On September 9, 15 more people were arrested as a result of another two-year investigation that was called Operation Ramp Rat II and Operation Icon (Internal Conspiracy). According to the Miami Herald, this investigation involved the infiltration of Caribbean and Central American drug-trafficking operations by undercover agents. "After winning their trust, the agents would sell fake cocaine that was allegedly smuggled for $2,000 a kilo by the workers at MIA [Miami International Airport]," the Herald reported. Those arrested face 10 years to life in prison. They include 10 ramp workers who were employed by three companies that have contracts to handle baggage and other ramp services, including Dispatch Services. More arrests are promised by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

For the most part, workers at the airport do not believe that the entrapment and arrests that have taken place will do anything to stem the flow of drugs. They understand that it is not ramp workers who are responsible for the drug trade and that the illegal drug industry flourishes because there are big profits being made from it that will not be touched.

The real consequence of the government sting operations has been to restrict our basic democratic rights, such as freedom of movement, and to try to create an atmosphere of suspicion among coworkers. Miami-Dade Mayor, Alex Penelas, announced "sweeping new reforms" in mid-September that "go beyond federal requirements."

The latest and most outrageous of the new security measures, reported in the September 18 Miami Herald, is the offer of "rewards of up to $1,000 for tips leading to the arrest" of our fellow workers.

Workers' access to what they call "restricted areas" has now been reduced from 37 doors to 7 "checkpoints" where three different cop agencies are represented (U.S. Customs, Dade County police, and airport security) to search our personal belongings. We are not allowed to bring our backpacks or duffel bags out onto the ramp, even though we need to have our rain gear, ear protection, and kneepads to do the job. MIA says they will issue 25,000 transparent fanny bags to workers in the next 60 days. These will not be large enough to carry our gear, and you will have everyone carrying the same bag with the same gear in it. It will get confusing. American doesn't even provide enough lockers for all the workers, so you have to throw your bag on top of a vending machine in the break area along with everyone else's. They only have three break rooms for workers at 35 gates on three different concourses.

We have to swipe our electronic ID card as we go through the checkpoints, so employees can only access the part of the airport where they work. The airport authority will provide this information to the airlines, so that they can check how many breaks workers are taking and for how long.

Workers may have to go to the airport on a day off to pick up a paycheck or to look for co-workers to swap days off or to check on flights if we want to travel somewhere. And the bosses know that when we want to organize to defend our rights, we need to be able to go around and talk to each other, regardless of what days off we have. To the extent that they enforce these new rules, this access has now been cut off.

The response of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) at American Airlines and the International Association of Machinists, which represents the workers at Dispatch Services, has made it easier for management and the government to drive through this major attack on workers' rights. David Bates, president of TWU Local 568, has said that the union is on board with the new measures, as long as they are "fairly and equally applied to all airport workers."

American employees seem to be adapting to the new situation. We are not taking bags onto the ramp and so far have been cooperating with the guards when they check the bags. No one wants to appear to be "soft on drugs." But at the same time, we don't like it. We have been harassed by Customs officers coming up on the plane while the cleaners are working, demanding to know if they are scheduled to work that day.

Some people think the crackdown won't last, but the truth is the bosses have already succeeded in changing the work atmosphere. People do look at each other more closely now than they did before, and instead of holding the door for a worker who may be coming behind, they close the door, so the other person can swipe their own card.

American and the other airlines have not been able to push back the workers as far as they have wanted, so they have had to rely on the government to help them, either by ruling strikes illegal (as Clinton did with the American Airlines pilots' strike in 1997) or by imposing the onerous new security measures at our workplace. The latest example of the confidence of American's workforce is the overwhelming rejection by 73 percent of flight attendants of their proposed new contract.

Rick Walker is a member of TWU Local 568 at American Airlines.  
 
 
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