For the record, the first IBT contract was effective in 1998, so the IBT has only been the representative for eight years. I beleive the current contract allowed for outsourcing do to a number of reasons. The Company had the strength of good negotiators. (Glass and Garger) The Union gained it's foothold when the Company was in very uncertain times and the IBT focused on what was the most important thing...returning workers to their jobs. The utility and paint groups were the sacrificial lambs, but represented so few employees that it was palatable to both sides.
Once the heavy checks were outsourced the Company sold much of the equipment required for the work. The rest went into disrepair. AWA was never in a financially strong enough position to fork over the cash required to bring the work in house. I beleive that had money been a little more available, the Company would have loved to have put the work in the hands of the AWA mechanics. I speak honestly when I say they are a superb group of men and women. Sadly, they never got the chance to prove how much they could have improved the quality of work.
I think the East has a great group of mechanics as well, and I hope that whoever represents them (looks like IAM), can take advantage of the current situation to help all of the mechanics. I hope we can all appreciate the level of competence we have at our disposal in the combined group.
