Mar 5, 2019 | Airlines, American, Departments, Hawaiian, Home, Philippine, Safety, Spirit, United
A bolt of lightning struck a UPS ramp worker upside the head as he loaded a 757 freight plane at Clinton National Airport (LIT) this week.
52-year-old Darin Campbell is expected to make a full recovery after lightning struck him in the head while he was working a flight on the ramp at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Surprisingly, the strike left him with relatively minor injuries, aside from burns on the top of his head. Campbell said in a statement to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazelle that he is still suffering from headaches and sore muscles, and will be taking a few day off from work.
He also told the paper that he was shopping for a shirt with a lightning bolt design on it.
The 35 year UPS veteran remembers hearing, “instant thunder” and seeing a blinding flash of light just as he stepped off of the 757 he was loading. “It felt just like getting hit in the head by a ball bat,” he told reporters.
The blast left severe burns on the top of his head, leading investigators to think that the bolt hit him directly. He was knocked unconscious for several minutes.
Campbell was transported by ambulance to nearby Baptist Medical Center. He has since been released and is recovering at home.
Although weather delays are a common headache for air travelers, few are aware of just how dangerous it is to work at an airport during an electrical storm. Airport workers face the perfect conditions for lightning injuries and are among the most likely to be injured by strikes. Lightning poses a real hazard to baggage handlers, fuelers, and anyone else on the tarmac.
One horrifying incident happened on camera at Fort Myers, Florida in 2017. A Southwest Airlines ramp worker was injured when a bolt of lightning struck the tail of the 737 that he was pushing away from the gate. The electric current traveled down the body of the plane and electrocuted him just as he was disconnecting the aircraft from the pushback tractor. (See Video)
21-year-old Austin Dunn was hospitalized for two weeks and suffered 3rd-degree burns as a result of a lightning strike that hit the Southwest Airlines plane he was wingwalking in 2017.
Because the potential for a severe injury is so high, safety advocates within IAM141 have worked with airlines and city officials to install early warning systems at many airports around the nation. These lights, sirens, and specific work rules help ramp workers know when lightning is striking nearby so that they can seek cover.
The IAM141.org Safety Department can help your local lodge develop and implement a safety program at your station. Contact a representative today by visiting the IAM141 Safety Department Page.
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Feb 21, 2019 | Airlines, American, Departments, Featured, Hawaiian, Home, MNPL, Organizing, Philippine, Spirit, United
Right to Work is coming to our nation’s airlines. When it arrives, the wages of all airline workers could be slashed within just a few years. Overall compensation could be cut by more than half. The good news: Missouri unions know how to stop it.
There’s a looming crisis about to hit the nation’s airline workers. It’s called “Right to Work,” and its goal is simple. Cut wages. Kill the enforcement of union contracts. And eliminate anything that remotely resembles job security for those working at an airline.
Powerful Right to Work backers will stop at nothing to bring mass layoffs, at-will terminations, and low wage contractors back to airlines. But first, they will need to cut off the funds that unions need to negotiate and enforce strong, pro-worker contracts.
So far, airline workers have been protected from Right to Work, thanks to a handful of laws that have prevented most of the attacks. Because of a few legacies in labor laws, and a recent spate of outstanding union contracts, airline workers are well paid and hard to fire or lay off. But any agreement, no matter how brilliantly negotiated, will take money to enforce – which is money that Right to Work effectively takes away. Current laws that protect airline workers can be written away with a single hostile legislation or Supreme Court ruling.
The good news is that the main Right to Work battleground hasn’t yet reached airlines. And fortunately, pro-fair wage union activists are fighting like hell to stop it and are racking up some significant victories.
Notable in this effort is what happened in the State of Missouri. Corporate lobbyists there demanded, and got the legislature to pass Right to Work rules that allowed them to gut paychecks and sell off pensions for thousands of Missourians. It seemed like the corporate interests had won. They intended the law to bankrupt unions by forcing them to provide services, for free, to anti-union forces. Outraged, unions and voters demanded the law’s repeal and filed for a public referendum.
The fight was catastrophic for the Right to Work side.
Kelly Street, Local Chairman at TCU/IAM Lodge 6762, Unit 320, has been on the front lines in the effort to protect the intended targets of Right to Work for years. He works in Kansas City, MO and represents members in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Thanks to the fierce activism of unionists like Kelly Street from TCU/IAM Lodge 6762, and Brian Simmons from IAM Local Lodge 778, Right to Work failed miserably in Missouri. Empowered in part by a RTW field training module offered at the IAMAW Winpisinger Center as part of the Train the Trainer programs, activists mobilized and educated voters in every corner of the state. Not falling for the nonsense spewed by Right to Work lobbyists, 67% of voters in the Show Me State threw out the Right to Work legislation in a hard-fought statewide referendum.
Kelly Street (Left) with IAMAW International President Robert Martinez, Jr (Right)
Unfortunately, powerful business interests are not used to losing. They are launching a new effort to gut wages and pensions in Missouri. In 10 states, Right to Work lobbyists have succeeded in cutting workers’ rights out of entire state constitutions. Elsewhere, legislation is being moved that will make Right to Work Federal Law.
If these efforts are successful, the Right to Work side will never lose again. They will have the power to cut paychecks and pensions at will.
Members of IAM Local 778 in Kansas City, MO mobilized to educate voters all over Missouri on the value of organized labor and democracy at work.
That’s why it’s so crucial for airline workers to get in the fight now – while the anti-wage lobbyists are still outside the airport gates. They already have the power of billions of dollars of corporate money and the best marketing available. This is enough to win them a place on the ballot no matter how many voters and workers oppose them. If they also win power in state constitutions and the federal government, they will be unstoppable.
IAM Local 778 Trustee Brian Simmons spent months working with the We Are Missouri campaign as Regional Petition Director and organizer.
Airline workers who want to protect their pensions, and who want better than just $15/hour top pay, should contact their local lodge MNPL, or the IAM141 MNPL at IAM141.org, and find out how to get involved.
The IAM141 Machinists Non-Partisan League is funded entirely through voluntary donations from members like you. To become a supporting member of the IAM141 MNPL, please complete an MNPL Automatic Payroll Deduction Card for any amount today. Find a card by visiting the MNPL page at IAM141.org.
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Feb 15, 2019 | Airlines, American, Departments, Featured, Hawaiian, Home, Philippine, Safety, Spirit, United
Safety Advocates combine communication, partnerships and grassroots action to improve airline safety.
With few exceptions, such as a notable tragedy aboard a Southwest flight last April, US carriers are currently building one of the safest periods in history for air travel. Flying on commercial carriers has become so safe, in fact, that industry analysts are shrugging off airline safety rankings as virtually meaningless for passengers.
In spite of that, workplace injury rates for the women and men working at airlines remains stubbornly high, and are spoiling the otherwise incredible successes that airlines have achieved in other areas.
One union-led effort is offering new ideas on how to extend these airline safety improvements to airline workers, and it has its roots in community activism.
Taking a page from well-tested partnerships between neighborhoods and law enforcement, Machinists Union Members at Houston’s IAH are incorporating an airport version of “Community Policing.”
Placing dedicated safety advocates directly into the operation, coworkers benefit from the resulting combination of workplace awareness and understanding, coupled with plugged-in safety training. “They know the work better than anybody, and that gives them the ability to deploy their safety expertise at point-blank range,” said Leroy Taylor, President of Local 811 in Houston. Taylor is also a leader in a joint United Airlines / Machinists Union safety program.
Uniquely, Houston’s 811 President Leroy Taylor and Vice President David Towe both hold leadership roles within the United / Machinists Safety Program, which is administered through an ongoing alliance between the company and its largest union.
“We’re proud of how well we’ve been able to work with United,” Taylor said of the programs. “We’re not letting the company off the hook; when we need to have uncomfortable conversations, we are willing to do that. But, for the most part, we’ve been able to focus on areas of common interest with safety. Which means a safer airline and a safer workplace.”
Local 811 President and Safety Advocate Leroy Taylor at the 2018 District 141 Safety Conference.
Besides placing safety advocates directly into the workplace, the program focuses on other common-sense goals. This includes stronger company-union partnerships. For example, a greater emphasis on peer-to-peer communications is critical. “I’m sorry to say it, but the company and managers can have a hard time connecting with the guys out here,” said Local 811 Vice President and Safety Advocate David Towe. “A lot of the time, they need someone that can speak the language out on the ramp to get through. We can help with that.” Fellow ramp workers can “get through” to each other in ways that are often blunt and direct to the point. Thanks to this street-level, no-excuses approach, safety is becoming a cultural point of pride at IAH. Ramp workers often consider safety lapses that might endanger them, their coworkers, or passengers to be much the same as a personal insult.
David Towe, Local 811 Vice President and Safety Advocate.
For their part, managers value (and act on) the input they get from front-line employees. Towe has convinced managers to install safety bulletin boards in airport “Ready Rooms” where crews prep for flights and holds daily safety meetings at the break room level. His persistence has led to better safety outcomes already, especially in areas where technology is replacing human oversight – a growing issue as airports become more automated.
Machinists Union (District 141) Safety Chairman Erik Stenberg recently toured IAH to call attention to the new strategies being developed there. “We’re always preaching about how important it is to work as productively as possible with the company when it comes to safety,” said Stenberg. “What we’re seeing here is proof that partnering can work.”
The safety issues coming from the front-lines can be micro-scale; nothing is overlooked. A special meeting between union activists and senior management was held recently to discuss the amount of time it has taken for a broken windshield wiper to be repaired on a pushback tractor. Even pigeon droppings aren’t tolerated; they are quickly reported by embedded Safety Advocates and dutifully removed by management.
“These guys are changing the way that unions and management interact in the realm of safety,” Stenberg said. “What we get from programs like these is a safer workplace that allows us to stay healthy, which lets us have longer careers. We also build stronger, more profitable airlines, and protect the flying public. Everyone wins.”
Assistant General Chair Kyle Carroll
Assistant General Chair Kyle Carroll (EWR, LAS, SEA, AUS) visits with the Move Team in Houston to discuss safety concerns. Carroll shared some lessons he’s learned in his work with the Move Team in EWR with IAH Members. Carroll and Safety Chairman Erik Stenberg later took the issues discussed with the IAH Move Team to Senior United Managers.
“The Move Teams are a major source of pride for our district,” Carroll said. “These guys take their jobs very seriously, and that’s reflected in the way they approach their union, safety, and the responsibilities that come with such demanding work.”
Recognizing Safety: IAM141 Safety Chairman Erik Stenberg (left) meets with IAH Local 811 President and Safety Advocate Leroy Taylor (center) and fellow Safety Advocate and Local 811 Vice President David Towe. Local 811 is using a combination of partnerships between the Machinists Union and United Airlines, ramp-level communication and embedded safety experts to create a new safety culture in Houston.
Connect with the District 141 Safety Department at IAM141.org.
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Jan 29, 2019 | Airlines, American, Hawaiian, Home, Philippine, Spirit, United
The brutal Arctic blast striking the United States this week is making life a living hell for airport workers around the nation, including thousands working in Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway.
Here are a few fast facts about the approaching Atomic Arctic Blast.
Fact Check: Is Chicago Colder than Antarctica?
The Polar Vortex has dropped temperatures in the Chicago area to Arctic levels. Low temps at ORD Airport are falling below the high temps in Antarctica on Wednesday, causing massive flight disruptions and travel advisories.
The windchill in Chicago, an important factor for airline workers, could reach -50 F.
CBS NEWS: Other places that are warmer than Chicago this week >
There may be snowplace like Chicago this week, but everyone else is getting hit, too.
United Airlines and American both have important hubs in Chicago, and Southwest has an additional hub at Midway. The storm is grounding an estimated 1,300 flights in and out of the city this week, meaning headaches for many travelers passing through the entire region.
In addition to the cascading effect that the storm is causing from Chicago, there are also direct impacts predicted in airports like Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Detroit. So far, about 100 flights have been canceled or are expected to be canceled at airports within the storm radius.
Airlines are Granting Waivers so people can avoid the storm.
Travelers that want to change their flights because of the Polar Vortex should contact their airline to find out if they are eligible for refunds, and when they will need to rebook to have fees waived, as well as other terms.
Check with your airline for specific details:
United Airlines – Waivers and travel advisories in place.
American Airlines – Waivers and travel advisories in place.
Spirit Airlines – Waivers and travel advisories in place.
Philippine Airlines – No travel disruptions as of Jan/29/19 0900 (EST)
Hawaiian Airlines – No travel disruptions as of Jan/29/19 0900 (EST)
Unionized airline workers may be eligible for attendance waivers if they can’t get to work.
Chicago is home to one of the largest collection of unionized airline workers (Machinists District 141 is home to about 42 thousand active and retired airline workers).
Thanks to Union contracts, many of these workers can apply for special attendance considerations whenever a station encounters storms of this magnitude, and can’t safely get to work.
IAM141 Airline workers can review their specific agreements from the “Contracts” banner on IAM141.org, and follow-up by making a call to their Human Resources Deptartment.
Jan 18, 2019 | Airlines, American, Hawaiian, Home, Philippine, Spirit, United
The Four Most Important Things to Know About the TSA Sick Calls.
Hundreds of TSA screeners are calling out sick during the government shutdown, now entering its fourth week. Here are four fast facts that people need to know about TSA while we all watch them get jerked around with their paychecks.
The Blue Flu got its Name From the Color of TSA Uniforms.
With their bright blue uniform tops and the fact that “flu” rhymes with “blue,” we all really should have figured that this name would catch on. TSA agents themselves coined the term, and it started going viral about 15 days into the government shutdown.
TSA Sick Calls are Forcing Airports Like IAH and MIA to Cut Back Hours.
MIA’s Concourse G was once the gateway to Miami for the rich and famous, lured in by warm Atlantic beaches, proximity to Cuba and the Bahamas. This past weekend, it was closed down. Really, Miami?
With hundreds of TSA screeners calling out sick, airports are scrambling to mitigate the impact on the flying public. At Miami International Airport, authorities decided to move a handful of late afternoon and evening flights at Concourse G (which usually isn’t very busy) to other parts of the airport. At Houston’s IAH, Terminal B was closed early over the weekend, and officials couldn’t say when regular hours of operation would be resumed.
The closings mean that airports will need fewer TSA screeners, but the decision will also shut down food courts and gift shops, hurting the people that work in those businesses.
Yes, The Shutdown is Causing A Problem for Airport Security. It’s Just A Problem that TSA is Handling Right Now.
TSA is working harder to keep you safe at our nation’s airports because of the shutdown.
When you hear people on TV saying that the shutdown isn’t a problem for airport security, what they mean is that it isn’t a problem – for air travelers. That doesn’t mean that it’s no big deal. TSA screeners are missing out on payday this week, but most of them are still coming to work. The guys that are showing up are also taking on extra responsibilities, and doing more jobs with fewer people. Meaning, the situation for the women and men who do airport security for a living is just going to get harder (and be more of a problem) the longer the shutdown drags on.
Calling Out Sick? Yes. Missing Work? No.
Most of the TSA screeners that are calling out sick aren’t getting the day off. They’re still at work; they’re just working at jobs that pay them.
According to a recent Harris Poll, more than 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. TSA screeners are no different, and the last time they got paid was before the Christmas holidays. At some point, they have to be expected to work for a paycheck again.
TSA screeners work to keep the flying public safe and to protect the United States from another catastrophic terror attack like the ones that we experienced on Sept. 11, 2001. Most people might think that’s an important job, one worth paying people to do.
Does your city have the “Blue Flu”? Let us know what’s happening at Contact@iam141.org
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Jan 16, 2019 | Airlines, American, Community Service, Departments, EAP, Education, Hawaiian, Home, MNPL, Organizing, Philippine, Safety, Spirit, United
Updated: 1/17/2019
The Federal Government shutdown began back in December, screwing over about 2 million workers and everyone who depends on them. This includes 51 thousand TSA Agents that keep our airlines moving. Here’s a running list of how the shutdown is impacting airports and airlines.
The Machinists Non-Partisan Political League has a plan to end the shutdown – find out more at GoIAM.org. Speak Out Here >>
1. Food courts and gift shops are losing business.
IAM141 Media
When TSA security checkpoints close, they dramatically rearrange the flow of foot traffic around them. Airport restaurants and shops that depend on passengers with plenty of wait times walking past and patronizing their establishments are struggling to attract customers who now have little time or are not even in that part of the airport.
2. TSA agents are starting to depend on food pantries.
AMY MATTHEWS/ST. MARY’S FOOD BANK via AZCentral.com
A Phoenix-based charity recently attracted some 300 TSA agents to their food distribution operation. Jerry Brown, a spokesman with St. Mary’s Mobile Food Pantry, helped deliver about 10,000 pounds of staples such as canned goods, bread, and eggs to the women and men that work to keep our airports safe.
The sheer number of needy TSA families left him stunned. “I didn’t expect that from missing just one paycheck,” Brown said, adding that he saw “everything from smiles and thank you’s to tears” from thankful TSA agents.
More details from AZ Central:
Read More >>
3. Dulles is closing security checkpoints.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Via Fox5 DC
The airport is also blaming recent snowstorms, but TSA related staffing shortages are the leading cause for reduced security checkpoints. Story from Fox5 DC.
Read More >>
4. Houston’s Bush Intercontinental is closing security checkpoints.
IAM141 Media
The massive United Airlines hub is also a key station for Spirit Airlines and an estimated 4,000 IAM members. Closures have caused work area disruptions for airline workers.
Read More >>
5. MIA has had to cut back on hours of operation.
Pedro Portal, via MiamiHerald.com
From the Miami Herald: Concourse G closes at Miami International Airport as federal government shutdown drags on.
Read More >>
6. TSA agents need money to come to work, because gas, toll roads, and work lunches aren’t free.
Win McNamee/Getty via Vox
But, since they haven’t been paid a dime since before Christmas, hundreds of them can simply no longer afford to report for duty. This won’t change simply because the government re-opens. They need a paycheck.
7. Air Traffic Controllers are federal employees mandated to work and not getting paid.
Chalabala via IAM141 Media
Although better able to sustain a missing paycheck in the short term than other federal employees, Air Traffic Controllers have an incredibly stressful and critical job.
Read More >>
8. Many FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Officers are furloughed.
Acc.af.mil
This makes it impossible for airlines to get new routes approved and accomplish other critical housekeeping tasks, such as creating new pilot licenses and approving plans to expand and improve airport facilities.
Without FAA inspectors, an aircraft training facility in Oklahoma City has been forced to suspend operations.
Read More >>
9. Delta’s CEO Says that the airline has lost $25 million because of the shutdown so far.
Flickr
Delta CEO Ed Bastian says that the shutdown is holding up new aircraft certifications and preventing federal employees and contractors from flying. All the slowdowns have cost the nation’s largest airline $25 million in the first month of the shutdown, according to Bastian.
Read More >>
10. Security Lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport stretched for more than THREE HOURS as a result of staffing shortages.
Photos: Twitter/Omar Jimenez via Business Insider
What does it take for long lines and unendurable waits at airports to become newsworthy? At the busiest airport in America, travelers now also have the longest lines. Business Insider has all the details.
Read More >>
11. At least three unions representing federal workers are suing the Trump administration to end the shutdown.
Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP via Washington Post
On Tuesday, a federal judge denied a request from the unions to force the government to pay workers during the shutdown, but the legal fight is far from over. More hearings are scheduled for next week, if the federal courts have not run out of money and are still operating.
Read More >>
12. Several airport and airline unions are marching, protesting, and lobbying lawmakers to bring an end to the shutdown.
GoIAM.org/IAM141 Media
The largest airline and aerospace union in the world, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, is confronting federal decision makers over the shutdown. And they’re not alone. Thousands of union members from a range of industries are holding marches, rallies, and lobbying efforts… all aimed at ending the shutdown as soon as possible.
Read More >>
13. Several airlines are posting record profits, and really don’t need all this right now.
Chalabala via IAM141 Media
Airlines in the US have had a tough time since 9/11. The long, painful (but ultimately successful) recovery has largely been an inspiring tale for the US Commercial Aviation Industry. But, CEOs and market insiders are warning that the creeping impacts of a prolonged shutdown will be impossible to predict and prepare for, placing the current stairline prosperity in grave peril.
Read More >>
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