Published 02 Mar, 2011
Local presidents on the TWU American Airlines Negotiations Committee held a press conference at the Air Transit Division (ATD) office in Hurst, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 24. Collectively they represent more than 22,000 workers in different classifications mired in negotiations with American Airlines that began in late 2007.
ATD Director Garry Drummond welcomed the press and wasted no time in explaining the union’s decision to go local, nationwide and global in their fight for a fair contract with American Airlines. “TWU is part of a global alliance. It’s called the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). The ITF brings together 4.6 million workers in 155 countries,” Drummond said. “When you have that many people under one umbrella, you’ve got power. We’re going to use the power of the ITF to help us settle this dispute.”
TWU has taken the initiative to form a “One World Labor Council,” in conjunction with the ITF, to bring together all union workers at all the airlines that make up the Oneworld Alliance. Drummond stated, “Our sister unions from around the world have sent us their letters of support.”
Drummond voiced displeasure with a recent statement from American Airlines’ spokeswoman Missy Latham regarding contract talks and TWU’s recent Super Bowl informational picket. Latham was quoted as saying, “We believe that our employees and our customers would be better served if that energy was put toward reaching new agreements.”
Responding to Latham’s quote, Drummond said, “Well, we have devoted an incredible amount of energy to getting a contract over the past four plus years, and we have devoted an incredible amount of energy to boosting productivity and bringing in new revenue. Meanwhile the company has tried to sweep its labor problems under the rug; TWU members have made incredible sacrifices to save this company.”
“The efforts to get a fair contract have intensified and united locals to work as ‘One Union, with One Voice,’” said Local 565 President Bob Zimmerman, whose local represents aircraft maintenance and stores workers at DFW International Airport. “Our members are angry and frustrated and we’re also united in purpose as never before. We’re determined to win justice for our members.”
But, he added, “We are working with the company to obtain new maintenance work from Oneworld partners in AA cornerstone cities: New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. They [AA] wanted the best for their planes and their passengers—and they got the best through TWU members. We’re very proud of our efforts to win new work and bring new revenue to American Airlines. We want to bring new revenue in, so that American has the resources to bargain a fair settlement with our members.”
“We made an investment to help this company, our passengers, and stockholders over eight years ago,” replied President of Local 568 Sidney Jimenez from Miami, Florida. “Unfortunately we are still waiting for the promised return on our investment.”
Jimenez emphasized the importance behind the global labor alliance and promised American Airlines they would see more protests, not only here, but abroad as well.
Joining the press conference via phone from London was Brendan Gold, a leader in Unite, the union representing workers at British Airways. Gold also serves as one of the top officers in the ITF and he voiced his unions’ support for the TWU campaign, as well as the formation of the One World Labor Council. “The ITF is committed to building a strong and active global network of unions as a necessary counterbalance to the employers in the airline alliances. This need has become more pressing with the growing impact of alliance policies and strategies on the actions and decisions of individual airlines and on our members’ jobs,” said Gold.