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Winpisinger Center Hosts
NWA/Delta Strategy Meeting  

June 12, 2009 - More than 50 District 143 representatives and local activists attended a Northwest Airlines/Delta Air Lines organizing campaign strategy meeting this week at the IAM's William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Maryland.

"Delta/Northwest is ground zero for a crusade to de-unionize the airline industry," said General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "The Machinists Union will use all available resources to defend our Northwest membership and extend the benefits of union representation to the Delta workforce."

Participants reviewed the IAM's campaign to date and developed strategies for the upcoming representation elections. When Delta and Northwest are operating as a single carrier for representation purposes, the IAM will ask the National Mediation Board to officially rule they are a single carrier. Following the NMB's ruling the IAM will have 14 days to provide evidence that there is sufficient interest for unionization from the combined workforce to warrant elections. A single carrier ruling and demonstration of interest for elections will occur for each class and craft in which the IAM represents Northwest workers.

"The IAM's most potent weapon is our membership," said Roach. "This week's participants are the key to motivating our membership and winning these critical elections."

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IAM at Forefront of
Airline Safety Efforts 
 

June 9, 2009 - The Machinists continue to lead the fight in helping to ensure a safer work environment for the men and women employed at our nation's airlines. Starting next month, the IAM Occupational Safety and Health Department will begin the process of training airline workers in the handling and transporting of hazardous materials. The safety program was made possible by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

A report released by DOT shows there were more than 1,200 air incidents involving hazardous materials last year. "Creating safer workplaces and erasing the number of work-related injuries each year remains one of our chief priorities in the transportation industry," says IAM Transportation General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "Airline workers come across a lot of potentially hazardous chemicals throughout their day and need to know the proper procedures for handling such substances. With this grant, the IAM is able to provide our members with information to protect their health and safety on the job."

IAM Occupational Safety and Health Director Michael Flynn oversees the implementation of the grant. He and his staff developed the curriculum and specialized course materials that will be used on site at each of the participating airlines. A group of 20 United Airline workers are expected to take part in the first session at the William W. Winpisinger Education & Technology Center in July.

"All the companies have their existing training in place," says Flynn. "This doesn't replace it, rather it augments it. Our members are training our members, which is really the cornerstone of all the IAM's training. Our members better relate to people who have rolled their sleeves up and worked with them."

Flynn says DOT contacted the IAM about the grant last year because of the Machinists' outstanding track record in worker safety and the IAM's Corporation for Re-Employment and Safety Training (C.R.E.S.T.) services. Planning has already begun for a continuation and expansion of the grant for next year.

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Machinists Help Pass TSA Bill    

May 27, 2009 - The IAM Transportation and Legislative Departments worked closely with the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department (TTD) to ensure passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reauthorization bill that contains important security protections for Machinists Union members.

The bill ensures that flight attendants receive the uniform and compulsory security training they need to respond to threats in the aircraft cabin. Provisions include a minimum of 5 hours of mandatory training every two years. Currently, training is voluntary. Through strong pressure from the Machinists Union and the AFL-CIO, provisions that would have required flight attendants to pay for this training were dropped. "Adequate safety and security of aircraft, flight attendants and passengers cannot be accomplished through optional training," said IAM General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "This bill mandates the training IAM flight attendants have been fighting for."

Additionally, the TSA bill increases security standards at aviation repair facilities located overseas. "The IAM has been working for more than a decade to create one level of safety and security at all aircraft repair facilities," said Roach, who has repeatedly been invited to testify before Congress on the subject. Foreign repair stations are not currently held to the same safety or security standards as those in the U.S. The new language states that the TSA "shall issue regulations establishing security standards for foreign and domestic repair stations performing maintenance for aircraft used to provide air transportation and shall ensure that comparable standards apply to maintenance work performed by employees of repair stations..."

"Both of  these provisions were opposed by the airline industry," said Roach. "The Machinists Union and the TTD fought back to win these important provisions that protect our members and our skies."

The bill, H.R. 2200, passed by a 397-35 vote and now moves to the Senate for consideration.

 

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