BY MARY MARTIN
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The November 20 victory of the Aircraft
Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) over the International
Association of Machinists (IAM) in a representation election at
Northwest Airlines separated 9,500 mechanics and cleaners from
other unionists who are ground operations workers at Northwest.
AMFA officials campaigned against the idea of labor solidarity and unity. IAM officials haven't organized effectively, either, to lead a fight to defend the interests of union members. Many of those who voted for AMFA did so because they wanted to vote for a change in the status quo of the union officialdom they've experienced.
IAM officials, in a bid to stave off AMFA, attempted to match AMFA's `elite and separate' concept by offering to set up a separate union district within the IAM just for mechanics and related jobs, leaving the rest of the ramp, clerical, and other workers in the existing union district. This move - not yet abandoned by the IAM officials, despite the AMFA win - goes in the opposite direction of unifying the work force and strengthening the union.
Similarly wrong-headed is one of the IAM officialdom's main challenges to the AMFA election victory, on the grounds that the company gave pro-AMFA workers permission to campaign during work hours, permission which the IAM says it was denied. The IAM's challenge actually worsens the situation for workers at Northwest, and especially for workers on the company's disciplinary list, by providing sworn statements, at least one photo, and names of several workers alleged to have carried out pro-AMFA campaigning while on the job, in supposed violation of company rules.
The IAM's challenge of the AMFA election is an obstacle to organizing the fight that's needed to transform the IAM into an instrument that will defend all the workers facing company victimization.
It also hurts those workers who face the challenge of forging a similar fight among AMFA members. Many of these workers are sure to come to the conclusion that the divisiveness and pro-company policies of AMFA officials must be opposed.
Reject all fingering of co-workers
Both the IAM tops and some AMFA supporters have fingered co-
workers to the company, which should be rejected by all rank-
and-file unionists. Such actions are deeply detrimental to the
working class, destroying the potential to trust and rely on
each other in the class battle we are engaged in to defend our
living standard and democratic rights. We need to fight to
expand - not limit - the right for political debate and
campaigning on the job, including over union questions.
Following these developments some workers have focused their anger on one another - ramp workers blaming mechanics for our weakened situation in relation to the company and vice versa.
Some ramp workers have said, "To hell with the mechanics!" and argue that the best course for ramp workers is take over as many of the mechanics job functions as possible - pushing back the aircraft, adding oil to the engines, and changing tires. This will mean that scores of mechanics will lose their jobs. The ramp workers have no interest in campaigning for such job combinations and speedup. This course only pits workers against each other and plays into the company's divide-and-conquer strategy.
Workers at Northwest Airlines also have no interest in another election right now that would again pit IAM and AMFA officials against each other. Our interests lie in more class- struggle battles unfolding, more opportunities for us to flex our muscle and learn to mobilize our strength against the bosses. This is the course that will advance the interests of all union fighters at Northwest.
Class-conscious workers who fought vigorously against the political views advanced by AMFA officials must now move on. We must not get blinded by or fixated on the structures and the organizational forms that come out of the shattering and restructuring of the union institutions. This shake up will continue under the impact of the polarization of political views, which accompanies the world economic crisis of the capitalism. Whatever structures exist, our eyes must be on the rank-and-file workers and we must turn our efforts to utilizing whatever forms exist to defend our interests.
The battle for workers' unity today
All unionists at Northwest - 10,000 Teamsters-organized
flight attendants, 9,500 aircraft mechanics and cleaners
represented by AMFA, and 17,000 other ground operations workers
organized by the Machinists - hold in common objective
interests and challenges.
We all work for Northwest Airlines and none of us have new contracts, 27 months after the previous ones expired. In July the vast majority of workers in the IAM, including mechanics, cleaners, and ramp workers, turned down the company's contract offer.
No new contract means we have made no progress on winning protection against farming out of union jobs or against layoffs. Likewise, none of us have won the wage raise needed to begin to try to catch up on the effects of the multimillion dollar pay cut we took in 1993. And retirees pensions remain at levels well below industry averages.
Most importantly, as the Northwest bosses' profit crisis deepens, we need to transform our ranks into a battle-ready, confident, and unified workforce that can resist the next wave of concessions demanded of us.
We should look for allies in this fight for a contract and for a strengthened union. The flight attendants have led the way in organizing mass leafleting and informational picketing days at several airports on many occasions over the past year.
Another example we can point to is the joint action held by Alaska Air and Northwest Airlines workers who rallied at the Seattle-Tacoma airport in November to demand a just contract. More such protests are needed. The favorable contract won by the Northwest pilots after a two-week strike in September weighs in on the side of the contract fight facing the rest of the Northwest workers. We should invite the pilots to raise their voices on behalf of all those without a new contract at Northwest.
The ongoing struggle waged by Sky Chefs workers in London against cutting the catering crews to one person deserves public support, especially from airline workers. The Sky Chefs workers are resisting the safety hazards and the speedup already implemented in the United States, including at the airport where I work.
We can also look beyond the airline industry to labor battles and social struggles being waged around issues of vital importance to workers everywhere, such as the many actions recently organized around the country to protest U.S. war moves against the people of Iraq, and the strike of coal miners at Freeman Coal in Illinois who battled for more than three months resisting the company's attempt to gut seniority provisions and cut medical benefits to retirees.
In the course of this kind of struggle we can forge a union capable of defending the most vulnerable workers - new hires, immigrant workers, women, Black workers, members of all oppressed nationalities who face discrimination, and older workers who after a lifetime of work are trying to make it safely through their final working years and be able to afford to retire.
A union that can organize the unorganized on a massive scale and will demand that safety for airline workers and the flying public come before corporate profits. To get this requires transforming our unions and ultimately transforming society.
To make any headway as workers, from winning a decent contract to fighting the company's assault on the unions, workers at Northwest Airlines need to reject the notion that we are each other's problem. Instead we should fight to unify our ranks based on labor solidarity and class-conscious ideas necessary for defending and advancing our interests as workers.
Mary Martin is a member of IAM Local 1759 on the ramp at Northwest Airlines at Washington National Airport.