Severian
23rd August 2005, 20:46
Thousands of mechanics and cleaners are on strike against Northwest Airlines, resisting deep company demands...clearly they had little choice. They're organized by the Airline Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), a craft union.
The airline proposed "to fire all 600 of its cleaners and custodians and to pare mechanic jobs to 2,350 from 3,600." according to Bloomberg News Service. Presumably the eliminated workers would be replaced by subcontractors who pay their employees much less.
It still marks a break with the depressing pattern in the airline industry lately, where one group of workers after another has accepted deep concession in order to try to keep their employers in business....the Northwest mechanics have shown great courage by striking in the face of such a desperate situation.
Apparently Northwest sought to provoke a strike in order to completely break the union;
[Northwest] management assured the Bush administration that it did not want the president to convene a Presidential Emergency Board, which could order workers back to their jobs in case of a strike, as outlined in the Railway Labor Act. Instead, the airline said, it wanted the chance to carry out its plan.
Last week, White House officials said President George W. Bush did not plan to intervene, because the strike did not threaten to disrupt the national transportation system.
NYT (http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/22/business/northwest.php)
Both Democratic and Republican administrations have jumped to intervene and ban strikes when the company has wanted them to, of course. The article highlights other government assistance to Northwest against the union.
And lays out how thoroughly Northwest prepared for the strike; it began training scab mechanics weeks in advance.
Also scab flight attendants, in case union flight attendants refused to cross the mechanics' and cleaners' picket lines.
They're still working, and other unions at Northwest apparently didn't even consider solidarity action. Partly this reflects the bureaucrats' narrow dues-base mentality; they're getting back at AMFA bureaucrats for their raiding operations against the International Association of Machinists(IAM). But as even the Washington Post can see (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201410.html), if Northwest succeeds in replacing the mechanics, that pattern will be used against other workers...at Northwest and other airlines. That article also lays out just how isolated AMFA is, unfortunately.
It also reflects how AMFA's craft-union approach has deliberately divided workers. At one time all workers on the ground at Northwest belonged to one union, the IAM. AMFA convinced mechanics to split off on the basis that they were so "skilled" they didn't need solidarity; the "unskilled" ramp workers, fuelers, etc. were just holding them back. AMFA was aided in this by many workers' frustration with the IAM officials' pro-company stance; AMFA has used more militant rhetoric.
I'd say Northwest is in the process of proving AMFA's approach wrong; nobody is so skilled as to be irreplaceable.
Solidarity, on the other hand, is irreplaceable. It's the only thing which might possibly enable the strikers to hold out and ultimately defeat Northwest's plans to replace them.
For a start, I'd encourage everyone in a city where there are striking workers to visit the picket lines, discuss the fight with strikers and find out what else you can do to help. The Twin Cities and Memphis, Northwests' hubs, are probably the biggest centers of the strike, but there will probably be strikers in other cities as well.
The airline proposed "to fire all 600 of its cleaners and custodians and to pare mechanic jobs to 2,350 from 3,600." according to Bloomberg News Service. Presumably the eliminated workers would be replaced by subcontractors who pay their employees much less.
It still marks a break with the depressing pattern in the airline industry lately, where one group of workers after another has accepted deep concession in order to try to keep their employers in business....the Northwest mechanics have shown great courage by striking in the face of such a desperate situation.
Apparently Northwest sought to provoke a strike in order to completely break the union;
[Northwest] management assured the Bush administration that it did not want the president to convene a Presidential Emergency Board, which could order workers back to their jobs in case of a strike, as outlined in the Railway Labor Act. Instead, the airline said, it wanted the chance to carry out its plan.
Last week, White House officials said President George W. Bush did not plan to intervene, because the strike did not threaten to disrupt the national transportation system.
NYT (http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/22/business/northwest.php)
Both Democratic and Republican administrations have jumped to intervene and ban strikes when the company has wanted them to, of course. The article highlights other government assistance to Northwest against the union.
And lays out how thoroughly Northwest prepared for the strike; it began training scab mechanics weeks in advance.
Also scab flight attendants, in case union flight attendants refused to cross the mechanics' and cleaners' picket lines.
They're still working, and other unions at Northwest apparently didn't even consider solidarity action. Partly this reflects the bureaucrats' narrow dues-base mentality; they're getting back at AMFA bureaucrats for their raiding operations against the International Association of Machinists(IAM). But as even the Washington Post can see (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201410.html), if Northwest succeeds in replacing the mechanics, that pattern will be used against other workers...at Northwest and other airlines. That article also lays out just how isolated AMFA is, unfortunately.
It also reflects how AMFA's craft-union approach has deliberately divided workers. At one time all workers on the ground at Northwest belonged to one union, the IAM. AMFA convinced mechanics to split off on the basis that they were so "skilled" they didn't need solidarity; the "unskilled" ramp workers, fuelers, etc. were just holding them back. AMFA was aided in this by many workers' frustration with the IAM officials' pro-company stance; AMFA has used more militant rhetoric.
I'd say Northwest is in the process of proving AMFA's approach wrong; nobody is so skilled as to be irreplaceable.
Solidarity, on the other hand, is irreplaceable. It's the only thing which might possibly enable the strikers to hold out and ultimately defeat Northwest's plans to replace them.
For a start, I'd encourage everyone in a city where there are striking workers to visit the picket lines, discuss the fight with strikers and find out what else you can do to help. The Twin Cities and Memphis, Northwests' hubs, are probably the biggest centers of the strike, but there will probably be strikers in other cities as well.