It was doomed from the beginning. But the leadership couldn't put their tail between their legs and run. So, the lemmings did what they were told and now they are starting to pull their heads out of the sand. They are starting to realize that there is another side of this story and not just what they have been told from the union. The "leadership" in the AMFA is a joke. :down:
Well one thing is clear that day for day the guys at NWA are still ahead of us as far as income. If they have ZERO income for 9 months then I will start to pass them up, but thats not likely to happen.
Every mechanic in the industry, especially those at AA are indebted to AMFA at NWA. If not for them we would all be making even less than we are. All AA mechanics need to do is compare their situation to other workers in the same union at the same company. At AA most workers hourly rate is less than it was in 2001 but mechanics hourly rate is still higher. Why? Because thanks to AMFA the lapdog TWU had to bring back what AMFA brought back at NWA. AMFA was able to get mechanics the biggest increases they ever saw. The same thing happened at UAL and other carriers too. Other workers who didnt have anything like AMFA or ALPA or the AFA saw very moderate increases because the business unions that represented those workers knew that those workers had nowhere to go anyway.
The fact is we are all doomed if we dont do something soon. The first step is to get rid of these useless unions that only know how to give concessions like the IAM and TWU.
The IAM is dying, why would anyone want to stay with them? Between their last two conventions they reportedly lost 25% of their members.
The TWU is too small, too split up and too corrupt to offer us any hope. I see that the AFL-CIO recently decided that airline workers needed a break and locked the TWU out of raiding for the NWA FAs. The first good thing they did in a long time.
Back when I was campaigning to get all the AFL-CIO unions to merge their ATDS my contact from the AFL-CIO later conceeded that the only way we could unite all the airline workers was to leave all the AFL-CIO unions, for a new one, then come back. He admitted that he did not believe that any of the heads of the AFL-CIO unions that represent airline workers would be interested in merging all airline workers into one powerful union even though they all would admit that its a good idea.
The reason why is clear, DUES.
Airline workers, because they fall under the RLA do not fall under state RTW laws and must pay dues as a condition of employment if they have a union security clause. This means these unions can put minimal effort and resourses to their airline members and do not have to worry that members will stop paying dues. So airline workers are a very good source of dues for a business union.
Business unions also dont have to worry about members defecting to another union, AFL-CIO affiliation protects them from raids, thats why they hate AMFA so much.
AMFAs presence forced those business unions to be accountable to the M&R members.
So any union that has a nice chuck of Airline workers has a guaranteed dues flow, as long as they keep the carrier alive where THEY have members. And they will strive to do that at ANY price (to the members).
The lack of accountability to the members, protection from raiding and dependancy on particular carriers is what has led to the utter decimation of workers living standards in this industry. Unions competed in a race to the bottom, all except one-AMFA. In a race to the bottom all workers lose. The winners are the companies and the leadership of the unions that retain the most dues flow.
The Pilots have ALPA, the Flight Attendants have the AFA, it looks like the NWA Flight attendants will be going there soon, unfortunately their drive to professional solidarity will be blocked by the TWU which represents SWA Flight Attendants. These workers may see a rebound in the future.The mechanics still have AMFA but the other ground workers have nothing. They have no coherant structure or organization that specializes in representing airline ground workers. They have no hope whatsoever. The AGW never took off and the Teamsters dont seem too interested in following the plan that they laid out when they joined with the SEIU and left the AFL-CIO. So what can you expect in the future? More of the same, more concessions and more excuses from inept corrupt union officials who happen to be paid very well.
The latest propsal from NWA to the IAM is only a glimpse into your future. A future where your peers on the airport who do the same job as you are all split up between several business unions. All you need to do is find the lowest paid worker who does what you do and you will see where you are headed. It may not happen all at once, but with this fractured corrupt labor movement it will happen.
At JFK the TWU represents baggage handlers that make minimum wage. The TWU doesnt care about these workers. The dues rate is low but the company hires a lot of part timers, so they end up with more dues payers. Another benifit to the Union is that the high turnover rate means more initiation fees. Initiation fees can be as high as $100, while the monthly dues rate can be as low as $12. So they get nearly a years worth of dues up front. So despite the fact that the TWU offers these workers nothing, the TWU picks up a nice profit from having them.
The fact is that you need to act now. You need to talk to other workers at other carriers and get everyone on the same page. You need to get everyone that does what you do into the same union but your options are few. You can either try and convince the IBT to give it a try or revive the AGW. The choice is yours.
