http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/89-1493.ZS.html
The AMFA is still the best choice. No need to go running around looking for a "new" union for AMT'S. Check out the above link. ALPA faired slightly better against CO in there strike there. Fact is if the company has time to prepare for a strike and has hired replacments there is little that a union at an airline can legally due. The laws just do not favor a union. Unity is are best tool and keeping and growing the number of AMT'S under the AMFA umbrella is our best hope for a future in this industry.
Well said.
However with the extreme position the courts have been taking regarding workers rights we have to consider if a unified mechanics group would have enough clout to take on the combined force of Government and industry, both of which have an interest in making the airline industry a inexpensive mass transit system that "not only provides cheap travel for the public but profits for its owners" (statement from Bush secretary Herman Badillo at IRRA conference in Washington DC Spring of 2001).
Your example of how even the almighty ALPA failed a concerted effort by management and government only reinforces the point that mechanic unity, while certainly an improvement, would not likely be enough.
The fact is we need both unity within our class and craft and unity within the industry. We should continue to seek to unify our profession but we should also push to unify all the workers of the industry.
One thing has become clear. During this latest industry crisis there has been little to no consolidation. The USAIR merger is really inconseqential and would have been likely without a crisis.
Why havent we seen consolidation like we did in the past? Most workers expected that at least one of the majors would be gone and they gave massive concessions in the hope that it wouldnt be the one where they worked.As it has turned out we all gave up everything and nobody closed their doors! So in theory all the airlines, competitively speaking, if you really believe they are truly competing, are in the same position they were before. So we all gave up what we did for nothing.
The fact is that if the industry consolidates then labor becomes more powerful-assuming of course that the leadership of the labor movement is competant. NWA was able to continue to operate during a mechanics strike, just barely, because of massive layoffs,long term planning and the willingless to spend more than they would save, even with that they had a difficult time getting enough mechanics, a larger carrier would have been even less successful. NWA's quest to bust AMFA was costly, in fact they could not have survived a strike by any other workgroup, that shows how vulnerable they were.
The fact is that even though the airlines have not been posting profits they are making plenty of money-for others. As long as we keep working they keep making money, no matter how much the airlines claim they are losing. Thats why these airlines have no problem raising money, as long as they keep flying they are making money for others.
Right now, with several carriers, different unions and scores of different contracts within each class and craft capital couldnt ask for a more ideal situation. A completly fractured workforce in a race to the bottom in an industry that is more reliant on labor than just about any other that has no chance of realizing its potential because they can not see beyond a corporate identity. They see themselves as employees of a company instead workers within a much bigger system. Because we have been taught to look at workers at other companies as "competitors" by not only our employer, but by the unions themselves, we fail to realize that we have been put into a contest that we cant win. By competing with each other we all lose and those who benifit from our labor, and demise, win.
How do we fix this? Well first of all we need to get into one union. The fact is that the unions failed us, we did not fail them, we need to get rid of anything that stands in the way of system or industrywide unity, and that includes all the AFL-CIO unions.(Membership in the AFL-CIO prohibits unions from raiding, which is a prerequisite in obtaining unity in our industry where several different unions represent the same type of worker) Then we establish that since every airline will be dealing with the one union that pay for any given class and craft will be the same. We would also have to do a lot of other restructuring;
No more progressions, you hire a mechanic you pay x amount. This encourages and provides mobility for workers, lousy employers would have a hard time retaining workers. It also encourages employers to hire experienced workers first.
High, percentage based shift differentials and weekend rates. This lessens the negative effects of seniority which under its present structure benifits the objectives of the company and reduce worker mobility. Mobility is a key towards bargaining leverage. Under its present structure seniority forges a strong bond with the company and encourages concessions in order to retain seniority. By paying premium rates for undesirable shifts seniority loses some of its stranglehold on the worker.
Labor, just like landing fees and fuel will no longer be considered the easiest means through which to gain a competative advantage. With everyone in the same union the government and its courts would be less prone to bend, create and reinterpret laws as unfairly as they have been doing because they would be less likely to get away with it.
