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Who are the best people to advocate for worker’s rights? According to the Machinists Union, the answer is simple: Workers.
At the biannual Machinists Union Communications Conference, a consistent message was repeated over and over: workers rights cannot exist without strong unions. And, strong unions cannot exist in the modern workforce without a strong commitment to effective communications by front line activists.
IAM Director of Communications, Bob Wood
“The most important part of our communications… is our local and district communicator,” Machinists Union Communications Director, Bob Wood told the record-sized crowd. “Getting our local membership interested, getting them excited, that is so important.”
“Your local lodge newsletter, your local lodge website, your local lodge Facebook, and letting people know what’s going on with their union… those are some of the first and last things that most members are going to experience.”
The Conference was kicked off by Las Vegas Local 845 President, Patrick Hamilton, who underscored the message.
“Without communication, there is no action.”
Speaking before the crowd of union communicators and advocates, Hamilton said, “if the rank and file members don’t know what’s going on at the negotiating table, at the local lodge, there’s going to be no action.”
“Communications is the lifeblood that makes everything else possible.”
Patrick Hamilton, President of Las Vegas Local 845
The IAM Communications Conference brings together the Union’s top activist artists, writers, and photographers from around the United States and Canada. The 2019 Conference is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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On behalf of the TWU-IAM Association, we would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), The Allied Pilots Association (APA) and The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) for their letters of support in our contract negotiations fight with American Airlines.
Our negotiations with American are not only important for our members, but for the whole airline industry. The Pilots’, Flight Attendants’ and Teamsters’ words of encouragement and solidarity will go a long way in helping us win this battle against corporate greed.
Click here to read APFA’s Letter of Support
Click here to read APA’s Letter of Support
Click here to read Teamster’s Letter of Support
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This week marks the 40th anniversary of one of the darkest days in the history of American aviation.
On May 25th, 1979, American Airlines flight 191 crashed just outside of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, killing 272 people.
To this day, the crash of American Airlines flight 191 remains the deadliest aviation accident in US history.
The McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 assigned to service flight 191 had recently undergone upgrades to its engines at a facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
To save money, American Airlines executives ignored safety recommendations from the aircraft manufacturer and insisted on taking several shortcuts to the procedure.
Mechanics and inspectors who warned executives of the dangers of taking the safety shortcuts were threatened with lawsuits or terminations.
Unknown to the 13 crewmembers and 258 passengers that boarded the plane just before 3:00 PM on May 25th, the left engine had suffered fatal stress fractures during the engine removal and reattachment.
As a result of unseen damage caused during the rushed maintenance work, the left engine tore free from the wing, causing the massive DC-10 to begin an uncontrollable roll towards Touhy Avenue, just outside of the airport.
The plane fell from a height of about 300 feet, crashing in an open field near a mobile home park. Everyone on board died instantly. Two people on the ground also perished in the incident, and several more suffered terrible burns. The FAA grounded the entire DC-10 fleet for two months while conducting investigations into the causes of the crash.
This year, American Airlines executives announced plans to outsource future heavy maintenance to non-union facilities overseas. The move has sparked renewed outcries from mechanics and fleet service workers, who worry that safety practices may once again become impossible to properly review.
This has set up a new showdown between safety advocates at the airline on one side and executives who want to save money for shareholders on the other.
A few witnesses were able to capture images of the tragedy. The photos provided valuable clues for investigators, and continue to serve as a haunting reminder of the importance of airline safety.
A terrifying series of images were captured of the 31 seconds that the aircraft was aloft. Two of the images show the DC-10 as it completes its deadly roll, wings past the vertical position and smoke billowing from its ruined left wing.
The photos have since become iconic; a haunting reminder of the importance of airline safety.
For Tony D’Aloisio, a District 141 Safety Director for the Machinists Union, that tragedy has become a stark reminder of who should win a contest of wills between safety-minded fleet service workers and managers looking to take potentially unsafe shortcuts:
“Our families are on those planes.”
“We are employees at this airline, which means that a lot of our sisters and brothers are working those flights,” D’Aloisio said. “But, we are also one of the largest, if not the largest, group of passengers and frequent flyers that this airline has.”
“If protecting our passengers wasn’t already enough of a reason to do what’s right… remember that we are also protecting our families and our coworkers when we demand high safety standards.”
According to a representative of the Des Plaines Park Service, one of the agencies that helps maintain the Flight 191 Memorial, the anniversary will be marked at 3:04 PM on Saturday, May 25th, the exact minute that the crash occurred.
The service will begin at 2:00 PM at the memorial to the victims of the crash, located at 1201 E Touhy Ave, Des Plaines, IL. Families of victims and members of the public are invited to attend.
Families often travel together. Many of the names of the victims of the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 have the same surnames; a heartbreaking reminder of this wrenching aspect of the disaster.
The parkland that surrounds the memorial includes a small grove of trees that stand in memory of those lost on Flight 191.
Marilyn is one of the volunteers that helps keep the gardens at the Flight 191 Memorial in Chicago. She explains how her husband, who worked as a Maintenance Supervisor for American Airlines in 1979, was dispatched to the crash site. Marilyn worked for American Airlines for 41 years, and has been retired for 21. She has helped care for the grounds surrounding the memorial for the past six years.
Brothers and Sisters,
The TWU-IAM Association today submitted a letter to the National Mediation Board (NMB) requesting they compel American Airlines to fulfill their obligation to bargain with The Association.
American management has tried to circumvent your negotiating committee by filing a lawsuit, misrepresenting the facts to Congress and trying to negotiate directly with employees. All these standard union-busting tactics do is divert resources from the only place negotiations can be resolved – the bargaining table. Every day American spends away from the negotiating table is another day you will have to wait for the contract you deserve.
Your Association negotiators remain ready to continue negotiations at any time, with or without the National Mediation Board. All we need is American Airlines to be willing to send people to negotiations with the authority to complete a deal.
Fraternally,
Your Association Negotiating Committee
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