"We belong to the union now. When the union says we go back, we all go back together." This was typical of the statements by workers April 4, the first day of a strike against AeroThrust Corporation, a jet engine repair facility on the edge of Miami International Airport. The strikers are members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 1126.

With signs in English and Spanish, 110 union members picketed the plant, with the sound of horns in support of the union blaring on a busy thoroughfare on the north side of the airport.

Honking tractor trailer drivers, many organized by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, helped to keep the picket line spirited all day. Some were car haulers and some of the drivers, from Maersk and Seaboard, for example, were among those who helped shut down the port of Miami in February. Metro bus drivers expressed their solidarity too, as did hundreds of workers in their cars.

The union membership voted down the company's last contract offer March 31 by a 132-26 margin. The main issues in dispute are wages, health insurance, hours of work, and protection of seniority rights. The workforce is in a mood to fight.

The bosses are on a drive to implement a new flexible shift system, with work going on seven days a week. For the first time, workers could be scheduled to work Saturday and Sunday at straight time, and, with five days notice, the hours of work could be changed as well. In a direct attack on the union, the contract language does not even guarantee that these moves would be done according to seniority.

"It's not a good idea to get pushed around from one shift to another. What about our families?" said Julio Lasalle. Cal Aimes, a 32-year-old mechanic, said, "My personal feeling is that the contract is a big insult. I know they can do better. Flexible shifts won't work. Many people have a second job. If they paid enough to begin with, we wouldn't need the second job."

Over the last eight years, workers received 90 cents an hour in direct wage increases. The proposed $2.55 over the next four years "is just not enough to catch up," said Aimes.

Another provision in the proposal is an increase in health insurance premiums by 5 percent each year, so that by the fourth year workers would be paying $46 per week for a plan that pays only 80 percent of the bills. And that's for continually deteriorating coverage. Robert Hall, a 34-year-old mechanic who has worked at AeroThrust for seven years, said his biggest concern "is the disability insurance. I was out for eight weeks, and I know. After taxes, union dues, and 401K were deducted, I was clearing $20 a week. Management pays the same premium but they get paid more. Anyone can get hurt. Everybody's family is important."

A stock clerk with 12 years in the plant offered his opinion. "Between the last contract and this one people have got more educated. They realize that the system is more for them--the people running the show--and nothing for the workers. And I have a lot more to lose this time, with my new house. I'm willing to take a much bigger risk. I'm willing to let it close down if they don't agree to fair pay and benefits. This management thinks we can't live without them."

The parent company of AeroThrust, Celcius Group of Sweden, was recently bought by Saab, which has indicated that they want to sell off the aircraft maintenance sector, so the future of the company is unknown.

Three Teamster union members on strike and fighting for a union at Overnite trucking company showed up to give solidarity, promising more strikers would join the next day. These workers have been on the picket line for nearly six months.

Rachele Fruit, a member of International Association of Machinists Local 1126, is on strike.  
 
 
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