The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.63/No.28           August 16, 1999 
 
 
TWA Workers Approve Contract, Fight On For Better Wages, Benefits  

BY BETSEY STONE
ST. LOUIS - "I was fighting to get something better." That was the reaction of ramp worker Rodrigo Castellanos to the news that all three union groups at TWA -mechanics and baggage handlers, flight attendants, and public service agents, had approved the company's latest contract offer.

When officials of International Association of International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 142 announced the results of the election July 22, they declined give the vote totals. So workers remain in the dark about how close the vote was.

What is clear to Castellanos and other baggage handlers at the company's hub here in St. Louis is there is a lot of discontent among TWA workers with the contract.

When the agreement was first announced in St. Louis-area newspapers, there were articles touting the "double-digit" wage raises as a gain for workers. But, as Castellanos points out, when workers looked at the small print they found much of the raise cancelled by the removal of bonuses promised in an earlier offer.

"We still remain below the average in the airline industry," he said.

In the last three contracts - in 1986, 1992, and 1994 - TWA workers took big cuts. And they have been working without a new contract since l997. Yet no provisions have been made for back pay.

Jerry Nichols, a ramp worker for 18 years, was one of many who say they voted no. He is concerned about the lack of significant improvement in company contributions to the pension plan, contributions that were frozen in 1992 for seven years.

Nichols also pointed out the contract does not address the problem of forced overtime, which is getting worse. "We are 60 to 70 workers short," he explains. "When they are short TWA tells people they have to work a double." New hires who lack seniority are hit the hardest. Many are quitting over this issue, Nichols said.

Another issue that concerns workers is a provision that opens the way for a nonunion work force at so-called "focus" stations -stations that are slated to grow in the number of employees in coming years.

TWA workers have been battling for a decent contract since 1997 when the previous contract ran out. In the past 18 months they have walked off the job three times, effectively crippling TWA operations.

This is the second vote on a contract in recent months. The earlier offer was going to be defeated so overwhelmingly that the company did not wait for the vote to be completed before going back to the bargaining table.

In the earlier vote workers approved authorization to strike. The union also threatened to boycott targeted TWA flights if an agreement could not be reached.

There was a lot of pressure on TWA workers to accept the latest offer. Prominent politicians in the St. Louis area, most notably U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, played a role in the negotiations. Before the workers had a chance to vote, these politicians, businessmen, area newspapers, university "labor experts," and top IAM officials all lauded the contract as the best TWA could do.

The highly publicized annual losses posted by TWA for the past 10 years were a factor in influencing many of those workers who voted "yes." Workers were told that if they voted "no," they were voting to not have a job because TWA would be forced out of business.

The new contract runs out in l8 months. "The fight will continue," Castellanos said.

Betsey Stone is a member of IAM Local 1487 in Chicago.

 
 
 
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