfortable vehicle, a
house, TV, home computer and all
the appliances.
Thus this person helps support
the car salesman, the car
worker, the real estate salesman
and the guys, who build the homes,
etc., etc.
But, you cut his wages by 26
percent and he’ll be bringing home
$55,000 per year.
Just as his company chopped
his wages, he’s going to have to
chop the money he is accustomed
to spending. The car will have to
last a little longer. And the next
model he buys won’t be top of the
line. So this hurts the car manufacturer
and, going on down the line,
the car worker, and the restaurant
owner, and on, and on, down the
line...