Twu In A Positive Light!

[Bob Owens]

What do you think Michael J Quill would think about what transformed here at American Airlines last year in negotiations?

I for one believe he is rolling over in his grave. I believe he would have put up a better fight than what we witnessed last year. I believe he would have had the guts to fight it to the end. I don not share all his beliefs but I do not think he would have turned tail a run. I do not believe he would have forced people to accept a contract they voted down like the twu did with the Tech Services people here at AA.

This one reason with Tech Services was the last straw for me. An injustice to one is an injustice to all.

I say lets bring in AMFA!!! Give someone else a try who is willing to fight!!!
TWU has had many years on trying and all I have seen is concessions.
Time to pull together and fight...

I agree! Mike Quill would have never led such a cowardly surrender! He would have fought.

If you want to see the TWU in a positive light simply go over to Local 100. Here you will see a different TWU. You will see a union that is outspoken, courageous, idealistic and committed. This is in direct contrast to the International that is always trying to subdue them. You see if Sonny tried to do to them what he did to Local 562 they would simply leave the TWU and form a new union. They hate Sonny Hall over there, the last time Sonny showed up at one of their rallies he was booed off the podium.

Yes the TWU does have a great history, too bad that those who have taken it over are so undeserving.

Mike Quill stood up to a Federal Judge and told him that "he may drop dead in his long black robes". Could you see Sonny saying that? Little? Any of them? Rojer Toussaint made the headlines when he said "Shut up Mike"(Mike Bloomberg-NYC Mayor). Thousands chanted it in front of City Hall. In the meantime Sonny was telling the press that there would be no strike and that he would remove 100s officers if they struck.

There is no comparasion between todays TWU/ATD or the International and the Union that Mike Quill and all his IRA comrades in Clan Na Gael helped to found so many years ago. Local 100 has many similarities (Forbes magazine listed Local 100 as one of the ten most dangerous unions in the country) however Sonny has done a good job at isolating them within the TWU by dispensing titles within the International and using the promise of such titles as a means of buying loyalty, especially from Presidents who know that they are just one election away from having to return to the floor. After all, we know that the worst thing that can happen to a TWU International officer is to have to work under the conditions he put in place. Local 100 has broad support within the NY Labor scene. The Chief, New Yorks only Independant Labor Newspaper regularly blasts Sonny Hall. They printed one of my letters blasting Sonny. At New Yorks Labor Day parade Sonny is a no show. Sonny preferrs to remain locked up in his corner office looking down Broadway.

This union was founded during the Depression, when the unions in place at the time were telling their workers to accept pay and benifit cuts or risk losing their jobs. Sound familiar? At the time there were many companies providing transit service in NY and there was no unity across the system. There were several different unions, workers doing the same work would be in different unions, if at all, depending on what company they worked for.

It seems that for us, things have come full circle. Just as the TWU gave the old self serving unions the boot and united transit workers across the city into one union the AMFA is giving self serving unions the boot and trying to unite our class and craft into one union. The effort to ressurect this union from within and to get what we need-industrywide solidarity, is too huge a task, especially when there is an easier more direct means to get that. Its simply not worth trying to change this union because it is beyond repair when it comes to serving our needs. Industrywide solidarity is somethin that the TWU never sought. In fact during the huge 1966 airline industry strike, the TWU continued to work as most of the industry shut down. Industrywide solidarity has never been , nor will it likely ever be a priority of the TWU. Especially when those at the top see no need for change and a huge effort would have to be made, and time expended, simply to get in leaders who might see things differently.Are card dealers from Vegas, school bus drivers from Georgia, Railroad workers from Ohio, AMTRACK workers from Arizona or NASA workers from Florida, who on average earn $15/hr with the TWU going to be willing to fight FAR 145 to preserve $30/hr Airline mechanics jobs? THe only time that we could reasonbly expoect any real help from these workers is when our wages sink below theirs. If we stay with the TWU we may in time see that. I'm not interested in paying that much of a price. I'd rather be in a union where I can rely on the support of my fellow mechanics to fight for things that are in our interests. I would rather belong to a union that can afford to focus on our issues and not have to balance, or worse yet, trade off one groups interests for anothers. It did not miss my eye that AMTRACK, a company that has survived on government subsidies for years, got funding as we were forced to take massive pay and benifit cuts to keep our industry profitable. It costs less to fly to most places than to take the train! The same union represents workers at both AA and AMTRACK. I could see the TWU trading us off for AMTRACK funding in the dealmaking at DC, they maintain the dues flow from both,however I could never see a union that represents just one class and craft of workers trading off their interests for workers in another industry. While I would be willing to support AMTRACK workers I'm not willing to take a $20,000 a year cut in pay. If that makes me greedy then what does it make those who say that I should take pay cuts while they dont?

 

[Checking it Out]

Services Down, But Salaries Down (from Newsday --

published on February 5, 2004)
Services Down, But Salaries Up

Ray Sanchez

February 5, 2004


"They never tell us anything," the woman in the change booth at 103rd Street was saying yesterday. "I don't know."

The southbound Broadway was skipping five stations from 137th Street in Harlem to 96th Street on the Upper West Side. At 103rd Street, a station cleaner handed out bus transfers to frustrated riders. People had to enter the station to find that there were no downtown trains from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

One of the station's exits was blocked with a wooden panel on which someone had written: "Closed - until the end of time."

The 100-year-old station has been undergoing a $15.6-million renovation for almost a year. Now, the work schedule was forcing downtown trains to bypass the station - the latest indignity visited on the riding public.

A lighted message saying, "No bills accepted at this time," rolled across the top of a MetroCard vending machine. "No coins accepted at this time," said a message on another machine. At least they were working.

Meanwhile, in downtown Brooklyn, a lawyer named Robert Salzman has been trying to get someone - anyone - to listen to complaints about a broken subway escalator at Court Street. After three years of delays, he said, a brand-new escalator opened in September but has since broken down.

"Somebody's not paying attention," he said. "It's like a contractor's gravy train."

The masters of the underground should be listening. They get paid enough to do so.

Records posted on the Web site of the New York State Comptroller show that 667 managers at New York City Transit had salaries of $100,000 or more in 2002. President Lawrence Reuter topped the list at $283,068 - an increase of more than 71 percent from his salary in 1996, when he took the job. In 1997, just 72 NYC Transit managers made more than $100,000.

"There are skills that are required to go with these jobs that you have to pay for," transit spokesman Charles Seaton said. "They're in a unique situation in running a 24-hour railroad.

"In many cases, these figures reflect base salaries and other compensation received prior to retirement," Seaton said. He could not say which of the posted figures involved retirement payouts.

At Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters on Madison Avenue, 131 of its 1,317 employees were paid in excess of $100,000 in 2002. Executive director Katherine Lapp was first, with $192,500.

Not one of them drives a train, or cleans a bus, or sells MetroCards or serves the public in any other quantifiable way. You would probably get to work just as quickly in the morning if most of these positions suddenly vanished.

Both transit agencies are state authorities, private-public hybrids that are controlled by Gov. George Pataki and his appointees and engage in the big business of government. Their dealings are mostly invisible to the millions who rise early to catch the subway.

Besides the cash, NYC Transit managers also pocket a pass that entitles them to unlimited free trips on any train or bus. But the valuable cards stay in their pockets because they drive themselves or have chauffeurs delivering them to work every day.

The fat paychecks would be well worth the expense if the public had some assurance that its money were well spent. Sure, transit agencies need to operate more like businesses, which means competing with large corporations for the best talent. Taxpayers benefit, the masters of the underground say, because the highly paid officials are doing a better job of running the system.

"We're rehabbing stations and purchasing new subway cars," Seaton said. "You also have to mention that all winter long we never had a weather-related problem that deprived people of service."

In March, however, the MTA not only approved a 33 percent fare increase - the highest ever - but also the closing of 62 token booths. In December, the MTA board approved a budget that cut subway elevator operators, car cleaners and graffiti-removal teams. Now, as the agency faces a projected $688-million deficit for next year, the MTA warns of more service cuts or fare hikes.

"They have no trouble asking us for more money," said Salzman, the lawyer in downtown Brooklyn. "But they don't seem to be watching how they spend it."



Bob thanks for the post, Here is an article that appeared in the newspaper. Bob wants you to believe their is a move to replace the TWU at local 100, yes their is a conflict and yes Roger is interested in running for Sonny's position. But this is intenal and has nothing to do with an outside entity trying to destroy our Profession.

Here is a link to Local 100, Become informed and you will see the difference in Representation! Don't be fooled by the half-truths.

Local 100

I want you to also note the pop up advertising the rally set for March 30th.

 

[Thrustfuljet]

Checking it Out Posted: Feb 17 2004, 03:07 PM


Senior Member


Group: Senior Member
Posts: 676
Member No.: 2,067
Joined: 3-April 03



QUOTE (Thrustfuljet @ Feb 17 2004, 01:25 PM)
What do you think Michael J Quill would think about what transformed here at American Airlines last year in negotiations?

I for one believe he is rolling over in his grave. I believe he would have put up a better fight than what we witnessed last year. I believe he would have had the guts to fight it to the end. I don not share all his beliefs but I do not think he would have turned tail a run. I do not believe he would have forced people to accept a contract they voted down like the twu did with the Tech Services people here at AA.

This one reason with Tech Services was the last straw for me. An injustice to one is an injustice to all.

I say lets bring in AMFA!!! Give someone else a try who is willing to fight!!!
TWU has had many years on trying and all I have seen is concessions.
Time to pull together and fight...

At what point do you justify your message? before or after your seniority date?

I justify this message from the get go, regardless of seniority. I believe this union has lost it's way. I believe the twu today is not what Michael J Quill fought so hard to create.

 

[AMFAMAN]

CIO,

Why do you lie about the twu's history, Mike Quill wasn't the first President, can you tell us who really was? Why does the twu refuse to recognize that there was another first president? Also what about the early funding of this organization, why did you leave those facts out? Lastly, is this Local 100 stuff now a endorsement of Local 100 by Local 514?

 

[deadbolt]

I beleave Quill was the second president, the first one had a "contentios tongue and capricious behavoir.", and Quill used a shortcut to get the presidency!

“There was one fly in the ointment-Tom O’Shea. The boys decided to dump him because of his contentious tongue and capricious behavior. At a hastily called Delegates Council meeting Mike Quill was elected president, and Austin Hogan general secretary. That meeting was not a showpiece of democratic procedure, but Mike did not object to the shortcut that gave him the presidency of the Transport Workers Union.â€￾ Page83, Mike Quill, himself; by Shirley Quill

 

[NyQuill]

So shoot up a flare...thanks for the history lesson, and speaking of that how's amfa's history as of late?

• FM1 Loss
• Alaskan Air pension gone in favor of a 401K, negotiated by amfa..NO ONE ELSE!
• 4 base closures under amfa's watch..great job boyzzzzzz
• allowed a 38% ungrievable cap on outsourcing...should have set that at Alaskan Air, would have helped their 60%
• 45% less people employed at NWA since amfa ...hmmmm...did the airline shrink?
• a no-show at Horizon Air negotiations after 18 months into it...HAHAHA

There's a whole lot more history of the real-estate tycoon's prowness in negotiations. He's just trying to recover his initial backing of Delle.

 

[Checking it Out]

The History of TWU

The remarkable journey of TWU began, ironically, in undramatic fashion 60 years ago this month when a small group of beaten yet unbowed New York City transit worker--most the them exiles from Ireland's civil wars--met secretly on Manhattan's West Side to plot the formation of a union that could take on the robber barons of the transportation industry.

Numerous previous attempts to unionize New York's vast population of abused transit workers had failed. Strikes in 1905, 1910, 1916 and 1919 had been brutally put down by the all powerful transit companies which utilized an army of plain clothes hired goons and spies, known as beakies, to do their dirty work.

The year of TWU's formation, 1934, marked a very dangerous but opportune time for unionization. The transit companies were taking full advantage of the nation's deep depression which had spawned unemployment rates as high as 25 percent. For every transit job available, there were upwards of 20,000 applicants.

The transit companies used these hard times to hire and fire at will, slash wages and impose even harsher terms of employment on the employees. Yet by the same token, the workers were sick and tired of paltry wages, aggressive, Neanderthal bosses and medieval working conditions.

But for this union to succeed where others had failed, a special kind of leader was needed. That leader was the legendary Michael J. Quill, a change maker on the IRT subway line. Quill, an Irish-born militant, who came to the U.S. to escape British rule in his homeland, was a unique blend of guts and charisma. He was a dynamic public speaker and a public relations genius, who utilized the media of the day perhaps better than any labor leader in history.

Quill was aided by an incredibly able group of lieutenants led by Douglas McMahon, who later served as TWU's International Secretary Treasurer. In fact Quill and McMahon were TWU's first full-time organizers. It would take Quill and his supporters a number of years to solidify TWU's presence in New York. But there were a few incidents, which can best be described as 'defining moments' in the union's history, that brought TWU attention and credibility.

The first occurred on July 9, 1935. It was known as the "Squeegee" strike. Management at the Jerome Avenue Barn in the Bronx tried to speed up workers by forcing them to use a 14-inch squeegee instead of the customary 10-inch tool. This "straw that broke the camel's back" resulted in a two-day TWU inspired walkout after six Car Cleaners were fired for insubordination. Management caved in and reinstated the men.

Another important incident happened a month later when Quill and numerous cohorts were jumped by company goons at Grand Central Station, which incredibly led to Quill and four other union activists, including Herbert C. Holstrom, Thomas H. O'Shea, Patrick McHugh and Serafino Machado, being arrested. A court later threw out the charges. But the incident gained much attention in the press and at the job sites, where it symbolized all the harassments the workers were subjected to by the bosses year after year.

Probably the most important event of the early years occurred On January 3, 1937 when nearly 600 workers at the BMT Kent Avenue Powerhouse staged a sitdown strike over the firing of three engineers for union activity. The sit-in lasted three days and ended in the reinstatement of the fired workers. After this incident, thousands of New York transit workers flocked to the union. It marked the beginning of TWU as the most important force in New York City transit, and it marked the beginning of the end of harsh management dominance of transit workers in the nation's largest city.

In the years since, the union has continued to move forward, often in very exciting fashion. TWU's citywide bus and subway strikes in 1966 and 1980 remain the most memorable labor management confrontations in the history of New York City.

 

[scorpion]

If you understand what you just posted cio then you dont have a problem relating to the AMFA movement. Would you like to sign a card or do you want to keep your head in the sand?

 

[twuer]

So shoot up a flare...thanks for the history lesson, and speaking of that how's amfa's history as of late?

• FM1 Loss
  
• Alaskan Air pension gone in favor of a 401K, negotiated by amfa..NO ONE ELSE!
  
• 4 base closures under amfa's watch..great job boyzzzzzz
  
• allowed a 38% ungrievable cap on outsourcing...should have set that at Alaskan Air, would have helped their 60%
  
• 45% less people employed at NWA since amfa ...hmmmm...did the airline shrink?
  
• a no-show at Horizon Air negotiations after 18 months into it...HAHAHA

There's a whole lot more history of the real-estate tycoon's prowness in negotiations. He's just trying to recover his initial backing of Delle.

FM1 Loss
Alaskan Air pension gone in favor of a 401K, negotiated by amfa..NO ONE ELSE!
4 base closures under amfa's watch..great job boyzzzzzz
allowed a 38% ungrievable cap on outsourcing...should have set that at Alaskan Air, would have helped their 60%
45% less people employed at NWA since amfa ...hmmmm...did the airline shrink?
a no-show at Horizon Air negotiations after 18 months into it...HAHAHA


Good information Nyquill!! And that's just in the past what, 2-3 years or so???????

Has to make you wonder. . .
:huh: :huh: :huh:

They sure haven't made much of a name for themselves have they?? And haven't they been in existance for 40 years?????

 

[Bob Owens]

Bob thanks for the post, Here is an article that appeared in the newspaper. Bob wants you to believe their is a move to replace the TWU at local 100, yes their is a conflict and yes Roger is interested in running for Sonny's position. But this is intenal and has nothing to do with an outside entity trying to destroy our Profession.

Here is a link to Local 100, Become informed and you will see the difference in Representation! Don't be fooled by the half-truths.

Local 100

I want you to also note the pop up advertising the rally set for March 30th.

Thats rediculous. I never implied any such thing. Your ability to follow a conversation is unbelievable. Local 100 is very much committed to restoring the legacy of Mike Quill.

I would say there there is a move within Local 100 to replace the TWU-INTERNATIONAL. And I believe that should have come across clearly in what I posted.

I have no doubt that Rojer would make a better leader than Sonny Hall.

What profession are you implying that AMFA wants to destroy-that of TWU officers like yourself?

To imply that AMFA wants to destroy our profession as mechanics is ludicrous. What would their motive be?

Its easier to find a, or several, motives that the TWU has for destroying our profession.

I'll match you motive for motive. Fire away.