WHY WE NEED THE IAM

Think you don't need a Union? Think Again!

Union members earn 24% more than nonunion workers in wages alone, according to the U. S. Dept. of Labor (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm)

While some airlines seem to match what the union carriers pay, they fall far behind when all benefits are compared. IAM represented employees have contractually guaranteed superior vacation and sick pay benefits, continuing pension benefits, and job security protections.

But some of the most important benefits you get from Union membership are impossible to put a price tag on: workplace representatives that you elect, an active and collective voice to bargain over working conditions and fairness on the job.

Working under an IAM collective bargaining agreement means that you'll be under a contract with an enforceable grievance process, protecting your rights and securing fairness on the job.

Most importantly, we get to bargain contracts that set the standard in our industry. It is the job of the union to bend the curve of job supply and demand in favor of the worker - to create better pay and benefits than would exist without the union. Without the voice of the union, our employers get to set the standard. So you really trust them to do the same?

Learn more by visiting: www.goiamnow.org

GROWING UP DELTA

My first awareness of the labor movement came at a young age. My father worked at Southern Railroad in downtown Atlanta, as a scheduler in management. The same Southern Railroad that Tom Talbot organized a small group of railroad machinists at in 1888, the same group that became the IAM. If you are familiar with synchronicity you’ll understand why I bring this up at this point. I remember riding with my mother late at night to meet my father on his lunch breaks. During these meetings his conversations with her were punctuated with phrases like, "god damn union this" and "god damn union that." I remember it, not for the language or conversation, but for the ride. The lights and buildings of a big city are impressionable on a six year-old.

He left that job and went to work for Delta Airlines, in another management position, at a nonunion airline. The perfect melding of man and job; my father absolutely loathed the union for all of his years. In retrospect, with his Southem upbringing and Dixiecrat ways I understand his frustration. My father worked at Delta Airlines for 32 years. He saw the effect unions had on other carriers like Northwest and Eastern. During that time, all legacy carriers participated in a coalition that paid a million dollars a month to whichever airline was on strike. He resented that agreement with all of his being, not because it hurt him, but because he thought it hurt Delta.

My airline career also began at a nonunion airline, Southern Airways, in Atlanta in 1974. Southern and Northern Central merged on July, 1979 to form Republic Airlines, and suddenly I was in the union. Overnight, my benefits improved, my working conditions improved and I got a raise. At that point, I began to question my father’s derision of unions. During this time, and until 1997, I was neither an avid supporter nor detractor of the union cause.

Past forward to 2007, I am in charge of organizing the Delta employees in Atlanta, the same group that I grew up with in my home town. Life plays strange jokes on all of us. This is not a joke, however. This country was literally built by unions. The rapidly disappearing middle class in this country was formed from unions. The eight—hour day, the five-day work week, sick time, vacations, child labor laws, all came from the union movement. Every single RIGHT you have as a worker today came from UNIONS.

I was born and raised in the Delta family, I am a Delta brat. The Delta family no longer exists, Richard Anderson has effectively killed it. The Delta "spirit" no longer exists, it died in bankruptcy. My Delta friends, the only thing left is you and your future. My story is your story and I know the only way to protect your future is through the UNION. Fill out your IAM Authorization Card today.

Gary G. Mobley


Learn more by visiting: www.goiamnow.org

LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR SENIORITY

Missouri Senators, Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Kit Bond, unhappy with the way TWA workers fared in the 2001 buyout by American, offered a little-noticed amendment to the Omnibus Spending Bill that brought back a regulation-era worker-protection policy. The law subjects mergers and buyouts to Sections 3 and 13 of the Civil Aeronautics Board's decision in the 1972 Allegheny-Mohawk merger.

The McCaskill-Bond Amendment requires just two of the labor protections: that "provisions shall be made for the integration of seniority lists in a fair and equitable manner" and that disputes over the seniority be submitted to binding arbitration. "Fair and equitable" cuts both ways, and many employees who face being bumped down in seniority will be unhappy with this turn of events.

This is why you need a union to negotiate your seniority rights. Why leave it to Delta management, who have already alluded to the fact that 3-1 seniority is "fair and equitable" for NWA workers. Can you imagine coming in to work one day and going from 9 years to 3 years, or from 30 years to 10 years? How about being bumped out of a station or going from days to afternoons? These are all real possibilities without a union. Without a legally-binding contract you would be at the mercy of what Delta thinks is "fair and equitable."

Learn more by visiting: www.goiamnow.org