The Teamsters instead of AMFA?
At this time I have seen nothing to indicate that that would be a good choice.
Hoffa claims that the Teamsters will fight against outsourcing, yet at those carriers where the Teamsters already represent mechanics they have not been successful at bringing work in house. Just look at Continental, UPS and SWA, where the mechanics ousted the Teamsters in favor of AMFA a few years ago, none of them have as much insourced work as UAL.
The Teamsters have done a good job at UPS and SWA as far as wages, where they set industry standards, but those are special circumstances. UPS mechanics benifit from being aligned with the militant pro-Carey faction of the IBT. Under Carey UPS led the last successful major strike in this country-thats why our corporate controlled government ran him out of the IBT. Hoffa on the other hand led the Overnight Trucking debacle and if my memory is correct supported Bush for President, in the hopes that by picking the winning side government oversight would be eased up-he was wrong. He is still a lapdog. SWA pays everyone the best so the fact that the mechanics voted them out should say more than the contract that was put in place while they were there. Continental is better off than TWU represented workers at AA but thats not exactly an endorsement. The fact is that all three of those carriers do very little overhaul and in all the years the IBT has been there, and with all the resources at their disposal they have done nothing to change that, yet, here they are criticizing AMFA for the concessions that the IAM put in place that allowed UAL to send out overhaul work.
The IBT has no particular interest in A&P mechanics or airline workers. They are simply opportunists seeking dues.They may have left the AFL-CIO but they have long since abandoned the mission statement of the "United We Win" coalition. Its business unionism as usual with the IBT. When workers at AA contacted the IBT about representation the IBT sent a letter to the TWU assuring them that they had no interest in representing the workers at AA. So why is the IBT all of a sudden interested in A&P mechanics at UAL? Simply because they are pissed that AMFA replaced them at SWA and they are trying to use you guys as a means of getting back at AMFA. They could care less about you guys and the guys selling it are just trying to make a bed for themselves.
Tell the IBT that you know of a group of workers that are really unhappy with the union they have and that after they go and get them, then maybe you will consider trading in your craft union for a business union.
When the IBT starts to act like a real union and is willing to step on the toes of the AFL-CIO and offer workers a choice of representation then maybe they would be worth considering, until then, you are better off staying with a union that you control. Give the guys over at SWA a call and ask them why they ousted the IBT before you jump in.