SPECIAL US AIRWAYS BULLETIN
TO ALL US AIRWAYS MECHANIC & RELATED EMPLOYEES
THE TEAMSTERS ARE AT IT AGAIN - HERE ARE THE FACTS IN RESPONSE TO ANDY MARSHALL'S MISSTATEMENTS AND LIES:
Q) Has the IAM ever withheld the Truth or Misled YOU in the Past? NO, to the contrary, the IAM has given the members the True Facts even when the facts weren't very popular.
Q) Has the IAM ever chanced your contract without a membership vote? YES, there is aprovision under Article 17 that gives the IAM the ability to change certain language if it would enhance the agreement.
Some recent examples of this would be the following Letters of Agreement (LOA).
Voluntary Furlouch letters dated 1013101, 1118101, 12110101, 1012102,311102 and 10114103. For a specified
time these letters gave senior people the opportunity to take a furlough and then return to work.
Back to Back Swap letter dated 12112102. This gives our members the opportunity to spend more time with their families by working 3 days a week, especially the ones commuting.
Stability Period letter dated 8127103 eliminated the stability periods resulting from "Specialized Manufactures
Training" for the Airbus A3 19, A320 and A32 1 aircraft.
Stability Period letter dated 4114105 enabled a furloughed member to bid a job in a station other than his recall
station and not be affected by the bid stability period if a job opened up in his recall station.
Voluntary Separation letter dated 2/2/06 gave senior members not eligible under the CBA an opportunity to
separate from the company with an enhanced severance package thereby protectingiunior members who would've been relocated or furloughed.
Any change to the CBA that could adversely affect the membership must be voted by the membership. This is
the long-standing policy from the International that was reaffirmed by the GVP Transportation in a letter to his
staff dated August 27, 1999 and again July 27, 2005.
Q) Has The I.A.M. Ever Re-Voted a Contract ?
Absolutely, this has happened during traditional bargaining. The IAM represents literally thousands of contracts in many different industries. Occasionally a contract will be rejected by the membership and the negotiating committee will return to the bargaining table
prior to a Strike. If an improved contract is reached it will be brought back to the membership for another vote.
Q) Has the I.A.M. Ever Re-Voted the SAME Contract? Yes, during the Bankruptcy proceedings of US Airways in 2004. This was not traditional bargaining; in these proceedings the company was moving to eliminate the contract in its entirety as outlined in the 11 13 © provisions of the Bankruptcy code.
During these difficult times, the Union was conducting informational meetings with the membership to explain the tentative agreement and the consequences of a complete abrogation of the agreement by the bankruptcy judge. At the same time the CEO of the US Airways was holding station visits aimed at keeping employee moral and public confidence in US Airways high. It was clear that if the public started booking away from US Airways the company would be forced into Chapter 7 (Liquidation) by the bankruptcy judge. Unfortunately the two messages conflicted and an air of uncertainty rang out loud and clear. After our membership rejected the tentative agreement the company asked the I.A.M. to reconsider, admitting that maybe Mr. Siegel's comments did in fact muddy the water. With abrogation a certainty, a hard decision had to be made; "Would hearing the gory details that were laid out in Negotiations directly from the company change anyone's opinion or not"? If his rhetoric did not influence the members the outcome would be the same! If there was that possibility did we owe the members the opportunity to reconsider? With the consequences so high the IAM decided to error on the side of our membership, regardless of the backlash, and authorize a second vote.
This was truly an act of integrity and honesty that was done with only one thing in mind. "The Good of the
Membership" Andy wants to talk about the facts. well here are the facts;.
1) The IAM did indeed begin formal Transition Negotiations with US Airways. The last time these talks were held was October 31,2005. The teamsters are well aware of the gag order on the company by the NMB and know the company can be charged with "Carrier Interference" if they speak of anything that may look like they are favoring one Union over the other. So the company on any of the discussed topics especially the 'TAM National Pension Plan" will make no comments.
2) Decertification is not a scare tactic it is a very likely possibility. Andy say's that has never happened
with a mechanic group this size. There's another misleading statement that he is very good at. He
clearly states a MECHANIC GROUP so later he can say he never lied. Well ask the Fleet Service guys at US Airways; they were decertified in the late 1980's. He also fails to mention there has never been an election with as many people on furloughed as we have now. To even attempt this type of action shows no regard for the members. The teamsters know if they don't attempt this raid (and that's what it is)they're gone. They have nothing to lose. The only one that has anything to lose is you.
3) Andy says the IAM is "Overselling its ability to bring the heavy maintenance work back from El Salvador". The IAM scope guarantees that work will come in-house, we know what we've negotiated and we've defended that language successfully. For the teamsters to say we'll take the IAM language and act on it clearly indicates the teamsters' inability to negotiate their own scope language that protects their members.
4) Seniority, now here's the Granddaddy of all Andy's misinformation, flip-flopping, mistruths.
First the teamsters agreed with the two companies CEO's, Parker and Lakefield that because of the difference in ages of the two companies the seniority integration should be at least 3 to 1.
The IAM immediately said "The Seniority Integration will be by date of Entering the Classification"
Realizing that position may be extremely popular at America West but would never float for the 6000+ US airways Mechanic and Related, Andy changed his position to whatever is fair and equitable under the "Allegheny I Mohawk" provisions of the Railway Labor Act. The IAM said "The Seniority Integration will be by date of entering the Classification" The IAM members at US Airways understand very clearly the IAM position on seniority as
outlined under the "Allegheny I Mohawk" provisions of the Railway Labor Act; we wrote it.
Fair and equitable as practiced by the IAM in 4 previous mergers has always been that "The Seniority Integration will be by date of Entering the Classification" Andy changed his position to 'Date of Hire" with the "Proviso" that no one would lose their job as a result of seniority integration. In effect protecting the junior members on the seniority list from America West at the expense of senior members at US Airways. The IAM again said
"The Seniority Integration will be by date of Entering the Classification" In Andy's March 6th letter while explaining his waffling position on seniority integration, he claims the IAM said he did something different with the Customer Service Representatives represented by the CWA. The truth of the matter is the IBT proposed to the CWA to give America West CSR's super seniority, to protect their jobs. Just ask any CWA negotiating committee member from the East. The IBT stated in IBT update #6 that the IBT negotiators are exploring ways to protect the current teamsters because of the difference in age of the companies. The teamster's position with the CWA on seniority integration was again to protect a portion of the America West CSR's at the expense of more senior members of the CWA at US airways.
In closing, I have to agree with Andy for the second time (the first was when he told the Mechanic's at Continental Airlines not to sign an AMFA card, it could lead to Decertification) this time it's when he says, once you lose your integrity you cannot recover it. Andy you lost yours when you changed your position on seniority integration 3 times and proposed Super Seniority to the CWA for your CSR's.
The Teamsters, true to their history, continue to be deceptive and dishonest. Disregard their misstatements, lies and empty promises.
We will continue to keep you advised of all future developments as they occur.
Sincerely and fraternally,
William O'Driscoll
PRESIDENT-DIRECTING
GENERAL CHAIRPERSON
