http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/3596497.html
Liz Fedor
Star Tribune
Published Jan. 19, 2003 MECH19
Steve MacFarlane, a 47-year-old Northwest Airlines mechanic, is not leaving office quietly as he finishes his tenure as the first president of Local 33 of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).
MacFarlane, co-chairman of the drive to bring AMFA to Eagan-based Northwest, will return to his job working on 757s after Jim Atkinson is sworn in Tuesday as the new AMFA president.
In the final weeks of his term, MacFarlane made a public declaration that his union members will not accept wage concessions, and he traveled to Washington, D.C., to fight congressional efforts to take away labor's right to strike and to force binding arbitration on us.
Known for his candor, MacFarlane also gave a blunt assessment of the airline industry during a wide-ranging recent interview in the union's Bloomington office.
There's no question that consolidation is going to happen, MacFarlane said. As a union leader, he added, it's difficult to acknowledge that it would be healthy for other airlines if United Airlines and US Airways go out of business. But the fact is that's the fix that the industry needs right now, because there are way too many seats flying around.
US Airways and United currently are in bankruptcy court, where United reported that it's been losing $20 million a day.
The fix is not to continue to funnel money from the government to these weak airlines and keep them flying, he said. All that's going to do is prolong the inevitable and eventually all the airlines are going to be struggling to try to maintain.
MacFarlane, who's been a mechanic for 23 years, said United and US Airways have been running inefficient operations that are harming the ability of stronger carriers, such as Northwest, to increase revenue.
If both airlines went away today, he said, it would be horrible for the employees, vendors and passengers of United and US Airways. But
he said the surviving airlines would serve their routes and they could actually sell a seat for a profit again.
Major airlines lost about $9 billion last year. Northwest lost $310 million during the first three quarters and will report fourth-quarter results on Tuesday.
After the 2001 terrorist attacks, airlines cut flights and laid off thousands of workers, but they have not recovered financially. Passenger demand still lags. Northwest reported that business passenger revenue for the airline industry is down 21 percent for the first 11 months of 2002 compared with the previous year.
We either need to have more people to sit in those seats or we have to have less seats so that the supply and demand balances out, MacFarlane said. He's not optimistic that there will be a major upswing in passenger demand, so he argues the airlines need to reduce their flight capacity.
No first move
But nobody wants to make the first move. If Northwest shrinks, their fear is that the Americans or the Deltas are going to take their market share, MacFarlane said.
As AMFA Local 33 president, MacFarlane represents about 3,700 mechanics, 260 airplane cleaners and 40 custodians from Northwest and 200 mechanics from Minneapolis-based Mesaba Airlines, a regional carrier.
In a Dec. 10 letter to his members, MacFarlane wrote, The industry must stop expecting us to subsidize the flying public's penchant for low fares. The letter, which caught the attention of Northwest management, said, If the only way NWA can survive is by sacrificing our standard of living, then there is something wrong with the business plan.
MacFarlane said he wrote the letter because he believes Northwest CEO Richard Anderson and President Doug Steenland have been floating trial balloons in their very subtle way to prepare employees for a wage-concessions request.
He wanted to unequivocally state that the AMFA membership will not be a party to wage givebacks. AMFA members have won two major battles since 1998 and MacFarlane said his union is prepared for future skirmishes with Northwest.
Other victories
In November 1998, Northwest mechanics, cleaners and custodians voted to oust the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, a large industrial union, and replace it with AMFA, a small craft union. IAM represents a variety of job categories, while AMFA focuses on the needs of mechanics.
The second major victory was a four-year contract settlement in 2001 that MacFarlane said was superior to the tentative agreement IAM negotiators reached in 1998.
MacFarlane and other AMFA supporters started a low-key campaign in June 1997 to solicit employee signatures to authorize a union representation election. We had no intention of filing for an election in the middle of negotiations, he said. We knew that the company could use this as a lever against the union.
But MacFarlane said it was the IAM's tentative agreement in 1998 that served as the catalyst for holding an election and bringing AMFA to Northwest. It did not make us whole from the concessions of 1993 through 1996. It did not make up for the inflation that was eroded from us, he said. The frustration was so high with the IAM negotiators, MacFarlane said. Instead of accepting the terms of the agreement, the mechanics, cleaners and custodians called for an election and chose AMFA to represent them.
AMFA won because the IAM disappointed their members so much that there was no going back, MacFarlane said. We were not willing to sell our skills and abilities for discount prices.
He noted that AMFA prides itself on its democratic principles. At the negotiating table, MacFarlane said 25 seats were opened up so members could watch the talks. And it takes only 25 percent of the members to initiate the recall of an AMFA officer. MacFarlane said power lies with the membership, not union leaders.
MacFarlane said AMFA has refused to take part in regular meetings between Northwest management and union leaders because his union does not believe in secrets. Other union participants in the sessions have signed confidentiality agreements.
We don't work that way, MacFarlane said. If Northwest Airlines has something that they want to share with the union leadership, expect it to be shared with our members.
-- Liz Fedor is at [email protected].
Liz Fedor
Star Tribune
Published Jan. 19, 2003 MECH19
Steve MacFarlane, a 47-year-old Northwest Airlines mechanic, is not leaving office quietly as he finishes his tenure as the first president of Local 33 of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).
MacFarlane, co-chairman of the drive to bring AMFA to Eagan-based Northwest, will return to his job working on 757s after Jim Atkinson is sworn in Tuesday as the new AMFA president.
In the final weeks of his term, MacFarlane made a public declaration that his union members will not accept wage concessions, and he traveled to Washington, D.C., to fight congressional efforts to take away labor's right to strike and to force binding arbitration on us.
Known for his candor, MacFarlane also gave a blunt assessment of the airline industry during a wide-ranging recent interview in the union's Bloomington office.
There's no question that consolidation is going to happen, MacFarlane said. As a union leader, he added, it's difficult to acknowledge that it would be healthy for other airlines if United Airlines and US Airways go out of business. But the fact is that's the fix that the industry needs right now, because there are way too many seats flying around.
US Airways and United currently are in bankruptcy court, where United reported that it's been losing $20 million a day.
The fix is not to continue to funnel money from the government to these weak airlines and keep them flying, he said. All that's going to do is prolong the inevitable and eventually all the airlines are going to be struggling to try to maintain.
MacFarlane, who's been a mechanic for 23 years, said United and US Airways have been running inefficient operations that are harming the ability of stronger carriers, such as Northwest, to increase revenue.
If both airlines went away today, he said, it would be horrible for the employees, vendors and passengers of United and US Airways. But
he said the surviving airlines would serve their routes and they could actually sell a seat for a profit again.
Major airlines lost about $9 billion last year. Northwest lost $310 million during the first three quarters and will report fourth-quarter results on Tuesday.
After the 2001 terrorist attacks, airlines cut flights and laid off thousands of workers, but they have not recovered financially. Passenger demand still lags. Northwest reported that business passenger revenue for the airline industry is down 21 percent for the first 11 months of 2002 compared with the previous year.
We either need to have more people to sit in those seats or we have to have less seats so that the supply and demand balances out, MacFarlane said. He's not optimistic that there will be a major upswing in passenger demand, so he argues the airlines need to reduce their flight capacity.
No first move
But nobody wants to make the first move. If Northwest shrinks, their fear is that the Americans or the Deltas are going to take their market share, MacFarlane said.
As AMFA Local 33 president, MacFarlane represents about 3,700 mechanics, 260 airplane cleaners and 40 custodians from Northwest and 200 mechanics from Minneapolis-based Mesaba Airlines, a regional carrier.
In a Dec. 10 letter to his members, MacFarlane wrote, The industry must stop expecting us to subsidize the flying public's penchant for low fares. The letter, which caught the attention of Northwest management, said, If the only way NWA can survive is by sacrificing our standard of living, then there is something wrong with the business plan.
MacFarlane said he wrote the letter because he believes Northwest CEO Richard Anderson and President Doug Steenland have been floating trial balloons in their very subtle way to prepare employees for a wage-concessions request.
He wanted to unequivocally state that the AMFA membership will not be a party to wage givebacks. AMFA members have won two major battles since 1998 and MacFarlane said his union is prepared for future skirmishes with Northwest.
Other victories
In November 1998, Northwest mechanics, cleaners and custodians voted to oust the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, a large industrial union, and replace it with AMFA, a small craft union. IAM represents a variety of job categories, while AMFA focuses on the needs of mechanics.
The second major victory was a four-year contract settlement in 2001 that MacFarlane said was superior to the tentative agreement IAM negotiators reached in 1998.
MacFarlane and other AMFA supporters started a low-key campaign in June 1997 to solicit employee signatures to authorize a union representation election. We had no intention of filing for an election in the middle of negotiations, he said. We knew that the company could use this as a lever against the union.
But MacFarlane said it was the IAM's tentative agreement in 1998 that served as the catalyst for holding an election and bringing AMFA to Northwest. It did not make us whole from the concessions of 1993 through 1996. It did not make up for the inflation that was eroded from us, he said. The frustration was so high with the IAM negotiators, MacFarlane said. Instead of accepting the terms of the agreement, the mechanics, cleaners and custodians called for an election and chose AMFA to represent them.
AMFA won because the IAM disappointed their members so much that there was no going back, MacFarlane said. We were not willing to sell our skills and abilities for discount prices.
He noted that AMFA prides itself on its democratic principles. At the negotiating table, MacFarlane said 25 seats were opened up so members could watch the talks. And it takes only 25 percent of the members to initiate the recall of an AMFA officer. MacFarlane said power lies with the membership, not union leaders.
MacFarlane said AMFA has refused to take part in regular meetings between Northwest management and union leaders because his union does not believe in secrets. Other union participants in the sessions have signed confidentiality agreements.
We don't work that way, MacFarlane said. If Northwest Airlines has something that they want to share with the union leadership, expect it to be shared with our members.
-- Liz Fedor is at [email protected].
57 AM mrplanes wrote: 
