Teamsters posting Names of Card signers at LAX

[Bob Owens]

Where in any of my posts did you see anything implying that "the line AMT is superior to the base AMT"? Did I say that?

Get used to Overspin, he makes his arguements by claiming that you said things you never said.

The threat that if the base shrinks the line guys in places like NY or LAX will get displaced is pretty much debunked as both places either are, or will soon be, hiring off the street. Hundreds took the street rather than bump the system. They just dont get it, this job really isnt worth moving across country anymore, even if you have a lot of time with the company. AA backed off on the rif not because of skillful negotiatios but because they would have lost too much of a commodity thats becoming more and more scarce, Mechanics. Ny needs 60 guys, they got 2 out of Tulsa, didnt 300 hit the street? So less than 1% of Tulsa was willing to bump into NY, and thats at the young end. Older workers would be even more resistant to bumping around the system, If they are over 55 they could retire, collect their pensions and work at HOME DEPOT and end up with more money than they would have by bumping into NY or LAX. Younger workers have the option of finding work in much less expensive places in the country if they are Riffed as sites like career Builder.com , opendoor etc have hundreds of jobs all over the country that pay just as good as AA if not better. So if Tulsa were to close tomorrow the majority of the A&Ps would likely retire and stay where they are and the younger OSMs would go to other MROS because they could not bump the line anyway as they dont have the experience. Look at what happened with AFW, and those guys would have had a direct flight home from wherever they bumped to but many just took the street, never to return.

 

[700UW]

I worked with Larry and Jim at US, they are elitists and hate the and relateds and fleet.

Larry tried to get AMFA in for years.

 

[Vortilon]

I worked with Larry and Jim at US, they are elitists and hate the and relateds and fleet.

Larry tried to get AMFA in for years.

So, what's your problem - take a hint. AMTs don't need anymore bricks in their backpacks. Your time is over ramora!

 

[700UW]

Same class and craft.

If I would pay dues to amfa, I want the same level of representation and respect.

Funny in 1992 the final offer US gave us to vote on really screwed the mechanics, boy never seen so many mechanics asking for utility and stores support them to vote the TA down, we did vote it down and went on strike for five days so the mechanics wouldnt get screwed.

Being in a union is about working together to achieve the best CBA you can, not putting one group over another to better themselves at the expense of others.

 

[Vortilon]

Same class and craft.

If I would pay dues to amfa, I want the same level of representation and respect.

Funny in 1992 the final offer US gave us to vote on really screwed the mechanics, boy never seen so many mechanics asking for utility and stores support them to vote the TA down, we did vote it down and went on strike for five days so the mechanics wouldnt get screwed.

Being in a union is about working together to achieve the best CBA you can, not putting one group over another to better themselves at the expense of others.

Never worked for M&R at AA - there is no disputing this fact. Although most of the screwing AMTs have taken recently is the result of the TWU international robbing pay and benefits from line AMTs to keep more dues payers on staff.

 

[Bob Owens]

Being in a union is about working together to achieve the best CBA you can, not putting one group over another to better themselves at the expense of others.

Fair enough, but under Don and Bobby they pit one group against the other to their benefit. During negotiataions Don pulled a fast one, he separated M&R into three groups, OH, Title II (facilities, Automotive) and Line. Then he had the other two groups negotiate and once they got what they wanted they got the guy from STL to roll call bringing the deal back "as is" without the line guys ever getting a chance to negotiate or present what we put together. Then they come up with a plan to make it even harder for the line guys to get a fair say in the future, they decide to wipe out all their locals, reducing the number of Line mechanics in negotiations to one, thats one guy for 3500 Line AMTs, two guys for around 5000 OH AMTs and around nine guys for 1500 Title II.

The fact is that 591 has more to do with the Convention than the next negotiations, by consolidating the Line Locals they get to eliminate around seven hostile delegates to the Convention in September, thats why they had the big rush, they had to have this in place before September, actually sooner than that. My feeling is that they intend to trade us over to the IAM but that may not happen until after the Convention if AA gets to keep extending their exclusivity period. The IAM would probably be better off fighting for Fleet, because their deal isnt much better than ours and that makes either the IBT or AMFA that much more attractive to both memberships. They could make the trade and end up with nothing. If we were sent to the IAM I would vote for AMFA. They sound very familiar in how they approach negotiations, all bark and no bite, they complain that the company isnt talking to them but they dont ask to be released. US has been talking to AA workers for nearly a year, and the IAM does nothing but grumble. US made record profits, their mechanics are close to us at the bottom, yet they dont take the steps to pressure the company into talking, day by day the company gets to keep money that should be in the members pockets and all they do is talk about fighting.

 

[Bob Owens]

So, what's your problem - take a hint. AMTs don't need anymore bricks in their backpacks. Your time is over ramora!

Stock clerks never hurt us, if anything they were more militant than mechanics from places like Tulsa, STL or Title II in FSC Locals. Our fellow mechanics are the guys who overwhelmingly voted yes for concession after concession. Our fellow mechanics brought us to the bottom of the industry, not Stock Clerks, (or FSCs) they actually negotiated a deal that puts them pretty high among their peers. They arent bottom of the industry and they held out till after us(thats why they get a week more vacation than we do after 25years). So dont call them ramoras, they made their own way and were willing to stand side by side with us, not on our coat tails, side by side, our nemisis is within and its something we are going to have to deal with no matter who represents us.