TWAers and AMFA

[Hopeful]

STL mechanics have begun bumping into JFK and were greeted by local AMFA organizers. They were asked what the feeling towards AMFA was in MCI and STL was. The overall general feeling was they would like to see AMFA because they believe that once AMFA arrives, the TWAers would be able to get FULL OCCUPATIONAL SENIORITY based on AMFA philosophy.

 

[Buck]

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On 6/10/2003 6:34:52 AM Hopeful wrote:

STL mechanics have begun bumping into JFK and were greeted by local AMFA organizers. They were asked what the feeling towards AMFA was in MCI and STL was. The overall general feeling was they would like to see AMFA because they believe that once AMFA arrives, the TWAers would be able to get FULL OCCUPATIONAL SENIORITY based on AMFA philosophy.


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And if this were the case, the AMFA must administer the existing contract. The Kasher decision is in place, does this mean they are expecting AMFA to sue for their seniority?

 

[James T. Kirk]

I found this on the amfawatchdogs bb.

Snoop Doggy Dog

Member



Posts: 56
Registered: 7-11-2002
Location: PDX
posted on 5-29-2003 at 03:22 AM

Who are our stewards? Where is our bylaws!

How come the stewards list on the company bulletin board lists people who are stewards that do no even claim to really be stewards? At least two of the people on the list claim that they never were stewards since the transition. It looks like more lies and deception to me.
Also per the constitution the stewards are supposed to try to attempt to go to association meetings. Most have been to maybe one or two so far, max. Too bad the bylaws committee decided not to pay them, so they would have some sort of reason to be held accountable for their lack of participation in association matters. Duh. The idea was proposed but rejected! As was the idea of making some rules for some form of mandatory attendance for stewards to go to meetings.(Excluding legitimate excuses of course). I guess we will never know what the local 17 bylaws state, as after six months we still don''t have our bylaws available to the membership per our new associations constitution. Maybe they don’t want us to see the rules so we can''t complain when they continually break all their own rules. Or maybe they are too busy working on getting our much past due contract that was amendable six months ago, to worry about their other primary responsibilities as officers of the local. Oh yeah, that can’t be it, only the airline rep. is attending the negotiations, what in the hell are the president and the V.P. doing for us for our money? In fact, somebody name one good thing that they have done for the membership in the past eleven months. All we have seen is lies and deception to the membership about dues for the national thugs. And 3350.00 bucks of our budget todate going to these national mobsters to come here and try to scare the company. Well we hear that isn’t working too well either.

 

[RV4]

Read This:

June 12, 2003

Dissension in the Ranks

""Now I don''t who to trust and I don''t know what I can believe

They say they want to help me with the stuff they keep on sayin''

But I think those guys just want to keep on playin''

Roulette, with my life""

- "Roulette" by Bruce Springsteen



The essence of America''s labor unions -the principle on which they were founded- is direct participation by individual workers in the decisions that shape their occupation, their wages and their lives. That singular ability is what eventually drew so many of America''s workers to unions. In many ways, labor unions were and are the only avenue of empowerment for the working class of this country.



When union workers are deprived of that ability of direct participation, when they are made to feel irrelevant, when decisions that affect the many are continually made by the few, then members will eventually question not only the quality of their leaders, but also the relevancy of their union.



For far too long, too many unions have been overbearing bureaucracies in which the individual member does not matter. One cannot take away the single, most important reason to be a union member and not expect rebellion or some form of galvanized dissent. Not only will individual members be concerned with the lack of influence they have on their union and jobs, they will also be concerned with their union''s ability to deal with forces aimed at disintegrating organized labor.



As Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois said recently, "Just picture another four years of a Bush Administration unfettered by concerns of re-election. Unions are not in the 2008 picture.unions will be under siege, constant well-financed referenda will happen in state after state, legal assaults and investigations will take place at every level, and we''ll always be the target of well-financed media campaigns."



The response of the rank and file is evident. Some TWU mechanics are seeking new representation. The "Pilots Defending the Profession" group is gaining more credence and support. APFA members have removed their union pins, are organizing lawsuits and petitions for the removal of union officers.



They are not taking action out of some whimsy to dissent or as "rebels without a clue". They act because, in some cases, they feel their union officials no longer represent them or their best interests. They act because they are tired of hearing their officers repeating management doublespeak that came straight from corporate headquarters. They act because they feel their voices have been silenced and their will undermined.



Of course, resistance to change is certain because so many fear change of any kind. And some want to preserve the status quo at any cost. In some cases, strong attempts will be made to stifle dissent within the rank and file. Yet, those who are dissatisfied with the direction and actions of their union probably feel as Robert Kennedy did when he said, "The future does not belong to those who are content with today."



Some actions may end up being futile. Some may not.



In the end, the motivation for change, the dissension within the ranks, perhaps comes from a desperate need for hope when so much has been taken away, so many lives terribly altered and so little hope is in the present.



And as St. Augustine said, "Hope has two beautiful children: anger and courage; anger at the way things are and courage to change them."





Steven Baumert
​

 

[James T. Kirk]

Posted on Thu, Jun. 19, 2003

NWA blames SARS for 150 job cuts
BY MARTIN J. MOYLAN
Pioneer Press

Northwest Airlines is laying off another 150 mechanics, saying it won''t need them because it is flying fewer and smaller planes in its Far East markets, where the fear of SARS is discouraging air travel.

Most of the mechanics losing their jobs are in the Twin Cities.

Wednesday''s move by Northwest comes about three weeks after the airline blamed the SARS scare for the layoff of 150 pilots. But the mechanics'' union charged that Northwest is attempting to use the disease to get around contractual restrictions on layoffs.

"This has little to do with SARS and a lot to do with Northwest''s desire to cut costs by circumventing its contract obligations," said Jeff Mathews, Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association contract coordinator for Northwest.

Eagan-based Northwest invoked the "force majeure" clause of its contract with the mechanics. That permits it to void some contractual obligations when it is confronted by major unforeseen events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or war.

Northwest says fear of SARS was behind a 26 percent year-over-year decline in revenue passenger miles on its Far East routes in May. Traffic was off 25 percent in April. Northwest plans to park 16 Boeing 747-200 jets it had expected to use on those trans-Pacific routes.

That reduces by 700 the number of mechanics it needs, Northwest says. But it will need about 550 of those mechanics to begin maintenance work in the Twin Cities on Airbus A320s and Boeing 757s.

Northwest notes that when the Iraq War began, the airline announced that it planned to lay off 2,000 mechanics but cut 1,685. "Even with the 150 (new layoffs), we''d still be below the original forecast,'''' said spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch.

The latest round of mechanic layoffs is to begin immediately, Mathews said. Northwest is the only airline to cite the Iraq War or SARS as justification for employee layoffs, he said.

More than SARS is behind the Pacific traffic declines, Mathews said. And Northwest is implementing the layoffs without the required notification, he charged.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin J. Moylan can be reached at [email protected] or (651) 228-5479.

 

[AAmech]

The way NW has just consistantly pimp slaped amfa has got to have AA mangement grinning from ear to ear thinking about having them on property!

 

[James T. Kirk]

Name: Game Over
Employer: NWA
Location: AMFA Nightmare
Date: Thursday, June 19, 2003
Time: 12:41 AM


Comments
Where''s the "Teeth" that O.V. Delle Femine said this NWA AMFA contract has? Northwest BONED amfa today boys and girls. "Game Over!" for amfa techs at NWA. The infamous AMFA Farm Out cap, gone, kaput. NWA invokes SARS Force Majeure 3 against the tiny ASSociation and now tells them that they aren''t going to honor the Farm Out cap or pay a fine. You really put some teeth in this NWA AMFA contract Delle. Just like the card tables you promised us. What happened to that Delle? You said we''d be playing cards in the hangers before we could be laid off? Delle, what about this Force Majuere that we don''t get Severance pay anymore? AMFA bragged about this amfa severance pay. So answer this question amfanuts, after all''s said and done what did we get with this contract? I''d really like to know. Cause I don''t have a clue and you know a disillusioned AMFA member is a weak member. Show me you still care AMFA. Somebody answer this post please. P.S. Be sure to check out the interviews in streaming video on www.iam-amt.org it''s a bunch of NWA AMFA Techs telling it how it really is. Look for the tab on the right by NWA Mechs speak out or something like that. Cheers!

Yep, you gotta experience an amfa "IRON CLAD" contract for yourself to appreciate the IAM. Only problem is you probably won''t have a job anymore! The video''s are terrific. Kudos'' to Jeff, Jerry, Dennis and Kevin. All of us who abstain from the AMFA Kool Aid appreciate your efforts to help our brothers and sisters at UAL. amfanatorNwa.