IAM Airline Workers Need Action: 23 Days Until Relief Expires

IAM Airline Workers Need Action: 23 Days Until Relief Expires

Sep 9, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, Hawaiian, MNPL, Perusals, Philippine, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

The airline Paycheck Support Program contained in the CARES Act is set to expire on October 1, 2020. Carriers are making plans on how to deal with its loss, and the outlook doesn’t look good for many IAM members and other airline workers.

American Airlines has announced it will lay off 19,000 workers on October 1. Southwest Airlines is eliminating 35,000 flights from its October schedule, and Air Wisconsin, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, ExpressJet, Hawaiian Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, and United Ground Express have issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN). 

TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators and Representative to support a clean extension of the airline Payroll Support Program

The only hope of staving off mass furloughs is Congress taking action to extend CARES Act protections for airline workers. What we need to save jobs is:

  • Increase PSP funding levels by an additional $32 billion (covering six months);
  • Extend requirements relating to involuntary furloughs, share repurchases, dividend payments, and collective bargaining agreements to March 31, 2021;
  • Require Treasury to immediately disburse funds to every air carrier and contractor that executed a Payroll Support Program Agreement, an amount equal to their current payroll support.

“These are not controversial goals,” said IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “We already have bipartisan support for a clean extension of the program, and President Trump has also signaled his support. What we need is for Congress to actually start doing its job and take action to save the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of airline and aviation families.”

“The airline industry is in dire need of immediate assistance from Congress,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Their inaction is jeopardizing the futures of all airline workers. The Machinists have been leading this fight from the beginning, and we must continue to keep the pressure on Congress. Do not stop contacting your Representative and Senators until this extension is enacted.”

U.S. Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA) recently led a bipartisan letter to American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, asking the carrier to continue its advocacy for the PSP extension and to keep communities and working families in mind when considering layoffs. Keller also led a separate letter to congressional leadership, highlighting the dire situation of the aviation industry and the need to include an extension of the PSP in future COVID-19 relief legislation.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators and Representative to support a clean extension of the airline Payroll Support Program

 

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New Jersey Rep. Gottheimer Affirms Support for PSP Extension

New Jersey Rep. Gottheimer Affirms Support for PSP Extension

Sep 7, 2020 | Airlines, COVID, Front Page, MNPL, Row 2 | 0 comments

“We’re With You. We Were There Early, We Cannot Walk Away Now. I’ll continue to fight.”

New Jersey State Council of Machinists President Ines Garcia-Keim, District 141 Legislative Director Dave Roderick and Communications Representative Dave Lehive joined 40 union leaders at a Labor Roundtable via Zoom with Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) last Thursday.

“No one likes to ask the government for money, but in the current environment, this is our lifeline,” said Ines Garcia-Keim.

Every member of the New Jersey congressional delegation signed a letter in favor of a six month extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP), part of the CARES Act that has prevented the furlough of thousands of airline employees. The Machinists Union representatives thanked Congressman Gottheimer for his leadership and support and reminded him that time is running out for airline workers who are receiving official notices of furloughs beginning on October 1st when the current program expires.

In the past two weeks, District 141 activists have joined video and conference calls with members of Congress to impress upon them the importance of extending the PSP to avoid massive airline furloughs. District representatives have spoken recently to Rep. Rick Schneider from Illinois, Rep. Conor Lamb from Pennsylvania and Rep. Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey. All three confirmed their support for an extension of the PSP.  

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Pennsylvania Representative Conor Lamb Supports Extension of PSP: “Air Travel is Going to Come Back”

Pennsylvania Representative Conor Lamb Supports Extension of PSP: “Air Travel is Going to Come Back”

Sep 2, 2020 | Airlines, American, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Perusals, Philippine, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

Pennsylvania Representative Conor Lamb Supports Extension of PSP: “Air Travel is Going to Come Back”

Members of District 141 took part in a Zoom call with Representative Conor Lamb (D-PA) this week, where he shared his views about the possibility of an extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP) to save airline jobs. He presented a grim view of current negotiations.

“I hope that I’m wrong, but I’m very pessimistic at the moment based on what I’m hearing within our caucus about negotiations,” he said, responding to a question from District 141 Legislative Director Dave Roderick. The negotiations led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are deadlocked, and Rep. Lamb explained that despite offers to modify parts of the HEROES Act which the House passed in May, “there’s a group of Republican Senators, somewhere around 20 or so, who won’t go for a single thing. They don’t even have terms, they don’t have suggestions or areas for compromise,” he added.

Rep. Lamb expressed confidence, however, in the House of Representatives voting to “give a lifeline” to airline workers, but did not see “glimmers of hope” in the Senate. He said he hoped that as the end of the current PSP approaches, the “pain becomes a little bit more clear to some of these senators who maybe are spending too much time in DC and not realizing it.”

Answering a question from Rich Howell, Vice President of the Pennsylvania State Council of Machinists and a member of Local 1776 in Philadelphia, Rep. Lamb said that six months into the pandemic, there are lessons learned about how different businesses will survive and the importance of sustaining “assets” such as airports. “Air travel is going to come back. We are in a global and interconnected world, people are going to want to get on airplanes again, and that will happen when they believe it is safe.”

He stressed that before large segments of the public return to the skies, it is important to “suppress and ultimately defeat this virus.” In the meantime, the congressman supports new federal financial help for airlines with restrictions identical to those of the PSP, ensuring that public money goes directly into the pockets of workers and it is not a “blank check.”

A former Marine, Representative Conor Lamb was elected in 2018 to represent the 17th Congressional District of Pennsylvania with broad support from labor unions. At the end of the call, the congressman praised the work of Obie O’Brien, President of the Pennsylvania State Council of Machinists, and his commitment to working families, calling him “the soul of what we’re trying to do here.”

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IAMAW, United Reach Deal to Insource 150 Jobs at DEN

IAMAW, United Reach Deal to Insource 150 Jobs at DEN

Sep 1, 2020 | COVID, Front Page, Mail Only, Organizing, Perusals, United | 0 comments

Sisters and Brothers,

As we continue to work with United Airlines to mitigate as many furloughs as possible, I’m proud to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to insource the balance of the fleet service work that supports the United Express operation at Denver International Airport (DEN). This work will remain insourced through at least the duration of “Section Six” negotiations for a successor agreement between the IAM and United. 

This is a tremendous outcome for IAM members at United Airlines. The hard work done by United management and the IAM is an example of how we can work together to improve the lives of IAM members at United and their families. This is especially so at a time when the airline industry faces the biggest challenge in its history. This agreement will protect the jobs of approximately 150 employees immediately.

To make this agreement possible and to potentially mitigate layoffs in Boston (BOS) Tampa (TPA), and Fort Lauderdale (FLL), IAM District 141 and United agreed to allow special staffing assignments in those locations when the needs of service require additional employees. This procedure was set forth in ‘Letter of Agreement October 2020 Furlough Mitigation,’ which was agreed to on July 22, 2020. The Company also withdrew its ability to use special staffing assignments at Austin, Texas.

District Lodge 141 will continue to work with United management to find effective and creative ways to mitigate furloughs and to help steer our airline through this unprecedented crisis.

CLICK HERE to read the Denver Fleet Service Work Letter of Agreement.

Thank you to everyone for your continued solidarity as we face this crisis together.

Michael G. Klemm
President & Directing General Chairman
IAMAW District Lodge 141

 

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

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Justice on the Job: Equal Pay For Black Women

Justice on the Job: Equal Pay For Black Women

Aug 31, 2020 | Community Service Page, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, MNPL, Organizing, Perusals | 0 comments

Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

100 Years ago, women first won the right to vote. In honor of the Centannial Anniversary of Suffrage Movement, the Machinists & Aerospace Union is highlighting the ongoing work of women, activists and unions to create a more just and equal workplace. Today, we take a look at how the IAMAW marked Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. 

 

August 13 marked the date that Black women have to work into 2020 to finally catch up to what white, non-Hispanic men earned in 2019. The day helps to raise awareness about the wage gap for Black women and its impact on them and their families. The goal is equal pay for equal work.  Black women can’t achieve gender equity without racial equity. “To know that just because of the color of your skin or your gender that you would be paid less than the person working next to you, how could you feel whole or complete?” said Renee Killings of IAM Local 2003.

“Thank God for union contracts,” Diane Campbell of IAM Local 778 said. “The union has been a blessing because it’s somebody to fight for you where you may not have that voice or you may not have that soap box to speak on, so I have the union fighting for me.” She said the union has moved the playing field for her and paved the way for others.

On Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, everyone must work together to dismantle barriers and systems of oppression holding women of color back: occupational segregation, low pay, health inequities, racial gaps in education, & more. The A. Philip Randolph (APRI) Institute and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) are two AFL-CIO constituency groups that fight for racial and economic justice.

 

Additional Resources

/// GOIAM Link to original story

/// Celebrating 100 years of women’s right to vote

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IAMAW 141 Video Report: Bill Gula, President of Newark’s Local 914

IAMAW 141 Video Report: Bill Gula, President of Newark’s Local 914

Aug 28, 2020 | Airlines, American, Community Service Page, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized, United, Video | 0 comments

Bill Gula, Local President and Activist 

Brother Bill Gula began his career in 1996, as a Ramp Services Agent at Continental Airlines.

Bill split his time between working on the ramp and later took on additional responsibilities as a Load Planner. He worked as a Hub Operations Coordinator for several years, in the tower at Newark Liberty Airport.

In 2010, Bill began organizing for the IAMAW after the merger of Continental and United Airlines. Working with Grand Lodge Reps Tom Regan, Bill Rody, and Edison Fraser, he began organizing the Newark workforces under the IAMAW banner. After the successful campaign for representation in 2011, Brother Bill initiated into the Machinists Union and began service as a ramp Shop Steward.

In 2013 Bill was elected Vice President of the United Lodge Local 914, filling a vacant position.That same year, he began his affiliation with the NJ State Council of Machinists. In 2014, Brother Gula was re-elected as Vice President of the local during the normal election cycle.

Bill rose to the position of Local 914 President in 2016 when former President Richard Creighton was promoted to Assistant General Chair at District Lodge 141. That same year, Bill was elected Vice President of Airlines for the NJ State Council of Machinists. He continued his work on behalf of union members and in 2017 was elected president of his Local for a full term, a position he proudly holds to this day. Bill continues to be active in Community Service endeavors as well as legislative efforts in his IAM local and in the NJSCM.

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