Meanwhile, workers have been told to be patient for a new contract. The old one expired in October 1996. After 18 months that wears a bit thin.

Here in Chicago at O'Hare airport, we got our bonus: a round of layoffs. As of June 7, 22 ramp positions will be closed down, one-fifth of the ramp employees, and the flight attendants base will be cut by about 90 positions. The main talking points of a new contract are around a decent pay increase that is retroactive to October 1996 and an increase in pension.

In response to the slowness of negotiations, the work safe campaign continues. Workers on the ramp started to wear buttons that mark the number of days without a contract, strike graffiti is appearing on notice boards and airplanes. Hungry for news, articles from newspapers and the internet about NWA are posted on the walls. The pilots are wearing "I voted" buttons, a reference to their strike ballot, and have stickers with SUMMER crossed out by a red line with a caption: Turn Up The Heat.

The May 11 Militant article was well received and widely read. It's good to make a connection with workers throughout the system and hear what they're up to.

One thing about the anti-Lorenzo buttons: Richard Anderson, a company lawyer with Eastern, helped to transfer assets from Eastern to Continental. Well, he now is John Dasburg's vice president of technical operations.

Dave Lee

Chicago, Illinois

Free Basque prisoner
We have been told that Basque political prisoner Ramón Aldasoro, being held at a detention center in Miami, is no longer in solitary confinement.

We take this opportunity to thank all the people in the letter campaign, and the U.S. grassroots groups and individuals who, together with The Basque Congress for Peace, are lobbying our members of Congress, as well as civic and religious leaders, to express concern about Ramón's hard living conditions in jail.

We must keep up with the campaigns. Ramón faces imminent extradition to Spain, and we cannot let the Spanish government go unchallenged.

Lagun Batzuen

The Basque Congress for Peace

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home