Meki Pei: Our Zoom Flight Over the Pacific Stops in Hawaii for Aloha

Meki Pei: Our Zoom Flight Over the Pacific Stops in Hawaii for Aloha

Nov 13, 2020 | EAP, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Video | 0 comments

IAMAW 141 Video Report: Meki Pei

This week we travel over the Pacific once again via Zoom! This time, we’re meeting up with to speak with Meki Pei, President of Local 1979 in Honolulu. Brother Meki has had an incredible journey through our union, which he describes below and in this week’s IAMAW District 141 Video Report. 

 

Aloha Sisters and Brothers,

My name is Meki Malala Pei, President of Local Lodge 1979.

I started in the airline industry on May 21, 1998, with Hawaiian Airlines as a Part-Time Junior Agent.

In June 1999, I transitioned to Full Time Junior Agent, which remains my classification today.

When I first started in the airline industry, I was one of those guys who didn’t pay much attention to union activities and wasn’t interested in getting involved.

But in 2010, I had an incident at work and the company was going to suspend me for 3 days. I didn’t agree with the findings and when I asked about my option to challenge it, I was told that if I go through a hearing, there’s a possibility that I could get suspended for 1 to 2 weeks. I had a hearing to fight the 3-day suspension and I lost. The Hearing Officer then suspended me for 2 weeks without pay. I contacted most of my Union Reps and finally connected with AGC Arthur Croker, who supported me in appealing the decision. It took almost 4 months to get a decision on the appeal but it was worth the wait as I was relieved to learn we prevailed on the appeal. The company was ordered to reinstate my pay for the 2 weeks they had suspended me.  The company presumed I would give in to the 3-day suspension and forego a hearing but their approach made me fight for what I believed to be right.

This experience motivated me to get more involved in Union activities. So in 2012, I became a Shop Steward on the ramp and attended my first Leadership class in Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in 2013.

In January of 2016 I was elected a Local Committee Person. Then in May of 2016, I was appointed by PDGC Mike Klemm as the EAP Chairman – Hawaiian Airlines.

In 2017, I was elected as the Conductor Sentinel for Local Lodge 1979.

And in 2018, I was elected by my fellow members to be President of Local Lodge 1979 and I’m very proud to be the first Samoan to hold this position in the IAM. It’s been a privilege and honor to serve in this capacity. I continue to learn every day.

Thank you for all you do for our UNION and our Membership!

Be Safe out there and Stay Healthy!!

In Solidarity,

Mahalo and Fa’afetai Tele Lava

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Activism in Paradise: Sharon Sugiyama, President of Guam Local 2339G

Activism in Paradise: Sharon Sugiyama, President of Guam Local 2339G

Nov 6, 2020 | Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized, Video | 0 comments

IAMAW 141 Video Report: Sharon Sugiyama

This week we travel via Zoom to speak with Sharon Sugiyama, President of Local 2339G in Guam. Sister Sharon, a union activist since the 1990s when she began her career at Continental Micronesia, also represents her members as District 141 Vice President for Guam. 

 

Sharon had served as Shop Steward and as a union contract negotiator before she joined the IAM organizing committee in 2011 during the merger of United, Continental, and Continental Micronesia. After the IAM prevailed in the representation election, she was one of the key people involved in establishing IAM Local 2339G, and has served as president since.

The island of Guam is struggling to control the spread of the coronavirus, and workers at United worry about a second wave of furloughs, despite the airline maintaining daily service to Tokyo and Honolulu. Sharon has been personally affected by the cuts, and is now working a part-time schedule, but remains fully committed to her work on behalf of IAM members.

Hi, everyone!

Dave asked me for my bio, so here it is!

I started in the airline industry in June of 1992 with Continental Micronesia.

I was an Airport Sales Agent (ASA).

Sometime in 1994, I transferred to Load Planning to try something different.  After six months in Load Planning, I decided to return back to Passenger Service.

In 1997, I became an International Service Coordinator (ISC). This was the same year where I became a shop steward for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).  IBT covered the Technicians, Ramp, Passenger Service, Cargo, Reservations, Tool Crib and Stores.  I was involved in several negotiations during the Continental Micronesia era.  As the years went by, I eventually became the Committee Chair for Passenger Service during the IBT Contract up until now under IAM.

Currently, I am still in the same classification but my title has changed.  I am a Lead Customer Service Representative.  I was FT, but now I will be furloughed to PT.

During the merge of United, Continental Airlines, and Continental Micronesia.  I assisted Sandy Olmos and Morna Macdonald in the organizing drive on Guam.  It was a successful drive because we became a part of the Machinists family.

It was 2012, we had to set up our Local Lodge.  I was appointed by Morna Macdonald to take the reigns of the LL2339G President.  I have been the LL2339G President for the past 8 years.

In 2015, the DL141 bylaws were amended to add VP for Guam.  President Mike Klemm appointed me as the VP for Guam, a position that I currently hold up until today.

Thank you for all you do for our Union and membership.

Take care and stay safe!

 

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Airlines Post First Million-Passenger Day Since Pandemic Began

Airlines Post First Million-Passenger Day Since Pandemic Began

Oct 20, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Page Five, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Philippine, Row 2, Safety, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

Over one million air travelers passed through TSA checkpoints on Sunday. The figure is the highest passenger count since the pandemic began hitting the airline industry in March, but is still just under half of 2019 levels. Airlines still need immediate aid from lawmakers.

On Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration logged 1,031,505 screenings, compared to 2,606,266 on the same date last year. In March, the worst month for US-based airlines, travel volume fell to just over 87,000 in single-day passenger counts.

Overall, air traffic has been on a slow path to recovery, clocking upwards of 900,000 passengers three times last week alone, but remaining just under the one-million mark.

The slow pace of the recovery, combined with lawmakers’ stubborn refusal to assist airlines, is creating increasingly grim prospects for the broader economy. “Airlines are more than private businesses,” said IAMAW District President Mike Klemm. “They operate like utilities. Airlines connect businesses to customers in precisely the same way roads, bridges, and internet connections do. The aviation workforce is critical to the American economy.”

A recent study conducted by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) backs up the union argument that the US economy cannot afford a “hands-off” approach to airline recovery. According to the study, 46 million airline-dependent jobs are now at risk. Another industry group, Airlines for America, has released data showing that airlines create $1.7 trillion in economic activity.

Despite the importance of airlines to the nation’s economy, Congress is allowing mass furloughs to devastate the industry. Carriers plan to cut at least 36,000 highly trained and experienced workers, including pilots, gate, tower and ground agents, and flight attendants. Non-union job cuts are expected to become permanent over the next few weeks, while union workers have negotiated buyout and retirement packages with employers that have helped reduce the pain for front-line workers. Airline workers nationwide have engaged in a herculean effort to contact Congress, sending over 100,000  messages to convince lawmakers to protect the industry, but it has produced no additional funding so far. 

An extension of airline aid in the CARES Act has bipartisan support in the House and Senate and is expected to be included in an upcoming COVID relief bill. 

IAMAW General Vice President Sito Pantoja has called on union members to continue to contact their members of Congress, even if they’ve already done so. 

“There is strong bipartisan support for a clean extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP) in both the House and Senate, but a bill still has not been passed,” he said in a message to union members.  “Republicans in both chambers have nixed standalone bills that would have ensured the futures of our airline members.”

“With an unstable president who constantly changes his mind, the IAM calls upon Congress to put their differences aside to do what’s right for the American people.”

 

Additional Resources  ///  Contact Your Senator and Ask Them to Extend the Payroll Support Program

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Keep Up the Pressure! Airline Worker Relief on Hold, But Momentum Growing

Keep Up the Pressure! Airline Worker Relief on Hold, But Momentum Growing

Oct 8, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, Hawaiian, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Perusals, Philippine, Row 2, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

///This post originally appeared on GOIAM.ORG

We are closer than ever to save the jobs of tens of thousands of airline workers. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the IAM and our airline union coalition are making huge strides toward securing airline worker relief.

Unfortunately, House Republicans blocked a vote on the DeFazio-Larsen airline Payroll Support Program extension (H.R. 8504) Friday. Despite this setback, we expect further movement on this urgent issue.

“We are done being patient for Congress to act,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Our members need relief and they need it now. We will keep the heat on our elected officials until the Payroll Support Program is passed and our members are back on the job. I am sick and tired of these politicians taking vacations while working people are on the street.”

“IAM members are fully aware of what is happening here and they will not to be used as bargaining chips,” wrote IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja in a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “They expect you to support them not with words, but with action. It is disgraceful to stand in the way of preserving airline workers’ jobs and watch their livelihoods become upended, their healthcare revoked and state unemployment programs become bloated beyond calculation.?”

Critically, H.R. 8504 requires airlines seeking aid to recall employees who were furloughed after September 30.

“Tens of thousands of airline workers stand on the brink of being fired, losing their certification requirements and seeing their livelihoods and financial security ripped away,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “Today, Democrats provided a path forward to avert catastrophe for these workers. Chairman DeFazio requested unanimous consent for his stand-alone bipartisan bill to extend the Payroll Support Program. Disappointingly, Republicans objected to the legislation.”

We must keep up the pressure!

Call your Representative at 202-224-3121 to urge them to support H.R. 8504, a standalone extension of the airline Payroll Support Program through March 31, 2021, and to save hundreds of thousands of frontline airline workers’ jobs.

Read the IAM and airline coalition letter to every member of the U.S. House urging passage of H.R. 8504.

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Last Clock Video Goes Viral As Airline Job Cuts Begin

Last Clock Video Goes Viral As Airline Job Cuts Begin

Sep 30, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Philippine, Row 2, Spirit, Uncategorized, United, Video | 0 comments

/// Click Here to see video on Facebook ///

A “last clock” video posted on Tuesday to TikTok and Facebook by a United Airlines Customer Service Agent is drawing attention to the thousands of airline employees who are losing their jobs due to congressional inaction. 

Vange Arizala, a member of IAM Local 2239G, is one of 30 agents at United in Guam who are being furloughed due to the pandemic-related collapse in air traffic. The airline plans to furlough about 16,000 employees like Vange this week, after an extension of the Payroll Support Program for airlines failed to materialize. Across the industry, over 200,000 airline employees and related workers are expecting to become jobless. 

On her last day at work, Vange filmed her final trip to the timeclock and her final look at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM) in Guam. The mood is both optimistic and heartbreaking.

“I’m going to miss this work, and I’m going to miss you guys,” Vange tells coworkers in the post as she records her final walk through the breakroom. With the United Airlines’ theme song “Rhapsody in Blue” playing in the background, she tells friends that the situation is only temporary. “I’ll be back,” she says confidently.

Finding herself working with only one other employee, Vange suggested capturing the moment on video. “After everyone went up to (UA flight) 200, Joel & I were the only ones left at the counter,” she said. “I told him, ‘let’s do a mini photoshoot!’ I was happy to see Mike & Luisa walk in so we had more people to take pictures with. It was like a skeleton crew this morning!”

The “last clock” video posted on Tuesday to TikTok and Facebook by a United Airlines Customer Service Agent is drawing attention to the thousands of airline employees who are losing their jobs due to congressional inaction. 

Vange Arizala, a member of IAM Local 2239G, is one of 30 agents at United in Guam who are being furloughed due to the pandemic-related collapse in air traffic. The airline plans to furlough about 16,000 employees like Vange this week, after an extension of the Payroll Support Program for airlines failed to materialize. Across the industry, over 200,000 airline employees and related workers are expecting to become jobless. 

On her last day at work, Vange filmed her final trip to the timeclock and her final look at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM) in Guam. The mood is both optimistic and heartbreaking.

“I’m going to miss this work, and I’m going to miss you guys,” Vange tells coworkers in the post as she records her final walk through the breakroom. With the United Airlines’ theme song “Rhapsody in Blue” playing in the background, she tells friends that the situation is only temporary. “I’ll be back,” she says confidently.

Finding herself working with only one other employee, Vange suggested capturing the moment on video. “After everyone went up to (UA flight) 200, Joel & I were the only ones left at the counter,” she said. “I told him, ‘let’s do a mini photoshoot!’ I was happy to see Mike & Luisa walk in so we had more people to ta

Friends were quick to flood her comments with warm thoughts and fond expressions of friendship. “Vangie… what a graceful exit!” said Carol Salgado of Hagatna. 

Efforts by airline workers to avoid historic job losses in commercial aviation have been nothing short of heroic. Union members have sent over 90,000 messages to lawmakers, winning the support of both parties and the president for an extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP). The program was part of the CARES Act which paid labor costs for airlines while forbidding them from conducting layoffs. Early retirements, union-negotiated buyout offers, and partial pay programs have cut the number of involuntary furloughs by thousands. A new COVID relief package including the PSP is still being negotiated by House Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and has yet to be formally introduced.   

Vange Arizala (on right) in a pre-pandemic pose with friends at work.

Earlier in the day, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told a CNN interviewer that he would consider postponing layoffs for a few days if Congress could ensure that a job package would happen soon. The current PSP expires at midnight on September 30, which triggered the furloughs. 

When asked about the decision to share her touching farewell message, Vange said that building community was important at this moment. “So many of us are going through this,” she said. “It may help to know that we are going through it together.” 

 

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Updated HEROES Act Introduced as Time Runs Out for Airline Workers

Updated HEROES Act Introduced as Time Runs Out for Airline Workers

Sep 29, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Philippine, Row 2, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

Texas Senator Cornyn’s Support Boosts Chances for Passage in the Senate 

On Monday evening, House Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced a revised version of the HEROES Act, which includes $25 billion in funding for airline workers and another $3 billion for airline contractors. With a bipartisan majority of members of the House of Representatives on record supporting an extension of the Payroll Support Act (PSP), if the bill earns support in the Republican-controlled Senate, the eventual extension of the funding is all but assured.

If the bill fails to become law immediately, however, airlines may begin laying off tens of thousands of workers as they wait for lawmakers to seal the deal. IAMAW District 141 President Mike Klemm worries that many junior airline workers may not get called back to work – even if the aid comes within a few days of the PSP expiration. “I have seen nothing in this funding that would force airlines to bring our members back immediately upon passage. We need this bill to become the law before midnight tomorrow. Our members have no more time,” Klemm stated. 

The support from Republican lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, is vital for the passage of a clean extension of airline payroll assistance. 

In a letter to the Machinists last week, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) joined 16 members of his caucus who have voiced support for union workers facing catastrophic job cuts in the American aviation industry. Over 200,000 airline and aviation workers are expected to lose their jobs starting on Thursday.  An extension of the Payroll Support Program, a provision of the CARES Act, would prevent job cuts until March 30, 2021. 

“In recent weeks, several airlines have notified significant segments of their workforces that their jobs could be at risk on October 1,” Senator Cornyn said in the statement. “With air travel anticipated to remain low in the near future, a clean extension would maintain the goal of the CARES Act and avoid further layoffs.”

Klemm spoke with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) during the IAMAW Day of Action last week while encouraging every Machinists Union member to contact their representatives to help them understand the urgency. “This revised bill has relief for many segments of our economy, which is needed, and we are happy they are being addressed, but airlines aren’t just another business, they are also a utility. Like roads and bridges and a fully functioning electric grid, air lanes must be in place before an economic recovery can happen. If we need to use taxpayer money, let’s use it to keep highly skilled airline workers on the job, and help bring back our economy, instead of having them join the millions who are unemployed.” 

“Both parties and the president support an extension of this aid,” Klemm added. “But I don’t know if lawmakers understand the deadline airline workers face. This has to happen, and it has to happen now.” Klemm urged all union members to make a call to their lawmakers and remind them that September 30 is the last day to prevent tens of thousands of job cuts.

Additional Resources /// Tell Lawmakers: Support for Airline Payrolls Cannot Wait  /// Read the joint airline union letter the IAMAW sent to the Senate last week

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