The agreement with the AA unions is supposedly a 5% immediate raise, and 3% raises for the next two years, then some sorta pay scale set up against Delta and UA. Sounds like a sorta pay parity thing unfolding. That would put the ramp base pay at about $22 for AA which would be a bankrupt agreement and a true insult to any US airways employee. This was the talk in the AA breakroom in ORD yesterday that I attended but I will admit, it is breakroom talk but seemed to be validated by some shop stewards present. Time will tell. At any rate, although setting up a payscale similar to Delta's might work with a unionized Delta pilot group, setting it up with a non union pay scale at Delta is HUGELY risky and unacceptable. And FWIW: All after 3 years of botched talks, $22 is presently all that is on the table at UA for the New Direction. For fairness reasons, I think north of $24 for US AIRWAYS in imputed pay through 2011, and job/work guarantees would be a starting baseline for negotiations in 2012- , other improvements implied. It will be interesting to see if part of the TWU deal was to keep the 'sacredity seniority clause'. With the seniority problems that US AIRWAYS is dealing with in the Pilot talks, I would assume that management might have addressed this with the TWU or may be more willing to address this with the IAM. Time will tell. Let's face it, there is alot we don't know about this new union deal with the TWU or if their members will even be voting on it.
At any rate, other things you have said are not legally sound. US AIRWAYS management can not get involved in representational disputes so it can't bar any group from an election. Let's not jump to any conclusions as you do and let's discover what exactly US AIRWAYS promised. All we presently know is that they have signed on to retain the maintenance base in TUL for the MX at AA, and have promised to retain 1,200 additional rampers although I don't claim to know who or what represents these additional 1,200 rampers.
Unfortunately, at this time, the IAM 141 is the only group on the US AIRWAYS property that has 'continual lay offs' and increasing of contracting out of your work. We must hold a FIRM line and make sure that our union doesn't go down the same path that it has went down at UA/CO merger that has buried the UA/CO members in transition talks with no raises in sight and loose definitions of 'work'. Remember, it is very important to watch the UA/CO merger unfold since it is about 3 years in front of this proposed one with AA/US.
In ANY CASE we have to guard against using a Bankrupt AA ramp contract as a bar in IAM talks. We should also look forward to an election but we would need about 3,000 cards from AA ramp servicemen to trigger it [that's possible and may be very likely]. I'm in ORD with about 2,000 AA rampers and I know most of the key guys, frequent their breakrooms always, and I think they are open to discovery. And if you were in the breakroom at AA you wouldn't have ran your mouth about any horse trading. I got NO INDICATION that the TWU is wanting to part ways with MX or Rampers and will MOST LIKELY want to be "All in". If the TWU did in fact protect the TUL maintenance base from closing, I seriously doubt the IAM would be in a position to horse trade and keep the higher paying MX. Time will tell but I will admit that "union horse trading' is something that these unions have done before [America West Fleet]. The IAM stands to lose 10,000 so although it may be reasonable for you to conclude that the IAM may want to horse trade, I would hope the matter could be settled with a representational election for workers to decide, and NO horse trading.
At any rate, all unions need to stick to their guns and not sign anything that isn't fair.
regards,
