From the IAM 141m web site

[Justaramper]

OR......It will only help AMFA in being able to raid the IAM at USAirways

99% of pushbacks done by MTC in CLT....Ahhh...NO that doesn't happen unless the sun is shining, not any Sporting Events on TV , I forgot, I'm busy doing something else besides work or we have too many sickcalls today. Call the Tower to get approval..? Not in the last 2 months, just push the AC and get it over with. We don't even ask anymore, if your not there when it's ready to go..WE PUSH IT. That's the directive from our Shift Managers and we are held responsible. I can use late bags as an excuse, but I can't use "waiting for MTC to pushback" as an excuse. I'm the one who gets discipline for MTC not being there for the pushback, so I will CYA and do the pushback.

Please don't give me this "union brotherhood", I have a job to do and to protect. I enjoy the paycheck and don't need the heartache or grief that will be given to ME....How do you think it feels after you pushback the AC and you notice MTC is sitting in there breakroom watching TV..? It happens more often than you think...!

 

[Dea Certe]

Am I understanding this correctly? US Airways wants to farm out our aircraft to third-party vendors? I am praying not. I will not feel safe flying in an airplane that has its maintenance performed by people who most likely do not have the qualifications our own employees do and probably don't take the same personal interest in a high standard of quality work.

This will be a breaking point for me too. I will support OUR employees in any legal action they need to take to keep MY planes and customers safe. It's bad enough that I have to look over my shoulder constantly for possible security violations, psychos/terrorists without having the peace of mind my aircraft is tended to by one of my own.

This is too important an issue to let slide. Every employee at US Airways must stand up to this. This is not about quibbling over who dumps the lavs and who stocks the galleys. This is Safety!

Count me in to once again walk the picket lines with my union brothers and sisters, just like in '92. I will do so proudly.

Dea

 

[Dea Certe]

And another thing: a union, any union is only as strong as the membership in it. If you don't go to union meetings, read the union boards at work, bother to vote in union leadership elections, you've effectively given up having a union.

Just because one doesn't like a certain personality in their union leadership doesn't absolve one of the responsibilities of membership. We have to stand up, together, to have any credibility at the negotiation table or any strength out on the line.

Whine, moan, cat-fight behind closed doors among yourselves if you must, but a united front must be presented to management. I don't know who said it but it's never been more true than now: An injury to one is an injury to all.

The Daves better back down from this one.

Dea

 

[Justaramper]

If they farm it out, we will withdraw our services, plain and simple.


Playing into the hand of AMFA aren't you..? How many would cross a picket line and really not care..? Very risky thing going on strike these days with the abundance of Airline Employees available and willing to work..? There is not a shortage of available employees , is there..? This isn't 1992 anymore and you better re-think your antiquated strategy of "hardcore" unionism..

I'm not a big AMFA fan because MTC going to AMFA will hurt Fleet Service more than they care to think about. In fact, most don't even realize what effect it would have upon there beloved Locals

But, if the IAM would wakeup and smell the coffee, they would realize they are there own worst enemy and they must change the way members are treated. Lately, the "chicken little" act is getting old and many of us just won't listen anymore.

Try a member friendly approach and people "might" listen, continue to act as you have in the past and you will self destroy.

 

[allegheny1]

After reading the 3 plus pages of responses to a very real issue i was
disapointed to see the conversation degrade to pushbacks,slams,etc.

The posibility that the airbus hvy checks could be outsourced, or at least
there may be an attempt being made, lends credence to a huge problem that
affects and transcends all union and non union groups.

Many threads on this board have outlined contract violations taking place
within alpa,afa,iam,cwa,and twu. Are they real. I believe that most of
them have a basis in reality. If this outsourcing occurs who or what is
next.

Since 1975 ( the arab oil embrgo ) we have gone nonstop from one crisis
to the next. As evidenced by the labor coalition we have not always...
hardly ever..agreed with each other on the solution to many issues. This,
however, and hopefully, should be an issue that everyone rallies around.

I have not been a supporter of many of the previous mtc actions however
I would be a staunch supporter of whatever action is necessary to rectify
the outsourcing of airbus hvy mtc.

regards

 

[delldude]

----------------
On 8/10/2003 9:07:58 AM repeet wrote:

----------------
On 8/9/2003 1124 PM
LavMan wrote:







At the last labor coalition meeting all the others unions were informed if the company tries to farm out the airbus we will shut the place down.

----------------​

Oh really!

Let's talk about shops.

Instruments, Avionics, and other shops have had their work farmed out without a fight. Neither the IAM leadership, nor the rank and file, has shed a tear for any of that work. The precedents have been set, and now it's heavy maintenance's turn.

Will the people we elect to represent us under AMFA be less co-operative with management? Who knows? But we certianly know the existing representation: Local, Districe, and National, are willing to trade skilled for unskilled or lessing paying jobs.

What happens when a subcontractor fails to perform it's job?

You fire them, and hire another subcontractor (representative agency).


----------------​

yeah,lets talk about shops if you will....do you have any specific examples of work that was lost?if you guys idly sat by and let it go without a fight,shame on you.or could we find someone to go to management and fight for me?of course nobody wants to be steward now,do they?
i spent 7 years in PIT shops and know first hand the entire mainstay of these shops was F-100,DC-9,MD-80,737-200 work for the most part.some '37 3/400 work a litle '57 and not much else.is this what you call having most of their work farmed out?get rid of the a/c , expect the work to leave also.

 

[diogenes]

By now, everybody knows I am a U ramper who volunteers his time for the IAM. From those experiences, I want to share two things, and then my conclusion.

Not only does management interpret the gray areas of the contracts to their advantage (this is to be expected, and shame on the unions for not anticipating it. Although, in their defense, management has turned reinterpretation into an art form) but blatantly misinterprets it in their favor. For example, our contract states "... days off, shift lengths, start times and duty assignments shall be based on classification seniority." Simple, yes? NO! The plain language of this means the more senior you are, the better your shifts. The company misinterprets this to mean they can construct ANY schedule they please, and so long as it is BID in seniority order, they have fulfilled their contractual obligations. In most stations, the part-time agents tend to be junior to the full-time agents. When management wants to play fun and games, or reward and punishment, they can construct a work schedule favorable to the part-time (junior) agents, at the expense of the full-time (senior) ones. Even when we present a sched that hits THEIR budget and coverage numbers AND abides by the contract, they reject it out-of-hand. They absolutely refuse to countenance any input from the employees (except for the a$$ki$$ers

The foregoing, the unwarranted secrecy, the old boy network, the clubbiness, is why the IAM is in dire staits. THEY MUST CHANGE THEIR WAYS! No one knows that better than I.

Conclusion: Having said all that, I am still convinced AMFA/AGW/PFAA, et al, is not the answer, and will not perform any better, and possibly worse. Additionally, the IAM should strike if they attempt to vendor out the heavy mech - you'll find me in the picket line, even though I'm just a ramp rat.

 

[repeet]

----------------
On 8/11/2003 10:17:47 AM
delldude wrote:

yeah,lets talk about shops if you will....do you have any specific examples of work that was lost?if you guys idly sat by and let it go without a fight,shame on you.or could we find someone to go to management and fight for me?of course nobody wants to be steward now,do they?
i spent 7 years in PIT shops and know first hand the entire mainstay of these shops was F-100,DC-9,MD-80,737-200 work for the most part.some '37 3/400 work a litle '57 and not much else.is this what you call having most of their work farmed out?get rid of the a/c , expect the work to leave also.
----------------​

Fine, let's talk Instrument and Avionics Shops.

Delldude your first question was:
"do you have any specific examples of work that was lost?"

Yes, lets see,

Autopilots
Radars
Comms
Gyros
Cockpit displays
FMC's
PMC's
Radio Altimeters
ILS
Navigational Devices
And other various sub assemblies thereof!

Delldudes second question was:
"or could we find someone to go to management and fight for me?"

Yes, they were and are:
Phil Hale, GSO
Charlie Cranford, CLT
Ethan Green , CLT
Wally Davenport, CLT

When the 757s, 767s, were purchased by Piedmont, several test benches came in for these aircraft avionics, then the merger came. Because of the merger any new test equipment, or new types of work were put on hiatus until the company (Pittsburgh at the time) could figure out what they owned and what to do with it. (And of course they never have).
Then came the contract contention up to and including the '93 strike. No new work was going to come in during that period.

About a year after the strike, we put together a committee to list and catalogue avionics equipment we believed should come in house. We were told that because of the merger and the strike, our backlog of unrepaired componants was too large, and that until we got the backlog down to about 150 units, the management would not consider bringing any thing in house.

Then Wolf came, and then the Airbuses. We were told that avionics from the Airbus was "new and unique work" because they required different test set-ups than we used for the other avionics equipment. (Every generation of aircraft type and manufacturer requires its own unique test sets.)

We received in our shop NO COST P.O.s from a couple of the avionics manufactures, for the first couple of test sets. Our local management signed them and sent them to Pittsburgh, where they mysteriously dissappeared, for three subsuquent tries.

All through this time we talked to the A.G.C.'s and were pronounced one of their worst headaches.

At this point our Union A.G.C.s agreed that these new autopilots and radar altimeters were indeed "new and unique work" (because of the test sets.)

So we formed a business presentation that has been presented many times, for several years, in both Pittsburgh and Crystal City. Always with good reviews, but no action.
Our present backlog runs in the 70's.

Delldudes third question was:
"of course nobody wants to be steward now,do they?"

I was the second shift Shop Steward during most of this time, but I was defeated in a Hot election in the spring of 1999. I was an assistant shop steward for a couple of more years. There is no longer a second shift in the Avionics shop. The day shift shop steward in the Avionics Shop is the 18 year veteren Rudy Sutis.

Delldudes fouth question was:
"the entire mainstay of these shops was F-100,DC-9,MD-80,737-200 work for the most part.some '37 3/400 work a litle '57 and not much else.is this what you call having most of their work farmed out? get rid of the a/c, expect the work to leave also. "

This arguement is as valid for any Aircraft Heavy Maintenance that would require a new jig or tool, as it would for any componants.

The contract states that the maintenance of any mainline aircraft is OUR WORK!!!!

Any other questions?

 

[LavMan]

We struck in 92

 

[sdavis29]

When the 757s, 767s, were purchased by Piedmont, several test benches came in for these aircraft avionics, then the merger came. Because of the merger any new test equipment, or new types of work were put on hiatus until the company (Pittsburgh at the time) could figure out what they owned and what to do with it. (And of course they never have).
Then came the contract contention up to and including the '93 strike. No new work was going to come in during that period


piedmont did not have any 757s.....the first 4 were gifts from boeing...
ex eastern planes......got those in early 90`s

 

[delldude]

piedmont did not have any 757s.....the first 4 were gifts from boeing...
ex eastern planes......got those in early 90`s



----------------​

ok robert ,i rest my case