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On 5/29/2003 4:06:33 AM tbags wrote:
It must be nice to even get holiday pay. I am a TWU 556 member and we have zero paid holidays. TWU 555 does. We do different jobs, but lack of Holiday Pay should not be different. We are more than a year into negotiations. I have an idea, as Union Employees... Support other work groups and their Unions when they are negotiating!! Are we all not needing support at that /this time? I have supported all other work groups during contract negotiations, and not just my own company!!! Where is the support in return? I am tired of my support not being returned in a way that compares to my own!!!
Step Up!
Chris PHX F/A SWA
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I dont know why but it seems common that Flight& Cabin crews do not bargain for holiday pay. Perhaps its because they do not usually work a regular 5 day 8 hr or 4/10 shift.
I agree that unions should work together more. When our F/As picketed we (mechanics @ JFK) joined them. They appreciated the support and they joined in our pickets when we did the same. These acts of solidarity were not encouraged by our International.
The problems with the lack of support comes from the leadership and the structure of unions within our industry. Leaders get more caught up in their own gigs instead of trying to find a way to improve the system. AFL-CIO unions tend to shun other unions, both other affiliated and especially Independant unions. The motivation for change goes down as their pay goes up. Many of these people have six figure incomes with loads of perks so its a lot easier for them to lie back, accept the status quo and blame everything on the members.
The Flight Attendants, like the mechanics, and the baggage handlers are split up between too many unions to be effective. Some are in the Teamsters, some are in the IAM and some are in the TWU. (The AFA should be looking to pick up the rest of the industry instead of merging with a non-airline union, the hell with the BS no-raiding clause)None of those unions have the airlines as their primary focus. However for these unions, where most of their workers are under the NLRB, the airlines are a good source of revenue even in RTW states. Another advantage to the RLA is that it determines class and craft, and that one contract covers the entire group. This makes it easier for an incumbant union to stay in place because workers are spead across the country therefore its harder to organize any movement for change. For these non-airline unions then the airlines are maintenance free, delivering a steady source of revenue with very little effort on the part of the main organization.
The SEIU put out a paper highlighting some of the problems with the structure of unionism called United We Stand. We put it on our website twu562.org (United We Stand).
I've called upon Sonny Hall, Hoffa and Buffenbarger to consolidate the AFL-CIO ATDS into one organization. The AFA has been looking to merge and they are AFL-CIO so they should also come in. This union should then be split into divisions per class and craft. I've written to your representative (Linda Malone?) on this but never recieved any response.
On a more immediate issue at the last convention your delegates put forth some good proposals that led us to believe that they favor democratic reform. One of the big problems at our Convention was the process by which voting was accomplished. It was done orally. In other words everyone yelled out either Yea or Nay and the chair determined which was louder and decided how it went. Standing right next to delegates were alternate delegates who should not have been voting but who could tell? There is a better way, there are systems out there where delegates would be issued a coded remote so that votes could be accurate and accountable. Exact numbers would be available to members along with who voted what way. I contacted your Local about trying to put this in place before the next Convention but again, no reply.