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NEWS & LETTERS, September-October 2005Northwest mechanics walk out shadowed by scabsMemphis, Tenn.--We’re with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), on strike against Northwest Airlines (NWA). We entered negotiations in May. About a month ago our contract negotiations with them went all to pot. About 11 hours before the strike deadline on the Aug. 19, Northwest processed us all out, called our other shifts and told them not to come in. They had their "conflict replacements" on the property almost two hours before the strike deadline. The main issue is job security. The company wants to lay off 81% of our membership and cut 50% of our benefits. We could see that there were tough times, especially after September 11, 2001. They approached us with a pay cut we thought was excessive. They wanted 25.7%. United Airlines was already in bankruptcy, yet they was taking back "only" a little over 18%. NWA said that is what we need, and that is what we are going to get. We told them that we could figure 16.1%. About a month later, we came up with $176 million, exactly what they told us they needed, but by then it wasn’t enough. At that point we had in our minds NWA had no intention of dealing with us. When they came back to the table, they told us things had changed because of the fuel crisis and Hurricane Katrina. They wanted over 28%, $203 million. And instead of laying off 53%, they wanted to lay off almost 75% of the membership. Our basic thing was not over money, but over having jobs on the property. We started out with 9,200 people. We are down to 5,500, and they want to go to 1,080, basically in Minneapolis, Detroit and Duluth. They want to give all the scabs seniority over us. Now they are in bankruptcy. Other employee groups realize that when NWA finishes negotiating with us, they are going to come after them. Quite a few walked around the upper level of the airport in a solidarity picket. They gave us food, water, ice. The UAWs donated $880,000 to AMFA members. IBEW and UAW have walked with us, the Coalition of Black Workers have supported us. Flight attendants have supported us in their press statements. There is nobody that has any kind of training down in the pit. They are begging for people that have qualifications. I went down there and looked at all the problems they were having with the airplanes. The mechanics would go up on the airplane and not know what to do. Then they would have to get a manager, and we have managers that have no clue what needs to be done. You have airplanes going out with the oil cap open or service doors up and somebody catching them at the last minute. Personally, I would not put my family on one of those airplanes. If an airplane is delayed maintenance-wise, it’s a "schedule change." If they have to cancel a flight, they say it was due to something else, not the maintenance. They thought that when we walked off the property they would get 30% of the people to cross the picket line the first day, and 50% the second day. We have only got seven who have crossed the line. We picket scabs’ houses. To me a scab is the lowest thing in the world. Look at us here on the picket line, none of us have jobs, some of us are running low on money. When we walked out that door, it was like a big weight was lifted, because they lied to us over and over. Finally now we know what is going on. My daddy said that if you can sleep at night because you are not worried about what you did during the day, then you are a good man. Well, I can sleep at night. I hope and pray that nothing bad will happen to those who get on those airplanes and don’t know what is going on. --Striking mechanics |
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