Checking it Out said:
TWU leader 200,000 a year, elected by the delegates who the members elect.
amfa McCormick 800,000 a year, appointed position. No election possible.
Who is geeting the better deal?
amfa 19,000 employees +/-
TWU 190,000 employees +/-
Jim Little is appointed by Sonny Hall who is elected by an unaccountable delegate vote where 2/3rds of the delegation has nothing to do with AA.
There is no recording of how delegates vote.
Jim Little has complete control of our contract. He is completely unaccountable to us and only accountable to Sonny Hall.
The overwhelming majority of TWU members are not aircraft mechanics and could care less about FAR 145, 66 or any other issues that effect us, including the huge cuts in pay and benefits we were just forced to endure.
TWU officers will still get raises this year because other members of the TWU in other industries were able to get pay raises.
If every single AA delegate voted against Sonny Hall they still could not vote out Sonny Hall or Jim Little, and, we have no way of verifying how they voted anyway.
Even if every single AA delegate voted against Sonny Hall we still could not gain control over our contract.
We still could not choose who signs our contract.
Gary Yingst and Bobby Gless have the power to make agreements with the company, in effect altering our agreement.
They are appointed by Jim Little who is in turn appointed by Sonny Hall who the entire membership of AA could not remove.
Can we vote out Sonny Halls secretary? NO, we cant even vote out Sonny Hall. At best we can hope that delegates that we elect can vote against Sonny Hall. But even if they did, we have no way of knowing how they voted.
If AMFAs members dont like what McCormick is doing they can vote out Delle and vote in someone who will terminate the contract. The members get Direct votes. The member gets accountability.
TWU 190,000 members? OK if you say so, thats makes AA workers an even smaller, more insignificant minority within the TWU.
Of all the members within the TWU, AA employees have the worst deal. Because we have around twenty locals in one agreement the agreement is not the property of any particular local, its the Internationals agreement. Whereas all other Locals within the TWU (to my knowledge) directly participte in negotiations and sign off on the actual agreement our agreement and negotiations are conducted through the International and Jim Little signs off on it. Neither entity is accountable via a membership vote. No locals at AA have power over the contract. In other Locals if the members are unhappy with the agreement they can hold the person who negotiated and signed it accountable. At AA we are denied any accountability.
The fact is for over 20 years the TWUATD at AA has been the leader in concessions throughout the airline industry. They have also seen increased membership over this period. It seems that the TWU has no plan to get us better wages and benefits, surely 20 years should have been enough time to develope a plan? It seems that the TWU is content to sacrifice our living standards in order to swell membership. The question is "Isnt a union supposed to act in the best interests of its membership?" Is belonging to a larger union more of a benefit than higher wages and better benefits? If thats the case then why are we in the TWU? The TWU is a small union. A small union that has such a broad spectrum of members that it fails all of them. If being in a big union is the most important thing then we should join the SEIU. Has not the position of the labor movement always been to increase wages and benefits?
For over 20 years, in good times and bad this union has been the leader in concessions. What kind of future can be expected from a union that for over 20 years has been giving concessions? It must also be noted that over this same twenty year period not only has AA tripled in size, seen dramatic increases in productivity but also saw is most profitable years ever. In the meantime we have consistantly given up benefits and lost buying power.
The TWU sells the idea of huge, industry leading concessions in exchange for jobs, yet we still have people getting laid off. Their arguement for concessions falls right in line with what opponents of the minimum wage and RTW say. The TWU and opponents of the minimum wage and RTW all tout lower wages as a means to decrease unemployment, in other words to save jobs.
How can you, as a "Union Man" reconcile this contradiction?
Are you so brainwashed by these clowns that you dont see it?
Is your devotion to the "TWU" so intense that it justifies lies and distortions?
Do you really feel that the members deserve to be lied to?
If you have to lie to defend the organization shouldnt that be a clue to the fact that something is drastically wrong?
A few weeks back the TWU sent us a paper listing their #1 reason why they feel we should stay with the TWU; AFL-CIO Affiliation.
OK, how did that help us last APRIL?
Do you really think that the government could have afforded to let the majority of the airline industry cease to operate?
Isnt the AFL-CIO in dissary over ULICO and other issues?
The working people of this country have been losing for over twenty years. We have been losing for over twenty years but the last time we fought back by depriving the company of our labor was 1969, over thirty years ago.
How has AFL-CIO affiliation helped stem our losses?
What is the TWU's plan?
Answer- Stop the AMFA drive ,continue the dues flow and continue to give its host companies lower costs than other unions-PERIOD. They have no plan to make things better for us.
