May 3, 2004
Mr. James Willard
1441 Bedford St. #103
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Dear Brother Willard:
The following are my answers to the questions raised in your letter of April 26, 2004:
1. Why is it so important to you and this unknown Team TWU to host the debate in Tulsa, a place that is difficult to fly in and out of? Why not in Dallas?
AMFA has held a number of Informational Meetings in TULSA with a poor turnout. I suspect they have a reason for wanting to debate in Tulsa. AMFA handed out debate literature at the Tulsa Base. The Team TWU is not an unknown group. They are members who came to us to assist in getting information out to the membership that apparently is not getting out. The TWU members in Tulsa wanted to debate the AMFA supporters in Tulsa in which AMFA refused. Regardless of the city the debate was held, I planned on video taping the debate and sending it out to the members that could not attend.
2. Why do you feel the need to have others who are not affiliated with American Airlines at this debate? Do you not have enough support from your own rank and file to support your position?
Why shouldn’t our members be entitled to hear from AMFA members at other carriers? Why shouldn’t these members be free to question Delle-Femine, just as you are free to question me? I feel that this is a critical time for our membership. Whether there is an election or not, the fact is that we have been under attack from AMFA for more than one year now. I believe that the membership should be given the opportunity to hear from both sides in this dispute. I personally do not have any problem with other carrier’s members attending a debate. I do not need individuals showing up to support my position, only individuals that want the facts. I’m sorry that Delle-Femine didn’t bother to show up to defend AMFA’s track record at Northwest, United, Mesaba, Alaska Airlines and ATA. I also think that Delle-Femine’s failure to show-up indicates disrespect for our members, not to mention leaving his own supporters dangling in the wind.
3. Why didn't you go to the debate in January, and why did Sonny Hall, who is the leader of the TWU, not show either?
Let’s make one thing clear. I would have liked to debate Delle-Femine last January. At the time, I was undergoing chemotherapy was physically unable to do so. I completed chemotherapy in February, and I’m happy to say that a few weeks ago I received test results that show that I’m cancer-free. So, I moved on the debate as soon as I was physically able to. In regards to Sonny Hall not accepting the debate, I have absolutely no problem having Sonny Hall attend any meetings. But as far as a debate with AMFA, as Air Transport Director, I am the responsible and accountable party to answer the membership’s questions.
4. Why does the debate have to be between supporters, not official members of the unions National Offices? Is that how you show the membership that you will stand up for them?
As I stated above, I see nothing wrong with having both debates - one with the rank and file TWU supporters and one with the AMFA supporters - as long as it is done professionally and is a one-on-one debate with the National Officers. Many rank-and-file TWU members have repeatedly told me that they would like to debate the issues because they are the ones whose lives will be most affected by this representation decision. I respect our members’ decision to call for a rank and file debate, and I have complete confidence that they could conduct an informative and constructive debate. What I find ironic is that with all of the rhetoric you hear from AMFA about the membership running the union, Delle is opposing a debate among the membership and has said that the members aren’t capable of “keeping cool heads in a debate.†Frankly, I think AMFA is selling the membership short. That is why I scheduled two debates - one April 21st with the National Officers and one on April 27th with the rank and file. I was notified two days before the debate that AMFA would not attend.
5. Why is a debate even necessary at this time? Why don't you and the TWU let the NMB do its job and let the membership VOTE and when the smoke clears, the Union with the most votes will represent the Mechanics and Related at American Airlines. Why are you fighting now? You didn't when American took what the workers of America fought for in years past?
As I stated above, I feel that this is a critical time for our membership. Whether there is an election or not, the fact is that we have been under attack from AMFA for more than one year now which has handicapped us from making necessary organizational changes on the American property. We are letting the NMB do their job, and they will make the final decision. Obviously the Local never briefed you that we did fight and we ultimately had to make tough decisions that none of us wanted to make. This time last year AA was hemorrhaging $5 to $7 million a day and on the brink of bankruptcy. We - TWU-APA-APFA - all hired our own professional to analyze AA’s financial condition and came to the same conclusions. In addition, our Investment Bankers (Milestone) followed up with various lending institutions and advised us that indeed AA was securing financing from Citicorp and others. We do know for a fact that if AA plunged into bankruptcy, MCI and AFW would be closed and about three quarters of the Tulsa base would have been idled. Title II would have been outsourced and bumping from around the system would have impacted members of the Line Stations. All told, initially about 12,000 jobs would have been lost. That was a situation we simply could not live with. While I thought it was crucial for us to avoid bankruptcy, this was not a decision that I made alone. Every Local Union President throughout the system participates in our President’s Council and every member of our Council unanimously agreed that we had to avoid bankruptcy. It was each of your locally elected Presidents and Negotiating Committee who worked out the details of the restructuring agreement that was then ratified by our membership.
6. Why was there "NO" snap back clause in the current contract that would insure that the benefits that were fought for by the TWU in the past, be in place during the next round of negotiations? Am I to assume that the raises of the next contract will be figured on the current rate of pay instead of what I would have been making at the end of the 2001 contract?
All three Unions attempted to negotiate snap backs, and the Company refused to agree. The reason they refused was that they knew a Bankruptcy Court would not compel snap backs and, in fact, Bankruptcy Courts have consistently faulted unions (and rejected their contracts) when unions refused to provide relief from their contracts because there were not snap backs. In this respect, there were not snap backs at UAL or USAir, or at Braniff (where AMFA never showed up). Had we been the only union to refuse to provide relief
on grounds there were not snap backs, it is highly likely our contract would have been rejected, 12,000 persons would have been put on the street, and the pensions and retiree medical of the rest would have been under attack as they have been at UAL and USAir. At that point I am sure you would have written me a highly critical letter complaining of my failure to protect your job and pension by willfully ignoring the requirements of bankruptcy law.
7. What about my Holidays, and pay for working them? Did you take them because Tulsa does not work Holidays? Lets look at helping Tulsa instead of the membership as a whole.
The Local Presidents and the Negotiating Committees worked diligently in attempting to do all possible to balance the concessions. A top priority for the Committee was not to amend our defined pension plan or triple the cost of the benefit plans and to keep the retiree medical intact. As you know, after the Don Carty debacle, in addition to the enhancements, we also provided for any exchange of the concessions during the life of the agreement. There is absolutely no limit on our membership making any adjustment in exchange for another. We also have full Section 6 openers in 2006.
8. My retirement is based on all the benefits of the past why did you and the International of the TWU take that away? Why didn't every member have a vote? I have been in this industry for many years. I have walked the line to fight for what I have earned. The many carriers are farming out work because they are protecting their own interests. They have a business to run. They need to insure that the aircraft are worked on so that they comply with FAA regulations. Companies are setting up for the future. Why is this? I will tell you why because the workers of the Airlines have had so many pay concessions over the years that this is not a career that workers want to gravitate too. Greed is another reason, until the unions stop allowing the pay and benefits to be taken away the companies will continue to rape the American worker, Amfa did not raid American their services are being requested because of the Failure of the Industrial Unions to protect the Maintenance and Related Employees at American Airlines. The news article you sent states what the airline did to cut cost what did the TWU do? What about the TWA employees?
Retirement is not based on all benefits as you stated, and a complete clarification is available on Jetnet or the employee benefit guide. Our Negotiating Committee did take your concern of the impact a pay reduction would have on the defined Retirement Plan. It did not outweigh the benefits of keeping the defined plan as opposed to going with the cash balance plan. Every member was given an opportunity to vote on the overall agreement. As you know, we did not have the time to put out a questionnaire allowing every member to make individual choices. And even if we could have, do you think that 75,000 employees could come up with a mutually satisfactory agreement? In the real world, we cannot even get a handful of people to agree. That is why we enlisted analytical and research consultants, investment bankers and Labor law (bankruptcy) advisors to assist our committee.
I respectfully, disagree with your justification on why work is being farmed out and that
our AMT’s is not a career worth gravitating too. As far as unions allowing pay and benefits to decline at AA, we didn’t negotiate a restructuring agreement to hurt our members. We negotiated a restructuring agreement to protect our members and their
jobs. We all know that we would have been worse off and far more vulnerable if American Airlines had gone into bankruptcy. The reality is that a large number of our members would probably be unemployed or making $10/hour without benefits if we had allowed American to go into bankruptcy. We made significant sacrifices to keep the company out of bankruptcy, but we would have lost much more if we had gone into bankruptcy.
Here is a key difference between the TWU and AMFA. Delle told the New York Times a month ago, he would have forced the Company into bankruptcy. He would have taken his chances before the bankruptcy judge. That decision would have been an outright disaster for our members. We would have had dramatic cut backs both in employees and as a carrier.
We protected our members’ jobs by maintaining the Company’s heavy maintenance operations. Moreover, we have lived to fight another day. And we will fight. In just two years, we have a wage re-opener, and we will do everything in our power to regain the wages and benefits that we lost. I believe our choice was the right choice, and as I stated above, we have full section six contract opener in 2006. Compared to United that has an opener in 2009. AMFA is raiding our AA members! Just as they did at United by trying to convince them that somehow they would have been the white knight and saved our members from concessions. You ask what about the TWA employees? As with all of our members, the ex-TWA employees have also been victim to corporate greed and have suffered as much or more over the years.
9. Why does the list of eligible voters keep on growing from the numbers sent to the NMB? Are you and the other TWU officers afraid of loosing the election to AMFA and you need to find a way to dilute the card count?
AMFA and the TWU have both challenged the AA list for inclusions and exclusions. No one is trying to dilute the card count. The first thing we did in receiving the Company’s list was notify AA and the NMB that there were over 90 duplicate names. The NMB has been clear as to who is included on the list. In fact, the pamphlet you enclosed with your letter sent out by AMFA also states who is included in the Craft and Class under their heading of membership, which states and I quote:
“Technicians and related members, which include AMT, OSM, Parts Washer/Aircraft Cleaner, Blast Machine operator, Facilities/Auto, Plant Mechanic/ Building /Cabin Cleaner, Ground Service Person, Simulator Technicians and Technical specialist.â€
We simply added the members that the Company left off the list. Regardless of the vote, I believe that all members that will be impacted by the election should have their right to vote. Why is AMFA now challenging the rights of some members to vote when they are included under the Craft and Class? Is AMFA afraid that they may not win an election? They have also been provided with access to personal employment records that the TWU does not have such access, and the Company has refused to provide it to us. Therefore, I have no way to verify the objections that AMFA has made to the NMB.
10. Why didn't I get this much information about the contract and how it was going to affect my family? The future of my profession was at stake and you let the company rape the workers of American Airlines.
We had a very short window to vote on the consensual agreement with the April 15th deadline. We posted all of the information on the ATD website, and sent it to the Locals as we received it, including the amended contract language. In fact, I even stopped the voting process until we received all of the letters covering the agreements that were made in order to give our members all of the material.
11. Why do you think that the other carriers have switched to AMFA and got rid of the unions that represented them? Because those Unions did a good job.
I think the other carriers that switched to AMFA is not one single issue, but rather a complex one. I can tell you that we in the TWU are not structured like many other organizations, and I believe we have been responsive in listening to the membership and made changes by providing for such things as separate negotiations and separate locals.
The AMFA flyer you included with your letter has a number of other areas you highlighted but did not mention in your letter that needs to be clarified:
1. AMFA states that the Local 514 informer reported that 3,200 members did not have a ballot for the concessionary agreement:
This is a great example of the misinformation that AMFA has been putting out. We initially thought that there might be a problem with 3,200 members not receiving pin numbers, and that is why that number was reported in the Local 514 newsletter Informer. But very quickly, we learned that the actual number of members who didn’t get pin numbers was 467. The omission of 467 members was a clerical error that we became aware of just after ballots were sent out. This omission was a mistake – we keep a group of Mechanic Crew Chiefs on a separate seniority roster and we simply forgot to include that group in the eligibility list sent to the American Arbitrations Association (AAA) for the balloting.
The mistake was quickly remedied, the balloting period began on April 9 and we had the list of 467 names to AAA by April 10. This group was then allowed to request pin numbers via e-mail and the balloting period was extended by one day. We put instructions for this process on the ATD website and members of the ATD staff were made available to help people through the process. After balloting was completed, the American Arbitration Association told me that 200 out of the 467 crew chiefs had voted. So this is a good example of how AMFA has put out misinformation in an attempt to get support from our members. Now that you know the facts regarding the pin numbers, I hope to see this matter corrected in future AMFA literature.
2. TWU Members not given the contract to read and had to vote in less than two weeks or allegedly the company would file for bankruptcy.
We did all possible to get the information in front of our membership as quickly as possible by sending the information to the Locals and placing the information on the ATD web site. There was no other method available to get the information out any quicker. American Airlines filing for bankruptcy was not alleged - it was a fact. We also provided for our members to exchange concessionary items during the agreement due to the short time frame.
3. TWU members assured of a revote and TWU International decides a revote was unnecessary.
Let’s review for a moment why we considered re-voting the concessionary agreement. Don Carty secretly attempted to line his pockets with special bonuses and pension benefits. When Carty reported these compensation plans to the Federal Government, as required by law, we found out about it immediately, and I went through the roof. We were agreeing to sacrifices, and Carty and his top Managers were giving themselves millions. So, when I went through the roof, I said that Carty’s actions were so outrageous that we should re-vote the agreement. Even when the Company notified us that they would not give the bonuses for 2003, it was not enough.
The Company then told me, as well as the leaders of the other two American unions, in no uncertain terms, that if we offered the contract up for a revote the Company would be forced to declare bankruptcy. On April 24, I attended a meeting with Rep. Martin Frost and other Texas Congressional Representatives, the Company, APFA and APA. At this meeting, Carty announced that the Board had indeed authorized the Company to file for bankruptcy in the event that the three unions conducted another vote. The bottom line is that we were in an impossible position. I was pissed off enough to call for a revote. But in the end, the other Labor leaders and I knew that our members were the ones who would be hurt the most if the Company filed for bankruptcy and not the senior Management (United and U.S. Airlines management received raises in bankruptcy). We simply didn’t have time to take a revote without suffering disastrous consequences for the membership. While we realized that we had to get the restructuring agreement in place quickly, we didn’t let Carty off the hook. Along with the AFL-CIO, we publicly attacked Carty for the secret compensation deals, and we used our attacks to get leverage over the Company, and its Board of Directors. We used that leverage to win additional improvements for the membership such as refined Stock Option Plan, Annual Incentive Plan, shorten the duration of our consensual agreement, provide the members with the ability to exercise the stocks in less than five years, provide fro a full contract re-opener in 2006, and the ability to allow the exchange of any concessionary items during the life of the agreement.
In addition, we contacted members within the Board of Directors and demanded Carty’s head on a platter, and we got it. Working with the other unions, we forced Carty’s resignation. Second, we were able to get Management to eliminate the retention bonuses and the Executive pensions were significantly cut back. With all of those improvements in place, we still considered the option of a re-vote, knowing full well that it would have meant that management would take the Company into bankruptcy. After consulting with the ATD International staff, our lawyers and economic experts, and the Presidents from all American Airlines Locals, I decided that bankruptcy was not an option. To protect our members’ jobs and our long-term interests, we had to go ahead with the restructuring agreement.
So let’s summarize what happened. Working with the other unions, the TWU got Carty fired. We also eliminated the special bonuses that Carty tried to give himself along with the other top managers. We got the re-opener moved up to May 2006, and negotiated an additional bonus program for our members.
If we had re-voted the agreement, the Company would have gone into bankruptcy. The banks, the lenders, and the vendors were all demanding their money from the Company, and a delay in the restructuring agreement would have further driven the Company to make further reductions. That’s something I couldn’t let happen. It would have cost thousands of our members their jobs.
Finally, I note that a Court reviewed all of these issues and found that the changes made in the restructuring agreement were clearly improvements. The Court determined that it would have been completely irresponsible for the TWU, or American’s other unions, to throw the Company into bankruptcy and put thousands of workers on the street just to have a second vote.
James, I appreciate the time you took to write me in order to share your thoughts and to get the answers to your questions. I am sure there are a number of other members who share the same questions. In addition, to you saying that you will post them in your station, I will also send a copy to the other locals.
As you can imagine there is a great deal of information involved in the whole restructuring agreement. I can assure you that all of us involved, Negotiating Committee, Local Presidents, Consultants, International staff assigned, Attorneys and the other APA and APFA Officers and staff had their respective memberships best interest in mind in avoiding bankruptcy.
Sincerely and fraternally
James C. Little
Director Air Transport Division
Intl. Administrative Vice President
Attachment - Letter from James Willard
JCL;cjw opeiu-153 afl-cio
C: ATD Staff
AA Local Presidents
Visit here to see more great information; www.TWUATD.org
Mr. James Willard
1441 Bedford St. #103
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Dear Brother Willard:
The following are my answers to the questions raised in your letter of April 26, 2004:
1. Why is it so important to you and this unknown Team TWU to host the debate in Tulsa, a place that is difficult to fly in and out of? Why not in Dallas?
AMFA has held a number of Informational Meetings in TULSA with a poor turnout. I suspect they have a reason for wanting to debate in Tulsa. AMFA handed out debate literature at the Tulsa Base. The Team TWU is not an unknown group. They are members who came to us to assist in getting information out to the membership that apparently is not getting out. The TWU members in Tulsa wanted to debate the AMFA supporters in Tulsa in which AMFA refused. Regardless of the city the debate was held, I planned on video taping the debate and sending it out to the members that could not attend.
2. Why do you feel the need to have others who are not affiliated with American Airlines at this debate? Do you not have enough support from your own rank and file to support your position?
Why shouldn’t our members be entitled to hear from AMFA members at other carriers? Why shouldn’t these members be free to question Delle-Femine, just as you are free to question me? I feel that this is a critical time for our membership. Whether there is an election or not, the fact is that we have been under attack from AMFA for more than one year now. I believe that the membership should be given the opportunity to hear from both sides in this dispute. I personally do not have any problem with other carrier’s members attending a debate. I do not need individuals showing up to support my position, only individuals that want the facts. I’m sorry that Delle-Femine didn’t bother to show up to defend AMFA’s track record at Northwest, United, Mesaba, Alaska Airlines and ATA. I also think that Delle-Femine’s failure to show-up indicates disrespect for our members, not to mention leaving his own supporters dangling in the wind.
3. Why didn't you go to the debate in January, and why did Sonny Hall, who is the leader of the TWU, not show either?
Let’s make one thing clear. I would have liked to debate Delle-Femine last January. At the time, I was undergoing chemotherapy was physically unable to do so. I completed chemotherapy in February, and I’m happy to say that a few weeks ago I received test results that show that I’m cancer-free. So, I moved on the debate as soon as I was physically able to. In regards to Sonny Hall not accepting the debate, I have absolutely no problem having Sonny Hall attend any meetings. But as far as a debate with AMFA, as Air Transport Director, I am the responsible and accountable party to answer the membership’s questions.
4. Why does the debate have to be between supporters, not official members of the unions National Offices? Is that how you show the membership that you will stand up for them?
As I stated above, I see nothing wrong with having both debates - one with the rank and file TWU supporters and one with the AMFA supporters - as long as it is done professionally and is a one-on-one debate with the National Officers. Many rank-and-file TWU members have repeatedly told me that they would like to debate the issues because they are the ones whose lives will be most affected by this representation decision. I respect our members’ decision to call for a rank and file debate, and I have complete confidence that they could conduct an informative and constructive debate. What I find ironic is that with all of the rhetoric you hear from AMFA about the membership running the union, Delle is opposing a debate among the membership and has said that the members aren’t capable of “keeping cool heads in a debate.†Frankly, I think AMFA is selling the membership short. That is why I scheduled two debates - one April 21st with the National Officers and one on April 27th with the rank and file. I was notified two days before the debate that AMFA would not attend.
5. Why is a debate even necessary at this time? Why don't you and the TWU let the NMB do its job and let the membership VOTE and when the smoke clears, the Union with the most votes will represent the Mechanics and Related at American Airlines. Why are you fighting now? You didn't when American took what the workers of America fought for in years past?
As I stated above, I feel that this is a critical time for our membership. Whether there is an election or not, the fact is that we have been under attack from AMFA for more than one year now which has handicapped us from making necessary organizational changes on the American property. We are letting the NMB do their job, and they will make the final decision. Obviously the Local never briefed you that we did fight and we ultimately had to make tough decisions that none of us wanted to make. This time last year AA was hemorrhaging $5 to $7 million a day and on the brink of bankruptcy. We - TWU-APA-APFA - all hired our own professional to analyze AA’s financial condition and came to the same conclusions. In addition, our Investment Bankers (Milestone) followed up with various lending institutions and advised us that indeed AA was securing financing from Citicorp and others. We do know for a fact that if AA plunged into bankruptcy, MCI and AFW would be closed and about three quarters of the Tulsa base would have been idled. Title II would have been outsourced and bumping from around the system would have impacted members of the Line Stations. All told, initially about 12,000 jobs would have been lost. That was a situation we simply could not live with. While I thought it was crucial for us to avoid bankruptcy, this was not a decision that I made alone. Every Local Union President throughout the system participates in our President’s Council and every member of our Council unanimously agreed that we had to avoid bankruptcy. It was each of your locally elected Presidents and Negotiating Committee who worked out the details of the restructuring agreement that was then ratified by our membership.
6. Why was there "NO" snap back clause in the current contract that would insure that the benefits that were fought for by the TWU in the past, be in place during the next round of negotiations? Am I to assume that the raises of the next contract will be figured on the current rate of pay instead of what I would have been making at the end of the 2001 contract?
All three Unions attempted to negotiate snap backs, and the Company refused to agree. The reason they refused was that they knew a Bankruptcy Court would not compel snap backs and, in fact, Bankruptcy Courts have consistently faulted unions (and rejected their contracts) when unions refused to provide relief from their contracts because there were not snap backs. In this respect, there were not snap backs at UAL or USAir, or at Braniff (where AMFA never showed up). Had we been the only union to refuse to provide relief
on grounds there were not snap backs, it is highly likely our contract would have been rejected, 12,000 persons would have been put on the street, and the pensions and retiree medical of the rest would have been under attack as they have been at UAL and USAir. At that point I am sure you would have written me a highly critical letter complaining of my failure to protect your job and pension by willfully ignoring the requirements of bankruptcy law.
7. What about my Holidays, and pay for working them? Did you take them because Tulsa does not work Holidays? Lets look at helping Tulsa instead of the membership as a whole.
The Local Presidents and the Negotiating Committees worked diligently in attempting to do all possible to balance the concessions. A top priority for the Committee was not to amend our defined pension plan or triple the cost of the benefit plans and to keep the retiree medical intact. As you know, after the Don Carty debacle, in addition to the enhancements, we also provided for any exchange of the concessions during the life of the agreement. There is absolutely no limit on our membership making any adjustment in exchange for another. We also have full Section 6 openers in 2006.
8. My retirement is based on all the benefits of the past why did you and the International of the TWU take that away? Why didn't every member have a vote? I have been in this industry for many years. I have walked the line to fight for what I have earned. The many carriers are farming out work because they are protecting their own interests. They have a business to run. They need to insure that the aircraft are worked on so that they comply with FAA regulations. Companies are setting up for the future. Why is this? I will tell you why because the workers of the Airlines have had so many pay concessions over the years that this is not a career that workers want to gravitate too. Greed is another reason, until the unions stop allowing the pay and benefits to be taken away the companies will continue to rape the American worker, Amfa did not raid American their services are being requested because of the Failure of the Industrial Unions to protect the Maintenance and Related Employees at American Airlines. The news article you sent states what the airline did to cut cost what did the TWU do? What about the TWA employees?
Retirement is not based on all benefits as you stated, and a complete clarification is available on Jetnet or the employee benefit guide. Our Negotiating Committee did take your concern of the impact a pay reduction would have on the defined Retirement Plan. It did not outweigh the benefits of keeping the defined plan as opposed to going with the cash balance plan. Every member was given an opportunity to vote on the overall agreement. As you know, we did not have the time to put out a questionnaire allowing every member to make individual choices. And even if we could have, do you think that 75,000 employees could come up with a mutually satisfactory agreement? In the real world, we cannot even get a handful of people to agree. That is why we enlisted analytical and research consultants, investment bankers and Labor law (bankruptcy) advisors to assist our committee.
I respectfully, disagree with your justification on why work is being farmed out and that
our AMT’s is not a career worth gravitating too. As far as unions allowing pay and benefits to decline at AA, we didn’t negotiate a restructuring agreement to hurt our members. We negotiated a restructuring agreement to protect our members and their
jobs. We all know that we would have been worse off and far more vulnerable if American Airlines had gone into bankruptcy. The reality is that a large number of our members would probably be unemployed or making $10/hour without benefits if we had allowed American to go into bankruptcy. We made significant sacrifices to keep the company out of bankruptcy, but we would have lost much more if we had gone into bankruptcy.
Here is a key difference between the TWU and AMFA. Delle told the New York Times a month ago, he would have forced the Company into bankruptcy. He would have taken his chances before the bankruptcy judge. That decision would have been an outright disaster for our members. We would have had dramatic cut backs both in employees and as a carrier.
We protected our members’ jobs by maintaining the Company’s heavy maintenance operations. Moreover, we have lived to fight another day. And we will fight. In just two years, we have a wage re-opener, and we will do everything in our power to regain the wages and benefits that we lost. I believe our choice was the right choice, and as I stated above, we have full section six contract opener in 2006. Compared to United that has an opener in 2009. AMFA is raiding our AA members! Just as they did at United by trying to convince them that somehow they would have been the white knight and saved our members from concessions. You ask what about the TWA employees? As with all of our members, the ex-TWA employees have also been victim to corporate greed and have suffered as much or more over the years.
9. Why does the list of eligible voters keep on growing from the numbers sent to the NMB? Are you and the other TWU officers afraid of loosing the election to AMFA and you need to find a way to dilute the card count?
AMFA and the TWU have both challenged the AA list for inclusions and exclusions. No one is trying to dilute the card count. The first thing we did in receiving the Company’s list was notify AA and the NMB that there were over 90 duplicate names. The NMB has been clear as to who is included on the list. In fact, the pamphlet you enclosed with your letter sent out by AMFA also states who is included in the Craft and Class under their heading of membership, which states and I quote:
“Technicians and related members, which include AMT, OSM, Parts Washer/Aircraft Cleaner, Blast Machine operator, Facilities/Auto, Plant Mechanic/ Building /Cabin Cleaner, Ground Service Person, Simulator Technicians and Technical specialist.â€
We simply added the members that the Company left off the list. Regardless of the vote, I believe that all members that will be impacted by the election should have their right to vote. Why is AMFA now challenging the rights of some members to vote when they are included under the Craft and Class? Is AMFA afraid that they may not win an election? They have also been provided with access to personal employment records that the TWU does not have such access, and the Company has refused to provide it to us. Therefore, I have no way to verify the objections that AMFA has made to the NMB.
10. Why didn't I get this much information about the contract and how it was going to affect my family? The future of my profession was at stake and you let the company rape the workers of American Airlines.
We had a very short window to vote on the consensual agreement with the April 15th deadline. We posted all of the information on the ATD website, and sent it to the Locals as we received it, including the amended contract language. In fact, I even stopped the voting process until we received all of the letters covering the agreements that were made in order to give our members all of the material.
11. Why do you think that the other carriers have switched to AMFA and got rid of the unions that represented them? Because those Unions did a good job.
I think the other carriers that switched to AMFA is not one single issue, but rather a complex one. I can tell you that we in the TWU are not structured like many other organizations, and I believe we have been responsive in listening to the membership and made changes by providing for such things as separate negotiations and separate locals.
The AMFA flyer you included with your letter has a number of other areas you highlighted but did not mention in your letter that needs to be clarified:
1. AMFA states that the Local 514 informer reported that 3,200 members did not have a ballot for the concessionary agreement:
This is a great example of the misinformation that AMFA has been putting out. We initially thought that there might be a problem with 3,200 members not receiving pin numbers, and that is why that number was reported in the Local 514 newsletter Informer. But very quickly, we learned that the actual number of members who didn’t get pin numbers was 467. The omission of 467 members was a clerical error that we became aware of just after ballots were sent out. This omission was a mistake – we keep a group of Mechanic Crew Chiefs on a separate seniority roster and we simply forgot to include that group in the eligibility list sent to the American Arbitrations Association (AAA) for the balloting.
The mistake was quickly remedied, the balloting period began on April 9 and we had the list of 467 names to AAA by April 10. This group was then allowed to request pin numbers via e-mail and the balloting period was extended by one day. We put instructions for this process on the ATD website and members of the ATD staff were made available to help people through the process. After balloting was completed, the American Arbitration Association told me that 200 out of the 467 crew chiefs had voted. So this is a good example of how AMFA has put out misinformation in an attempt to get support from our members. Now that you know the facts regarding the pin numbers, I hope to see this matter corrected in future AMFA literature.
2. TWU Members not given the contract to read and had to vote in less than two weeks or allegedly the company would file for bankruptcy.
We did all possible to get the information in front of our membership as quickly as possible by sending the information to the Locals and placing the information on the ATD web site. There was no other method available to get the information out any quicker. American Airlines filing for bankruptcy was not alleged - it was a fact. We also provided for our members to exchange concessionary items during the agreement due to the short time frame.
3. TWU members assured of a revote and TWU International decides a revote was unnecessary.
Let’s review for a moment why we considered re-voting the concessionary agreement. Don Carty secretly attempted to line his pockets with special bonuses and pension benefits. When Carty reported these compensation plans to the Federal Government, as required by law, we found out about it immediately, and I went through the roof. We were agreeing to sacrifices, and Carty and his top Managers were giving themselves millions. So, when I went through the roof, I said that Carty’s actions were so outrageous that we should re-vote the agreement. Even when the Company notified us that they would not give the bonuses for 2003, it was not enough.
The Company then told me, as well as the leaders of the other two American unions, in no uncertain terms, that if we offered the contract up for a revote the Company would be forced to declare bankruptcy. On April 24, I attended a meeting with Rep. Martin Frost and other Texas Congressional Representatives, the Company, APFA and APA. At this meeting, Carty announced that the Board had indeed authorized the Company to file for bankruptcy in the event that the three unions conducted another vote. The bottom line is that we were in an impossible position. I was pissed off enough to call for a revote. But in the end, the other Labor leaders and I knew that our members were the ones who would be hurt the most if the Company filed for bankruptcy and not the senior Management (United and U.S. Airlines management received raises in bankruptcy). We simply didn’t have time to take a revote without suffering disastrous consequences for the membership. While we realized that we had to get the restructuring agreement in place quickly, we didn’t let Carty off the hook. Along with the AFL-CIO, we publicly attacked Carty for the secret compensation deals, and we used our attacks to get leverage over the Company, and its Board of Directors. We used that leverage to win additional improvements for the membership such as refined Stock Option Plan, Annual Incentive Plan, shorten the duration of our consensual agreement, provide the members with the ability to exercise the stocks in less than five years, provide fro a full contract re-opener in 2006, and the ability to allow the exchange of any concessionary items during the life of the agreement.
In addition, we contacted members within the Board of Directors and demanded Carty’s head on a platter, and we got it. Working with the other unions, we forced Carty’s resignation. Second, we were able to get Management to eliminate the retention bonuses and the Executive pensions were significantly cut back. With all of those improvements in place, we still considered the option of a re-vote, knowing full well that it would have meant that management would take the Company into bankruptcy. After consulting with the ATD International staff, our lawyers and economic experts, and the Presidents from all American Airlines Locals, I decided that bankruptcy was not an option. To protect our members’ jobs and our long-term interests, we had to go ahead with the restructuring agreement.
So let’s summarize what happened. Working with the other unions, the TWU got Carty fired. We also eliminated the special bonuses that Carty tried to give himself along with the other top managers. We got the re-opener moved up to May 2006, and negotiated an additional bonus program for our members.
If we had re-voted the agreement, the Company would have gone into bankruptcy. The banks, the lenders, and the vendors were all demanding their money from the Company, and a delay in the restructuring agreement would have further driven the Company to make further reductions. That’s something I couldn’t let happen. It would have cost thousands of our members their jobs.
Finally, I note that a Court reviewed all of these issues and found that the changes made in the restructuring agreement were clearly improvements. The Court determined that it would have been completely irresponsible for the TWU, or American’s other unions, to throw the Company into bankruptcy and put thousands of workers on the street just to have a second vote.
James, I appreciate the time you took to write me in order to share your thoughts and to get the answers to your questions. I am sure there are a number of other members who share the same questions. In addition, to you saying that you will post them in your station, I will also send a copy to the other locals.
As you can imagine there is a great deal of information involved in the whole restructuring agreement. I can assure you that all of us involved, Negotiating Committee, Local Presidents, Consultants, International staff assigned, Attorneys and the other APA and APFA Officers and staff had their respective memberships best interest in mind in avoiding bankruptcy.
Sincerely and fraternally
James C. Little
Director Air Transport Division
Intl. Administrative Vice President
Attachment - Letter from James Willard
JCL;cjw opeiu-153 afl-cio
C: ATD Staff
AA Local Presidents
Visit here to see more great information; www.TWUATD.org
