Not exactly. I have worked with a number of mechs who were at AA in 47 and voted in the TWU. The TWU achieved great gains for the transit workers in NYC, where AA's overhaul was located then. Additionally, the TWU had gotten Pan Am the 40 hour week a year or so earlier, along with better pay. And the TWU was led by Mike Quill until 66 or so. He was an honest idealistic aggressive and charismatic union man, and was loved and followed by most mechs in those days. I believe most of us would have voted in the TWU in 47 had we been there. I believe the moving of overhaul to TUL, with a quite different demographic creeping into the work force, and the corruption of the TWU hierarchy after Mike Quill's death are the main causes of our present situation.
It seems to me that the AA mechanics are really in a bind as far as union representation goes. Its quite clear that being lumped into the same contract as FSCs and other lesser skilled workers keeps their salary down, but on the other hand it is even more clear that small specialized unions like AMFA at NWA just do not hold the power to shut down the airline, which is the real power that a union holds. Even further, the AA mechanics are devided between line mechanics, many of who work in expensive locations like NYC, LAX, Chicago, and MIA and base mechanics who work in very inexpensive locations like Tulsa and Fort Worth. So the line mechanics, the one who appear the most ready to strike or vote against concessions, etc..., just aren't sizable enough to pressure the company or even their own union.