Same for UA Ramp & Stores.
This secures their "plan" unless they loose members to fund the plan.
IMHO, the 'real' plan is to lock in their members for life and use this as a whip to keep the membership 'in-line'.
And didnt the IAM lose a third of their membership between the last two conventions?
UT--
Of all the items the company was asking for in each of the proposed concessionary agreements, the *one* thing everyone-junior, senior, 'tween- I spoke with were amenable to was the 401k match. NW would have frozen the pension anyway, so the choice was either the match, or the IAMNP plan. NO ONE wanted the IAM plan, yet it was the one thing the IAM fought hardest for. Not scope, not wages, their plan...
And just how much will retiring folks get from the IAM plan? No one can tell you! The officers in DL143 have no idea how much the multiplier will be..... :angry:
How well did the IAM plan work for Ex-TWA?
The fact is that the IAM allowed AMR to throw out the successorship clause in the TWA contract in exchange for back payments to the IAM plan. If the IAM had refused, they would have been held liable for the shortage if TWA liquidated and defaulted, which they threathened to do, so the IAM threw the members to the wolves in order to protect themselves.
The fact is look at Continental, where the company has gone BK several times and they have no union for ramp workers. Are they worse off than you? So if the worst thing that could happen is you end up non-union like Continental why not take the chance of going for a better union?
The fact is that the IAM has no intentions on changing a strategy that has failed the members because the decision makers remain unaffected. They took no paycuts, they lost no benifits, their pensions are safe and funded, so they see no reason to change, they do not care about you. If they did then they would reorganize the whole labor system and make it effective.
The Teamsters left the AFL-CIO as part of a coaltion of unions that recognized that labor is losing and something needs to be done, thats enough of a reason right there to dump the union you have now. If all the IAM can do is turn around and blame the members for the fact that the IAM failed to lead then its time to dump the IAM.
The Teamsters are in a position, if they so choose,to try and organize the whole industry into one union, kind of like how the whole industry belongs to the ATA. That's another reason to try for the Teamsters. Step back and look at what you have with the IAM and ask yourself if they have led you to a place where you expected to be. Then think of all the money you paid them and how they performed for you. Did you get a good deal? If not, if you are not earning what you expected then its time to fire them and get someone who at least will try to do better. Remember that your union is supposed to belong to you, not the other way around.
