Celebrating Women’s Right To Vote

Celebrating Women’s Right To Vote

Aug 28, 2020 | Community Service Page, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, Organizing, Row 2, Uncategorized, Video | 0 comments

Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

100 Years ago, women first won the right to vote. While we’ve come a long way in our ongoing work to create a more perfect union, our work is far from finished. Good news is, we’re nowhere near finished, either. 

When the Machinists Union was founded in 1888 and for years after, there were no women in that Atlanta railroad pit, brainstorming about how to get better wages and working conditions. but that doesn’t mean they didn’t want­­ those things. “They wanted the freedom to decide how to live their lives, whether that was homemakers or workers or advocates or all three,” said Carla Siegel, IAM Deputy General Counsel. “They wanted the freedom to be able to have a voice in the policies that affected their families, that affected their schools, that affected their communities and their coworkers.”

In the 19th and 20th centuries, women were often treated as second class citizens, regardless of their skills. yet, they fought for the right to vote, just like men did in local, state and national elections. “They engaged in nonviolent protest, which was nonetheless illegal and they paid the price for that,” said Mary McHugh of the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center. “They went to jail, they faced physical dangers, in order to put public pressure on elected officials to move women’s suffrage forward as a constitutional issue.”

Deputy General Counsel Carla Siegel says technically, the constitution didn’t actually prohibit women from voting. “It doesn’t refer to gender at all and some states allowed it, but because there were strong forces that were prohibiting women to vote in certain states, there was the push for the 19thAmendment to make it clear that of course, women had the right to vote.”

One hundred years later, women of all races, ethnicities and identities are exercising the rights to vote, despite the fact that many were initially excluded from white women’s suffrage efforts in the early 1900s. “African American women, Native American women had to continue to fight to really be able to realize a right to vote what the constitution said and what the reality was, were not the same things,” McHugh said.

In 2020, women of color are finally getting the recognition they deserve… women like Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, 16, who led ten thousand people in the New York suffrage parade in 1912, or Ida B. Wells, who created the Alpha suffrage club in 1913. “It’s a huge accomplishment,” said Vivianne Simon of IAM Local 1295 in Toronto, Canada. “We need to get more people involved just to show the solidarity for women and to be there for those who basically died for us, to acknowledge them and to show them respect by all coming together to bring it higher. Raise the bar.”

Although Simon lives in Canada, which gave women the right to vote two years before the United States, she and other IAM members understand the significance of the anniversary and the parallel it has to voting in union elections. “Well, I love that we’re celebrating a hundred years and I’ll say a hundred years of success because that’s what women’s suffrage was all about, gaining these types of rights,” said Kimberly Fedd of IAM Local 774 in Wichita, Kan. “This year in particular is a big year for our local and our district. Elections are coming up… that right was fought for and it’s a big deal.”

Women have made great strides in the workforce, even though all of us still don’t have equal pay for equal work in the United States and Canada. But, we have a better chance if we’re in a union like the IAM. Nevertheless, having a right and using it are two different things. “If you’re visible, if you’re active, if you’re vocal through your vote, through attending meetings, through getting involved in the subcommittees that may exist in your local or in your district, that’s how we move forward our agenda as women and as women inside the labor movement,­” said Ines Garcia-Keim, President of the New Jersey State Council of Machinists.

It’s a movement that still needs to be held accountable when it comes to equal rights, gender equity and inclusion, on the shop floor and in the union hall. “Unions aren’t perfect. We have still have a lot of work to do,” said Dora Cervantes, IAM General Secretary-Treasurer. “But, the wage gap is smaller and almost non-existent in union shops. Having women move up the ranks ensures that equity remains a priority.”

 

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Rep. Schneider Affirms Support for PSP Extension

Rep. Schneider Affirms Support for PSP Extension

Aug 27, 2020 | Airlines, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Are You A Constituent of Rep. Schneider?

Lawmakers like Congressman Brad Schneider need to know that we appreciate their help. If you are represented by Congressman Schneider, please take a few minutes to tell him how his leadership helps you and your family. 

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Tell Lawmakers to Renew PSP Funding and Prevent Hundreds of Thousands of Airline Job Losses This Fall

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Rep. Schneider Affirms Support for PSP Extension

“We need to stop using people’s lives as pawns,” said Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) during a Zoom call he hosted this week with members of 30 organizations representing labor.

The congressman’s remarks follow his stated support for the extension of the Payroll Support Program for an additional six months. Rep. Schneider was one of 223 members of Congress who signed a letter calling for the extension of the program which has prevented widespread furloughs in the airline industry.

District 141 Legislative and MNPL Director Dave Roderick took part in the meeting and mentioned how he had made the hard decision to join thousands of other airline workers who have taken voluntary early separation programs to help save the jobs of co-workers. “I retired about 2 years earlier than I anticipated,” said Roderick. He noted that many airline employees based in ORD live in the congressman’s district and thanked him for his support. 

Rep. Schneider, who represents Illinois’ 10th congressional district, expressed his solidarity with essential airline workers around the nation, and said, “I see what the airline workers are doing, at all levels. It’s really tough, and it’s only going to get more difficult. We’ve heard (Treasury Secretary) Mnuchin say he’s not going to help the airlines, he doesn’t want to do any more,” said Rep. Schneider, frustrated with the “game of chess” he sees playing out in Washington over another round of coronavirus relief legislation. “They (the administration) are using people as pawns. It has to stop,” said the congressman. 

 

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Without PSP, AA Cuts 40,000

Without PSP, AA Cuts 40,000

Aug 26, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Organizing, Philippine, Row 2, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

American Airlines announced plans to eliminate the jobs of “at least” 40,000 employees if lawmakers do not quickly renew funding for payroll support programs.

The furloughs would begin within hours of the expiration of the Payroll Support Program (PSP), the section of the CARES Act scheduled to end on October 1, just over a month before Election Day. The IAM has responded by calling on members to make a last stand on Capitol Hill and redouble efforts to convince lawmakers to renew funding for the PSP, which has stalled in the Senate. Airline executives agree that legislative action, if taken soon, would prevent the job cuts. 

In a notice sent to workers, the airline said it planned to involuntarily furlough about 19,000 employees beginning on October 1. The cuts are in addition to 12,500 American Airlines workers who have already left the company through early out separation packages and retirements. Another 11,000 employees have accepted voluntary and company-offered leaves of absence. 

Despite the thousands of voluntary separations, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker says more cuts are needed. “Even with those sacrifices, approximately 19,000 of our team members will be involuntarily furloughed or separated from the company on Oct.1, unless there is an extension of the PSP,” Parker said in the statement co-signed by airline President Robert Isom. 

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, air traffic has dropped below 60% of 2019 levels. The loss of revenue, combined with fixed overhead costs and mandated quarantine and travel restrictions in many countries, drives the airline’s “cash burn” to over $40 million in daily losses. In March, Congress voted to approve a program to cover payroll costs for commercial airlines, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Payroll Support Program is a job security program at its core, allowing airlines to keep their highly specialized and trained staff. Airline workers such as pilots, load planners, flight attendants, dispatchers, and other airport agents have specialized skills and security clearances, making them difficult to replace. The PSP funded payroll costs for six months, but airlines were required to retain workers, so they would be available quickly once the industry showed signs of recovery. 

Moreover, since the US civil aviation infrastructure is a necessary part of a fully functioning economy, and provides services that are vital to the operation of many businesses, Congress also required airlines to maintain air service in several markets despite deep reductions in passenger demand. These conditions prevented cities and regions of the country from being cut off from the rest of the economy, safeguarding the flow of products, including medical equipment, and transporting health workers and first responders where they were needed. By any measure, the Payroll Support Program is a success, but its future is tied to deadlocked negotiations in Congress for a new round of coronavirus relief legislation.

Help Prevent Furloughs This Fall

Contact your lawmakers and ask them to support the Payroll Support Program, and prevent airline furloughs this fall.

Contact Your Lawmakers Now

Sito Pantoja, General Vice President of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, who, in an alliance with the Transit Workers Union, make up one of the largest organized workgroups at American, responded to the announcement by calling for immediate, emergency action in the Senate. 

“The only hope of staving off mass furloughs is Congress taking action to extend CARES Act protections for airline workers,” Pantoja told members in a statement issued before the American Airlines announcement. 

Pantoja laid out a plan that he said would avert airline job cuts in the near term, and would buy the industry time to recover. He called for lawmakers to approve $32 billion in payroll support funding to cover the labor costs of the industry for six additional months. Also, airlines would be required to preserve their workforces and labor contracts, so that these assets could be quickly available in the event of a faster than expected recovery. 

District 141 President and Directing General Chair Mike Klemm called on union activists to keep the pressure on Senators and demand a vote on a “clean” version of the PSP. “This is the responsibility of every union member, and we must do it this week. Call or write your Senator and demand they put partisan differences aside, return to Washington and take a clean vote to extend the PSP,” he said. 

“Remind everyone you interact with to please send a message to their lawmakers, especially if they have received RIF notices. Of course, our IAM contracts are in full force, with all the protections we have earned, but without an extension of the PSP, thousands of union members will soon be out of a job. In this economy, that spells disaster,” Klemm said, stressing how furloughed workers would lose their work-based health coverage, putting the health and security of their families at risk in the pandemic.

“This is our lifeline,” he added. 

Additional Resources

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

/// Click HERE to call a Senator who has not decided to support the extension of the PSP.

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URGENT ACTION NEEDED: As Payroll Protection Draws Near, Airlines Prepare for Furloughs

URGENT ACTION NEEDED: As Payroll Protection Draws Near, Airlines Prepare for Furloughs

Aug 25, 2020 | Airlines, COVID, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Row 2 | 0 comments

The 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 airline workers.

 

American Airlines is expected to announce thousands of workers will be laid-off 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). There is no time to waste.

 

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 General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “We already have bi-partisan 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.”

 

“While the Democrats and Republicans are holding conventions, airline industry executives are preparing for the largest mass layoff in the industry’s history,” said Pantoja. “Now, more than ever, it is imperative that this bi-partisan support turns into action. Words are not enough. We have a deadline. It is real, and hundreds of thousand of workers will lose their jobs if Congress continues to waste time.”
 

“I urge you and every member of your family to immediately call, email or visit your member of Congress and your Senators,” added Pantoja. “They must end the gridlock, stop the delay and pass this critical legislation to keep essential airline employees working.”

Additional Resources /// Please click here to alert your local representative in Congress.

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Machinists Local S6 Members Successfully End Largest Strike in United States

Machinists Local S6 Members Successfully End Largest Strike in United States

Aug 25, 2020 | Front Page, GOIAM Stories, Organizing, Row 2 | 0 comments

/// Originally posted on GOIAM.org

/// While the following story describes events outside the aviation and aerospace industries, it represents a major milestone in the history of our great union, and so we want to make a record of it at IAM141.org. The strike action of IAMAW Local S6 was the largest in the entire United States at the time. The women and men of Local S6 braved the economic turmoil of a pandemic and soaring unemployment rates, but steadfastly refused to accept less than their worth. The result was a contract that provides virtually everything they fought for, and established the Machinists & Aerospace Union as an institution that must be respected. 

BATH, Maine, Aug. 23, 2020 – More than 4,300 IAM Local S6 members at Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, have voted 87 percent to ratify a three-year collective bargaining agreement at the Maine shipbuilding company. IAM Local S6 members, who build destroyers for the U.S. Navy, will return to work beginning with third shift on Sunday, Aug. 23.

The approved contract includes strong job protections against expanded subcontracting and preserves seniority rights, the two top issues that forced members to reject the company’s previous offer and begin the nation’s largest strike nearly 10 weeks ago on June 22.

“IAM Local S6 has shown the world that together working people can stand up and win for themselves, their families and their communities,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “This fight for dignity, justice and good Maine jobs will go down in the history books of the Machinists Union and all of organized labor. I could not be more proud of our IAM Local S6 membership and negotiating committee, District 4 representatives, Eastern Territory staff and everyone who stood with the IAM and the best shipbuilders in the world. We are also grateful for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and Director Richard Giacolone for helping us get this agreement resolved.”

Federal mediators helped both sides reach a tentative agreement on Aug. 7. IAM Local S6 members received the contract in the mail and voted online and by telephone from 12:01 a.m., Friday, Aug. 21 to noon, Sunday, Aug. 23.

“This strike was a testament to the culmination of Local S6 leadership, our negotiating committee and the incredible power of solidarity shown by our membership,” said IAM Local S6 President Chris Wiers. “Now that we successfully protected our contract language with respect to subcontracting and seniority, we need to get back to work and continue to prove to the U.S. Navy that ‘S6 built is best built.’”

The IAM Local S6 negotiating committee unanimously recommended the improved agreement to the membership.

“I can only salute the Brothers and Sisters who not only stood up for themselves and their families, but for the entire labor movement,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President Jimmy Conigliaro Sr. “They made a statement that we will not give into corporate greed or, most of all, disrespect on the job. IAM Local S6 members didn’t back down, even when faced with hard times at home without a paycheck for months. I couldn’t be more proud of our membership.”

IAM Local S6 members received significant support from elected officials and the community for the duration of the strike, especially from U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, who publicly supported Local S6 several times. State Senate President Troy Jackson, State House Speaker Sara Gideon, State Senator Eloise Vitelli and other state and local elected officials also supported Local S6 members.

“The leadership of the Local, the professionalism of the negotiating committee and the solidarity of our members has been remarkable and unwavering throughout these negotiations and strike,” said IAM General Vice President Brian Bryant. “Each one was a major factor in successfully reaching a fair agreement with BIW. I want to congratulate our members on this hard earned victory. Their solidarity and sacrifice has paid off.”

“This was a strike for the ages,” said IAM Grand Lodge Representative Dave Sullivan. “The older generation of Machinists taught the younger generation what solidarity means. Everybody at every level of this union worked together and showed what we can do when we’re united. When you’re on the right side of history, the sacrifice pays off.”

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is among the largest industrial trade unions in North America and represents nearly 600,000 active and retired members in the manufacturing, aerospace, defense, airlines, transportation, shipbuilding, woodworking, health care, and other industries.

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Video Report: Tony Colina, President of Houston’s Above the Wing Local 2198

Video Report: Tony Colina, President of Houston’s Above the Wing Local 2198

Aug 21, 2020 | Airlines, Featured News, Front Page, Organizing, Row 2, Uncategorized | 0 comments

A Conversation With Tony Colina, President of Local 2198 in Houston

The President of the biggest little old local in Texas.

Hi everybody!

I started my airline career in August 1996 with Continental Airlines where I worked the Reservations foreign language desk taking Spanish calls at the JFK reservations building in Houston, Texas.

After 10 years at reservations, I transferred to IAH airport to work as a CSR where I became heavily involved in the organizing campaign to promote the IAM and the much-needed Union representation that we lacked for many years at Continental Airlines. Fueled by the successful representational win, I became one of the first Shop Stewards at IAH with the new United Airlines.

I was elected Grievance Committee Representative for the Above the Wing agents at IAH in 2015 for a 3-year term through 2018. 

In 2018 I was appointed Vice President for local Lodge 2198, one of the largest locals in District 141.  I was elected the local lodge President in 2019.

I love the people at 2198. These are some of my best friends, so I’m biased, but they are also some of the hardest working and professional airline workers anywhere. I’m proud of my local and encourage anyone who might be interested in getting involved to give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you!

-Tony Colina

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