In the face of US Airways' concession demands, 7,000 maintenance workers represented by the IAM were preparing for a possible strike when the government-mandated 30-day "cooling off" period ends at midnight, September 25. A new T-shirt, inspired by one produced in the company's other big hub in Charlotte earlier this summer, made its way around the maintenance hangers in Pittsburgh. It said, "I'll Strike If Provoked!"

The mechanics, cleaners and stores workers at the country's sixth largest airline rejected an earlier concessionary contract proposed in July by a vote of 75 percent, and a strike authorization vote passed by an 81 percent margin. In negotiations following that vote the company stepped up its demands for concessions, triggering an impasse in the federally-mediated talks and beginning the 30-day countdown on August 27.

The brief highlights of the proposed contract that have been made available on the union's web page include increased signing bonus and rates of pay. But the concessionary features objected to in the earlier proposal — part-time cleaners, mandatory overtime for deicing, and the pay parity scheme — are still in the agreement, although in a "modified" form. Workers are just beginning to discuss this initial information. A date for a vote on the proposal hasn't been set as of this time.

Going into the negotiations that restarted September 13 and continued this week, negotiators for the airline were seeking the right to have workers other than mechanics and cleaners do deicing, receipt and dispatch of planes and between-flight cleaning. They want to eliminate restrictions on station closings and real estate provisions which help workers who are forced to move as a result of station closings. The work rule changes the company wants could eliminate 1,500 jobs among these workers.

In a letter to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, mechanic Curtis Atwell explained that removing mechanics from the line is a safety issue. "We confer with the pilots and perform a walk-around inspection of each incoming aircraft. It is our job to confirm the mechanical integrity of each aircraft we meet," he wrote.

The company is also demanding the use of part-time cleaners for the first time. In the earlier rejected agreement, those provisions had new cleaners earning $203 per week, if they get the maximum of 25 hours work, and required them to pay the full cost of medical benefits for their families. Many cleaners fear that the company will try to win acceptance for these provisions by creating divisions among the different classifications of workers.

"Mechanics and utility have to stick together on all the issues, specifically part- time. There has to be solidarity. The company is depending on us being divided," said Janine Love.

In Philadelphia, where US Airways has hired a large number of cleaners, some workers believe the company will try to take advantage of their four-and-a-half month probation to pressure them to work in the event of a strike. "I would never cross the picket line, because I understand what the issues are," one cleaner still on probation said. "When my probation is over I will benefit from what they are fighting for. These big corporations work you, use you, and treat you like garbage. Once we're divided, it's easier for them to break us," she added. The IAM says that workers on probation will be part of the back to work agreement.

The union was initially asking for annual 4 percent raises. The company, however, wants to limit pay raises to a parity scheme based on wages at other airlines, including nonunion Delta. Pilots and fleet service workers already have the "parity" clause in their contracts, and the company wants to continue that pattern with other work groups as a way of keeping wages down.

Among the bargaining units who have yet to reach a settlement with the company are 10,000 customer service agents represented by the Communication Workers of America, and 8,300 flight attendants represented by the Association of Flight Attendants. The flight attendants showed their level of organization and determination at this year's Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh where their contingent of around 150 maintained spirited chanting throughout the march and distributed bags of peanuts to onlookers with tags saying "We get peanuts, they get big bucks", referring to US Airways Chairman Stephen Wolf and CEO Rakesh Gangwal, who earned $16.5 million and $15.1 million respectively last year, plus options worth millions more.

One of the chants marchers repeated throughout the march was "We support the IAM", which was not lost on IAM members marching in contingents directly in front of the flight attendants. The AFA had scheduled membership meetings September 23 through 25 in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Charlotte prior to a decision by union leaders whether to honor IAM picket lines in the event of a strike. According to an arbitration ruling the AFA can legally honor the picket lines without the threat of an injunction. Flight attendants will mark 1,000 days without a contract on September 27 and will begin a public campaign of informational picketing and leafleting.

Wolf and Gangwal have been criticized in the business press lately for operational decisions that have caused widespread flight cancellations, higher costs, and the plummeting price of US Airways stock. Workers in particular point to the company's decision to close three of its six heavy maintenance bases in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, NC, and Roanoke, VA, forcing 1,400 workers to transfer. This angered many workers, who had to move or commute long distances to work, and led the company to withdraw the equivalent of 14 planes from service because necessary maintenance couldn't be done.

Many workers feel this puts the union in a more favorable negotiating position. "The company's feeling problems now that they brought on themselves", Greg Conjeski, a cleaner in Pittsburgh said. "If we take a pay cut now, or lose other things, what's going to happen next time?" he asked.

The union is in a stronger position, too, because fleet service workers, who were not represented by any union during the last strike by maintenance workers in 1992, are also members of the IAM and have a contract which allows them to honor other employees' picket lines.

The resistance by workers at US Airways is attracting attention from workers throughout the airline industry, especially where workers are facing or preparing for contract fights. "It's a very serious situation if US Airways is bringing out the part-time issue", stated Allan Miller, who works as a mechanic at the Northwest maintenance base in Atlanta. "The airline industry would like to go that way with all of our jobs, if they could. Part-time work only benefits the company. The US Airways mechanics and cleaners have my support," he said. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) now represents the 9,000 mechanics and cleaners at Northwest.

Flight attendants at Northwest, who are members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, overwhelmingly rejected a tentative contract by a vote of 6,108 to 2,727 in August. American Airlines flight attendants, who are organized by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, voted down a tentative agreement by a margin of 73 percent September 17.

Dave Welters is a member of IAM Local 1976 in Pittsburgh. Becca Arenson and Nancy Cole in Philadelphia and Arlene Rubenstein in Atlanta also contributed to the article.  
 
 
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