Tag Archives: American Airlines

This S#*^ Needs To Stop Before We Completely Destroy Each Other

  By Matt Murray | June 8, 2013 - 7:01 am | ,
Comments
Transportation Workers Union Logo -TWU

Secretly I have been watching the situation unfold at US Airways.  No I am not taking a trip. I have been following this because I am very dishearten to hear that the Teamsters are moving in to try to take the representation rights away from the Transportation Workers Union.

I was first alerted to this when I got a press release with this title, “Teamsters Raid on American Airlines Mechanics and Related Workers”.  If you follow this blog regularly you probably already know that I did not post this press release like I do with many others.

Labor unions have serious problems in the eyes of the public. Many see us as outdated, worthless organizations that only promote laziness.  Those of us who work inside labor movement know this is the farthest thing from the truth.  Yet actions like this from the Teamster are dangerous to our movement.  I want to make it very, very clear. I have great respect for all of the Teamsters I know.  They are very hard-working men and women.  The IBT has had it fair share of ups and downs over the years but anyone who stands up for workers is a winner in my book.

However I disagree greatly with this move by the IBT to go after jobs that are currently represented by the TWU.  This make no sense whatsoever.  We need to expand our ranks, not cannibalize them.  This is also a very bad time to try to take these members away.  US Airways and American Airlines are in the middle of a merger.  When companies merge, there are usually job losses.  Change unions during this delicate negotiation process could result in even more job losses.

The TWU Air Transport Director Garry Drummond had this to say about the upcoming elections:

“Many mechanics signed cards calling for an election between unions because they believe in democracy, ironically a vote for the Teamsters means that democracy would be suspended. If the Teamsters were to become the bargaining agent, under federal labor law, elections for new local leaders wouldn’t happen for as long as three years. Meanwhile critical negotiations with the ‘new’ American Airlines will take place before the end of the year. Workers at the new American would be voiceless during these crucial contract talks.”

I am reminded of the problems that the IBT has been having with Republic Airlines. They have gone for years now working without a contract. They even threatened to strike.  Now is not the time to switch from one representative to another.

Workers deserve a voice in the workplace and these workers have already chosen who will represent them. Now the IBT is using the same tactics of the vulture capitalist that unions protect workers from.  This corporate raiding is wrong and needs to stop.  Let me reiterate, I have nothing against the IBT overall, I disagree with this raid on the US Airways workers.  I hope for the sake of all the workers involved that the TWU retains their representation rights and this matter is ended.

We need to be working together, not fighting each other.  We are all in this fight together.  We all want what is best for the workers.  This S@#$ has to stop.

Transport Workers and Machinist Union to Jointly Represent Ground Workers at the “New” American Airlines

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 14, 2013 - 9:56 pm | , , ,
Comments
TWU and IAM Logo
TWU and IAM Logo

TWU and IAM Logo

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) today announced a partnership to jointly represent nearly 30,000 ground workers at the “new” American Airlines following the merger of American Airlines and US Airways.

This week the two international unions have signed joint agreements to cover the Mechanic & Related, Fleet Service, and Stores employee work groups at the soon to be merged airline. The new labor partnership, to be known as the TWU/IAM Employee Association, will ask the federal National Mediation Board (NMB) to hold elections among the combined employees for each classification after the close of the American-US Airways merger.  The election will formalize the joint-council agreement reached this week.

“I am proud that our two great unions put the members first in a true demonstration of solidarity,” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “These agreements protect our members’ representation, pensions and seniority. Working jointly with the TWU, we will ensure both unions’ members are rewarded in this merger.”

“This agreement allows us to use our combined strength and resources on behalf of all our members as we move forward at the new American Airlines,” said TWU International President James C. Little.  “Both unions have decades of experience representing workers at US Airways and American Airlines and both unions are members of the AFL-CIO.”

Following certification, negotiating committees comprised of an equal number of representatives from each union will begin working out the details of collective bargaining agreements to cover the combined carriers’ employees.

The accords reached this week, designate which union will enforce a post-merger agreement in specific cities, as well as providing a mechanism to designate contract enforcement responsibilities if the carrier expands to new markets.

The IAM currently represents Mechanic and Related, Fleet Service, and Stores employees at US Airways; TWU represents these classifications at American. TWU also currently represents aircraft dispatchers, flight crew training instructors and flight simulator engineers at both airlines. Additionally, IAM represents Maintenance Instructors at US Airways.

The full agreements and a Question and Answer document are available at both the IAM website www.usaamerger.com and at the Transport Workers Union’s website: www.twu.org.

Why It Is So Important For American Airlines Workers To Hold Union Election

  By New Hampshire Labor News | November 22, 2012 - 4:00 pm |
Comments
8205214225_f2404b6fc4
Sixteen former and current American Airlines passenger
service agents lobby Senate offices.  Credit CWA Union

American Airlines has been pushing back against their employee unions for quite a while now.  They recently resolved their dispute with the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) to avoid possible strikes and airline shutdowns.   However they are continuing to push back against service agents who are awaiting the upcoming election of CWA as their employee union.

This election has been very ugly. American Airlines have been doing every possible thing they can to delay the election with the hope that it would never happen at all.   They have even been ‘outsourcing’ agent jobs.  They are hiring inadequate contractor to clean their planes, and check in passengers.

With the help of CWA, workers are taking their case straight to Washington D.C.  Below is a recent post from the CWA Union Blog that explains what they are doing and why it is so important to hold these elections.

Below: Agents and their supporters rally
outside American Airlines Washington office.
2_American_Rally

Original Post from CWA 

American Airlines passenger service agents aren’t backing down.

On Friday, 16 former and current employees — including some who were even facing layoffs at the close of business — visited U.S. Senate offices to raise awareness about American Airlines’ dirty campaign to delay their right to vote in a union election. Then the agents and CWA supporters rallied outside American Airlines’ lobbying office in Washington, D.C., to focus public attention on the airline’s anti-democratic campaign to stop the vote.

American Airlines’ actions have shown that it doesn’t care much about its workers or passengers. AMR, the airline’s parent company that filed for bankruptcy last year, continues to outsource jobs across its system, hiring low-paid contractors for hundreds of gate and ramp agent positions at the height of the busiest holiday travel season of the year.

“My last day was Tuesday and they put us out on the street with nothing,” said Sylvia Solis, a former passenger service agent at Miami International Airport. “The outsourced people don’t know how to check in an infant, and they think JFK is London. They do not have the slightest airline industry background.”

Renee Similien had worked the First Class check-in counter at Logan Airport in Boston for the past 12 years until Friday, her last day of formal employment at American Airlines. She said she was working 50-60 hour weeks for the past several years saving for her child’s college tuition, and her salary maxed out at $50,000 a year. “Everyone who was at max pay was kicked out,” she said, adding that her replacement is currently making $9 an hour without benefits.

Following the orders of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the National Mediation Board scheduled an election for nearly 9,700 American Airlines agents to vote on union representation beginning December 4. Despite two determinations from the appeals court ordering that the vote go forward, American Airlines now is seeking a stay of those decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court.

AMR recently announced that since it filed for bankruptcy last November, it has spent over $200 million on fees and expenses related to the bankruptcy. Of that, AMR paid $19.5 million to the New York City-based law firm Paul Hastings LLP, to help the airline throw out existing union contracts and stop passenger service agents from voting in their democratic election.

Take 2 Minutes To Help Workers At American Airlines Find Their Collective Voice

  By New Hampshire Labor News | November 21, 2012 - 11:39 am | ,
Comments
american-airlines-unamerican

From Beth Allen, Communication Workers Of America

Normally I’d be excited to let you know that because of your support, workers at American Airlines will finally get to vote for union representation next month. But this vote has me worried.

American Airlines has used every trick in the book to deny their passenger service agents the chance to vote to join CWA. Heck, they’ve even written some new chapters, claiming in court that an election would cause “irreparable harm” to the company’s relations with its employees.

Each delay has given the airline time to lay off more workers and outsource more jobs. Now they’ve asked the Supreme Court to intervene to stop the election. If they get their way, there’s no guarantee that this election will ever happen.

American Airlines passenger service agents are in Washington today, meeting with members of Congress about the election delays. Support these workers by asking your members of Congress to tell American Airlines CEO Thomas Horton to stop the delays and let the agents vote.

Why do the workers want Congress to weigh in? Well, over the past year American Airlines’ actions have shown that it doesn’t care much about its workers or passengers. Outsourcing has not only led to job loss, but hundreds of flights have been delayed as undertrained contractors took over the jobs of experienced workers.

But Congress passes a lot of legislation that affects how airlines do business, so the opinions of members of Congress matter to CEOs like Thomas Horton.

During this long battle the National Mediation Board, the Department of Justice, and even the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has told American Airlines that the election must go forward.

It’s time to stop the delays. Send your letter today.
http://action.cwa-union.org/c/1372/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5048

American Airlines Service Agent Deserve A Voice Not To Be Outsourced

  By Matt Murray | November 13, 2012 - 9:30 pm | ,
Comments
AMR In Trouble

American Airlines is once again sticking it to their unions.

American Airlines (AMR) is still spending millions of dollars to block the service agents from holding their election.  The election would officially recognize the Communication Workers of America (CWA) as the sole representation of the workers.  This election has been held up for months due to a technicality over the percentage of people who say they want the union representation prior to the elections.

“We filed for this election almost a year ago and the company has been uncooperative from the beginning,” said CWA Organizing Director Sandy Rusher. “What are they afraid of? They know what we know – a union will give agents a voice and a seat at the table. Agents haven’t given up and we won’t give up on them.”

Two American Agents event went to Congress looking for assistance with this matter. See the video here.

No matter what American Airlines says the hard working agents are not giving up.  The agents and CWA have been fighting for their election for months and now they will finally get the vote they are asking for.

American Airlines agents will vote for representation beginning Dec. 4, when voting instructions will be mailed, and ending Jan. 15, 2013, under a schedule announced Nov. 1 by the National Mediation Board.

“After more than a year of needless delays, we finally can vote to form our own union, to secure a real voice on the job,” said Anne McCarthy, BOS. “It’s about time,” added Ted Tezino, SRO. “This shouldn’t have been in the courts in the first place. To all the agents out there who are undecided, I say wake up and see what’s going on! The company is not on our side.”

Ted is right American Airlines is not on their side.  A local Dallas TV station aired this story on the problems American Airlines is having with their third party contractor (embeded below).

The story highlights that the third party contractor may not have the proper clearance and credentials to access the secure side of the airport.  They have also been receiving numerous complaints on the work these contractors have been doing across the country.  These contractors are reportadly responsible for over 300 flight delays in their first two days.

These are only some of the horrors being brought to light about this outside contractor.

Agents for American Airlines need to know that without a union their jobs will be outsourced too.  AMR will cut your job, just to hire you back at less pay and no benefits.

Stand up for your rights and get out there and vote between Dec 4 th and
Dec 7 th.  Get all the information about how to vote and make your voice heard!

 

My name is Matt and I stand in solidarity with the Service Agents at CWA!

 

CWA For American Airlines Will Finally Get To Vote

  By New Hampshire Labor News | October 4, 2012 - 6:15 am | ,
Comments
CWA Logo

The Communications Workers of America commends the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. For passenger service agents at American Airlines, who have been fighting for a union voice for 15 years, this is extremely good news.

Today’s unanimous decision dismisses claims by American Airlines that have blocked the democratic election rights of nearly 10,000 passenger service agents for far too long.

The appeals court found that the lower court “erred in exercising jurisdiction.” Now, the National Mediation Board can go forward with the election process that had been wrongly denied American Airlines passenger service agents since they filed for union representation in December 2011. Those employees finally will have the opportunity to exercise their legal right to vote on union representation.

The same American Airlines executives who took the airline into bankruptcy with $4 billion in the bank, which now has grown to $ 8 billion, also spent millions trying to stop workers from exercising their democratic rights.

Passenger service agents look forward to the NMB setting a new election date as soon as possible.

“This was a big step towards being able to negotiate instead of having them dictate terms to us,” said Janet Elston, a veteran of 28 years as an American Airlines gate agent based at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. “It’s been grueling, it’s not easy, but it will be worth it once we have an election.”

Ted Tezino, who has worked for 11 years at American Airlines’ Southern Reservation Office, noted the bankruptcy has made their situation as employees clear;

“The company is not on our side, and it’s time to stand up for ourselves,” Tezino said.

This is a great step forward for the workers at American Airlines, across the country.  Workers will not get the chance to have a voice in their workplace and work towards bettering the lives the people who work so hard to make American Airlines run.

 

Service Agents Continue To Fight For Their Right To Vote For CWA

  By Matt Murray | August 13, 2012 - 2:00 pm |
Comments
aa cwa unamerican

It is hard to organize a single factory, now just imagine trying to organize more than 10,000 workers spread out over hundreds of airports across the country.   This is what the Communication Workers of America have been doing.  They have been working for the past year to organize the service agents at American Airlines.

If you are unfamiliar with the struggles between CWA and American Airlines the problem stems from a change to the law with the passage of  FAA Reauthorization in Feb, 2012.  The law now states they you must provide proof of 50% or more showing interest in the having representation from a union.  This was a change from 35% that is has been in the past.  Even though CWA and the AA Service Agents filed for the election in December, ”American Airlines claims that the new, higher threshold should be applied retroactively, despite the statements by the Senate authors of those provisions that the 50% threshold absolutely does not apply to the American Airlines election.”

Recently CWA released an update to their followers talking about some of the numbers effecting this battle.  Here are a couple that I found interesting.

10,000: American Airlines has been doing everything it can think of, legal and not, to stop nearly 10,000 passenger service agents from exercising their legal right to a union representation vote. 

$27,000: The average salary of an American Airlines’ home-based, full-time reservation agent. American is trying to shift many of its reservation agents to this category.

$4,182,800: The 2011 total compensation awarded to Tom Horton, President and CEO of AMR and American Airlines.

155: The number of full-time reservations agents, with average salaries ($27,000) pooled together, it would take to match the 2011 compensation of CEO Horton.

$1.175 million: The amount American Airlines has spent on the law firm fighting the National Mediation Board (NMB) against agents’ democratic right to vote (total since September 2011).

So as you can see numbers do not lie.  American Airlines says they are going bankrupt due to high labor costs and yet they have over 5 billion in the bank.  They continue to pay their CEO over $4 million dollars a year while they are refusing to increase workers wages.  They have used over $1.1 million dollars in 8 months in legal costs just to keep the union out.  Millions of dollars because the AA Board is worried these changes will effect their bottom line.  This is just one more example of the greedy corporations fighting to keep their workers down.  Its ok, I am sure that Tom Horton, CEO of AA is worth deserves than $2000 an hour while a service agent makes $500 a week.

 

Judge Decides To Block CWA Election

  By Matt Murray | June 23, 2012 - 12:26 am |
Comments

As if union organizing was not hard enough now the courts are making it even harder.  The Communication Workers of America have been working for over a year to organize the service agents at American Airlines.  Today the workers at American Airlines got a huge push, backwards.

“Today’s ruling by US District Court Judge Terry Means is a disgrace and a travesty of justice for 10,000 passenger service agents at American Airlines. The Court, despite a clear reiteration of congressional intent by the Senate authors of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization, determined that the 50 percent showing of interest standard should apply to agents who have been waiting for seven months for their lawful, democratic vote.”

The fact is that earlier this year Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization bill which modified the percentage of signed petitions are needed to call for an election.  This process can take years when you are dealing with a large corporation or in the case of American Airlines, vast geographical diversity.

CWA filed for an election prior to the passage of FAA Reauthorization actually passing in Congress.  However American Airlines is using this new law to push back against the union and stall the election process.  We all know that the longer they can stall the election process the more time they have to deceive the workers into voting against the union. ”American Airlines and the court continue to willfully misrepresent federal aviation law. In correspondence with American Airlines CEO Thomas Horton, Senators Reid, Rockefeller and Harkin made clear that retroactivity did not apply, and addressed this specific petition in their discussion on the Senate floor. Judge Means is ignoring these statements, but he cannot change the facts.” The Communications Workers of America immediately will appeal this decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

These agents have been denied their democratic right to vote, now by a District Court Judge. This is a travesty in a country that prides itself on democratic tradition.

“Here in America we’re taught to respect democracy and our right to vote. Sadly, the court’s decision today is an attack on the rights of these average Americans, agents who just want the opportunity to participate in a democratic election,” Sandy Rusher, CWA Organizing Director, said.