NWA F/A's Welcome AFA

[Don Smith]

....The fact is people we have been had. The airplanes must fly. High load factors ditate that, when we failed to shut it down, largely due to our failed unions, we lost everything that was gained over a 50 year period. Yea we still have jobs, but they have our money. If we had shut it all down we would have had both.

Unions preach unity yet they dont practice it,they allow one industry to be fractured into a totally incoherant representational structure, the move by the NWA FAs towards unity within the AFA is a step in the right direction.

WOW Bob, Great post!! You hit the nail on the head with the last paragraph...they preach unity. When a union will not support the legal actions of another union on the same property then they are useless. The IAM was waiting in the wings and licking its chops when the AMFA was going on strike. I feel however that the AFA would have been as ineffective as the PFAA was in the nwa mechanics strike. Being an AFL-CIO union the AFA takes its orders from higher up. Just like the IAM. When the AFL-CIO gets off its high horse and joins with other non-AFL-CIO unions to affect change, THEN and only then will the curve start benefiting the worker and not the corporate big shots. As it stands now the AFL-CIO is in the same boat as the corporate raiders.

 

[Don Smith]

I don't disagree Bob.

I added the comment you refrenced because inevitably someone throws up the fact that all the bankrupt companies(pick one) believe a strike under these(being bankrupt) circumstances would be illegal, and state so in almost every PR statement concerning union/negotiations.

The companies seem to think because it has yet to be tried under bankruptcy, they can prevail. The question it seems they wish to force an answer on is..."does the protection of the automatic stay of bankruptcy overide the self-help provisions of the RLA?"

The fact that nwa even continued negotiations with the IAM and the PFAA after filing BK leads me to believe that their high priced legal help recommemded agreements with the other unions. Translation: BK has no bearing on the terms of the RLA.

 

[Bob Owens]

I don't disagree Bob.

I added the comment you refrenced because inevitably someone throws up the fact that all the bankrupt companies(pick one) believe a strike under these(being bankrupt) circumstances would be illegal, and state so in almost every PR statement concerning union/negotiations.

No, they wanted the workers to believe it.They know they are lying but they have nothing to lose by using the media as a means of disinformation. Disinformation to confuse their opponent-us.

We have it in writing and they have suceeded in making the workers question it.

Once again, if they had this right to cut our wages and retain our services because of BK then why havent they sought relief from fuel prices? BECAUSE THEY CANT!

 

[jenny@nw]

No, they wanted the workers to believe it.They know they are lying but they have nothing to lose by using the media as a means of disinformation. Disinformation to confuse their opponent-us.

We have it in writing and they have suceeded in making the workers question it.

Once again, if they had this right to cut our wages and retain our services because of BK then why havent they sought relief from fuel prices? BECAUSE THEY CANT!

Absolutely correct. AMEN BROTHER! I remember when all this fiasco was going on last year (about getting involved with a sympathy strike) we were all bombarded with "must read" in our Centry email. All emphasizing that we would lose our jobs if we went on with a sympathy strike. Lies LIES LIES.

It's a classic case of divide and conquer.

Let's not forget the rediculous propaganda that is floating around. I remember my lunch with a lawyer friend of mine (3 yrs ago?) who blatantly told me we airline workers are making TOO MUCH MONEY! (and get this: he charges something like $500 for 10 min)
He was getting his info from the newspapers, news stories..... then I had to explain how it really was.

He was pretty shocked.

 

[ThirdSeatHero]

No, they wanted the workers to believe it.They know they are lying but they have nothing to lose by using the media as a means of disinformation. Disinformation to confuse their opponent-us.

Like I said before, I don't disagree