genotonda

Came across this at DFW the other day. Was attached to an FA's luggage. I get supporting your fellow union folks, but to me, displaying this out in the open is pretty tacky.

SpeedRicer

Was it AA2428 on Monday, at 8:05 am? If so, I was there as well in row 4! I wasn't connecting so ended up staying on the same flight, but yeah, in retrospect I should have tried to SDC to another flight...

Pilots initially reported the mechanical as hydraulics issues, so we de-boarded and waited for about an hour for the new boarding time, at which point they said they would need a substitute aircraft. Went over to another gate for the new aircraft but then was told at the last minute for the new boarding time that we had to go back to the original gate, because we would need to get back onto the original aircraft. Apparently they could not use the new aircraft because the mechanics had to deactivate the cargo doors to fix the hydraulics, so could not be offloaded. So then we waited until the original aircraft was ready and took off 3 hours later...

Most of the frequent flyers in F seemed to be suspicious about the whole story, but most of the plane was otherwise taking it in as a one-off maintenance issue (but were still pretty annoyed about the changing gates/planes every time right at the boarding time). That said, the gate agents were great -- they were hustling the whole time to take care of connections and made sure to bring out the snack/drinks cart meant for delayed passengers.

C17PSGR

I had a two hour delay the other day on MX. The gate agents were definitely hustling. Lots of people were missing connections and getting stuck. Lots of anger at AA. I confess I started showing the video and lots of people at the gate were watching it.

GunsOfNavarone

Yes, that was the exact flight. You likely saw me leave, I grabbed my overhead bag and coat, and left pretty quickly. I was off the plane 15 minutes after the original departure time
once my sense that this was a "memorial day gift" from the AA mechanics to AA leadership. Sorry you had to wait three hours, on and off and back on the same aircraft- all because senior leadership can't find a way to lead.... just manage, and that does not do well with powerful union mechanics.

SpeedRicer

That was great thinking on your part! Unfortunately I was hungover from Indy 500 weekend, so I fell asleep and then woke up when we had to deplane. At first, I thought we already landed in Dallas...

JDiver

Posts discussing the relative pros and cons of unions in general have been and will be summarily (posters will not be notified) deleted. Those posts are best suited for OMNI/OR than in an airline forum.

Moderator

Gig103

There's an update to this story:

I think it's ridiculous, frankly, that if overtime is 'voluntary' that the judge can order the union officials to discipline employees. I wouldn't want to kill myself doing overtgime for a company that hasn't agreed to a contract in FOUR YEARS.

bchandler02

Not wanting to take this into Omni territory and get into the pros/cons of unions, but it does raise an interesting question: If the union and company cannot agree, why does the company keep using that union? If this was a random supplier that kept delivering bad service or product, they'd be out the door. Can, and if so, what does it take to eliminate that union and hire non-union staff in place of them?

IADCAflyer

A company doesn't get to pick and chose which union to use or if it wants a union on the property or not. I can guarantee you that if AA had the option of having a union on the property or not, they'd go with the latter.

Antarius

I believe there have been some other union drives as members seem less than enthralled with IAM-TWU as well. But no movement thus far. AA cannot unilaterally kick IAM-TWU out - the only options to my knowledge are
1. The members choose different representation
2. The judge finds that IAM-TWU intentionally violated the TRO, sticks them with high fines that bankrupt the union. This happened in 1999 with the pilots (https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/16/b...6-million.html) , however AA ended up going back to the negotiating table in lieu.

bchandler02

What prevents AA from hiring a non-union mechanic for example though? Can they legally do this and there just aren't any non-union mechanics to hire, or is there more to it?
I realize the members have options from their end - but what I am trying to learn about is what prevents the company from bypassing them?

lobo411

The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 requires employers to collectively bargain with workers who have chosen to join a union, and it bans what the law calls "unfair labor practices" used by employers or union members to subvert or bypass the bargaining process.

The reason for this is outlined in the NLRA's preface, which can be read via the link below. Briefly, when we tried a system where workers had no real right to collectively bargain (because employers had no obligation to negotiate with their unions), the result was grinding poverty, constant cycles of boom and bust caused by wages so low that employees could not afford to consume America's industrial output, and the very real danger of a worker revolt against capitalism. In short, Congress decided to create legal protections for unions as a "conservative" measure--to conserve and preserve capitalism.

https://www.nlrb.gov/how-we-work/nat...-relations-act

bchandler02

Thanks. That's the piece of the puzzle that I was missing.

nachosdelux

airline mechanics (and pilots) fall under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), not the NRLA.

https://twu514.org/blog/2018/10/05/r...s-to-airlines/


the answer to bchandler02's question is that the mechanic's collective bargaining agreement (contract) with AA limits/prevents outsourcing of work (referred to as scope)

dstan