BY ARLENE RUBINSTEIN AND MIKE ITALIE
ATLANTA - There is rising dissatisfaction among cleaners,
mechanics, ramp workers, and others organized by the
International Association of Machinists (IAM) at Northwest
Airlines.
On July 29, IAM members rejected a tentative agreement whose wage package and work-rule changes the rank-and-file saw as an insult. The Machinists voted 92 percent in favor of authorizing a strike and since August the IAM has called on the National Mediation Board (NMB) to release the union from mediation and begin a countdown to a possible strike.
But just as IAM members were saying "Enough!" to the company's concessions, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), a company-minded outfit that masquerades as a union, announced it had collected enough cards from Northwest mechanics to call for a vote on whether they wanted to split from the IAM and join AMFA. AMFA's move and timing aims to divide and pit workers against each other. It is part of a more general campaign by the company to weaken the IAM and defeat any resistance coming from the unions. Northwest has amassed a $3 billion-dollar war chest for this purpose.
AMFA is not unique. The bosses at AirTran tried to organize a company "union" as a part of their response to recent strike preparations by the Association of Flight Attendants, in addition to hiring replacement workers and threatening to fire flight attendants if they struck. Another example is the use of goons to beat up supporters of the United Farm Workers among strawberry pickers in Watsonville, California. Along with physical intimidation, the growers have a "union" for the farm workers to join, which is counterposed to the UFW.
AMFA revealed its true colors when the IAM requested to be released to strike by the NMB on Aug. 31, 1998. Rather than support this move to limit government control over workers' right to strike, AMFA proposes to suspend further negotiations until their representation election can be completed.
In a letter to the National Mediation Board responding to the IAM's request to be released to strike, the company stated, "Northwest believes that the practical implications of the pending AMFA election will make it difficult, if not impossible, to have meaningful negotiations at this time." Further delays, after 24 months of failed government mediated talks, would serve only one purpose - to thwart workers' ability to strike and buy time for the company.
Unlike the IAM, AMFA did not support the striking pilots. In fact, the September 4 AMFA hot-line complained that the NMB delayed the AMFA election because of the pilots' strike. The taped message stated "What impact does the pilots' strike have on our elections? The answer is nothing."
When 6,200 pilots struck the carrier on August 28, some workers at the DC-9 maintenance base here saw it as round one. "This is our fight," stated mechanic José Cornado. "If the company gets tough with the pilots, we should fight this together and show that we're united." It's no coincidence that the response of many AMFA supporters here to the pilots' strike had much in common with Northwest's media blitz, claiming that the pilots are greedy and childish for asking for more money and that "Northwest cannot afford an industry leading contract."
Most of the 27,000 members of the IAM at Northwest were laid off by the company when the pilots struck. "The company laid us off so that we would have nothing to fight with, so they could divide and conquer," stated Mike Brown, a cleaner in the Engine Shop at the Atlanta hangar. "The longer the pilots stay out the more the company will be hurting. The company is trying to scare the IAM by prolonging the pilots' strike. Support for the pilots is the most important thing for the IAM right now," he added.
AMFA's position, however, is that mechanics will make gains by helping the company drive down the wages and benefits of other workers. According to Terry Tindall, 32, who works in the Machine Shop here, crew meetings prior to the layoff became weekly debates - IAM vs. AMFA. "The body of people were being divided just when we needed to be together most," he said. Tindall stated that "a pro-AMFA steward said that he thought Northwest ramp workers make `too much.' Besides, he bragged the company is willing to pay mechanics more."
AMFA claims mechanics are victims of supposed IAM "partiality toward the unskilled (majority)." One of their flyers states "How many more injustices must the mechanics endure before they sign an AMFA card to separate from the IAM/unskilled?"
This is not a new pitch. Prior to the 1989-91 Eastern Airlines strike, union-busting boss Frank Lorenzo offered mechanics at the airline a smaller pay cut than ramp workers and others organized by the IAM. This was an attempt to get the mechanics to break ranks with their union brothers and sisters, instead of standing together to fight Lorenzo and his union busting.
If the company succeeds, with AMFA's help, in forcing a rotten contract on ramp and clerical workers, it will then be in a stronger position to beat down the mechanics as well. Northwest has already begun to farm out maintenance work and its partner in a new airline alliance, Continental Airlines contracts out almost all of its maintenance.
AMFA was defeated in a 1991 representation election at Northwest. Looking back on that experience Willie Turnipseed, 39, a stock clerk with 16 years overall at Northwest, commented, "I didn't feel the need to go to any of AMFA's meetings or to listen to anything else this time around. In their last campaign, it came out that they only wanted `skilled' employees like mechanics and it was the court that said that they had to take cleaners. I don't think they have changed their minds. They just want to get in and want the cleaners' vote," he concluded.
"It's clearly true that mechanics have a lot of bargaining power, but that's beside the point. We have the right to support our families and ourselves with a decent wage," stated Mike Brown. "AMFA is company-oriented. Their main goal is to bust the IAM. Listen, anybody can call themselves a union. But workers need to know history," he said.
Arlene Rubinstein and Mike Italie are members of the IAM at Northwest Airlines in Atlanta.