The Northwest Strike: Another (Bad) Watershed Moment

    It's never easy to do crystal-ball stuff, but, heck, they can't sue you, can they? Looking at this Northwest strike, all I can think is: it's the 1981 air-traffic controllers strike all over again. But, it's even uglier and potentially more far-reaching, if that's possible. And there are a few lessons here about the whole state of play in labor.

    It's scary to think that some readers here may not have been born, or, at least, they were still in diapers but...back in 1981, Ronald Reagan fired air-traffic controllers who had gone out on strike. There simply wasn't much support for their strike from "organized labor."  There was a lot of rhetoric from then-AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland but pilots and machinists continued to do their jobs. Boy, what a mistake.

    Because that firing of those folks opened the door for an entire new era of union-busting and strike-breaking. It wasn't that you couldn't attack unions prior to 1981. It's more that it was seen as a bit distasteful to take an aggressive ant-union stance. But, since 1981, the union-busting industry has grown dramatically and no company hesitates to try breaking its union or a union organizing drive--helped, of course, by a legal system that is heavily weighted towards companies.

    So, now comes the Northwest debacle. As reported today in The New York Times (registration required), Northwest has been preparing for this strike for many months, training non-union mechanics to step in to jobs if the unionized workers walked out. We will see if the airline can sustain its operation for very long.

    But, if it can, this will be a very bad precedent: companies inside and outside the industry will come to the conclusion that the Northwest plan is a blueprint for the future.

    Some months ago, I wrote that part of the disaster facing unions in the airline industry came from the dysfunctional nature of the labor movement. Yes, the airline industry's workers have been the victims of very bad economic factors: deregulation and a system that simply has too many seats to fill. But, given that, it is total insanity for there to be more than a dozen unions in one industry.

    The twist here is on the question of labor solidarity. There is universal disdain for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and, particularly, for its national director, 0. V. Delle-Femine. AMFA is an independent union that basically has grown by raiding other unions, particularly the International Association of Machinists (IAM) but also the Teamsters and Transport Workers. Delle-Femine, as far as I can tell, is a labor entrepeneur, someone who can cut out a sweet spot for himself without really having to think about the broader labor movement.

    And, as you can see from this letter from the IAM, he's not about to get much love, or support, from the IAM, or probably any union in either the AFL-CIO or the Change To Win coalition, the two largest labor federations in the country. IAM's Vice President Robert Roach stops just short of saying "fuck you" to AMFA's request for help--you can read the details as to why (just check out the beginning of the letter--not even the neutral "Dear" so-and-so...just "O.V. Delle-Femine").

    So, here's the problem. If Northwest does break the back of AMFA, the auto companies will take a good, hard look at replicating the Northwest strategy, as will companies in telecommunications , transportations, and retailing, to mention just a few. A whole new arm of the union-busting industry will evolve, offering to recruit, train and direct an entirely complete strike-breaking workforce--ready to go on 24 hours notice.

    It's a screwed up situation. As bad as AMFA is, can we let it fail?

    The larger points are:

1. This strike points up the urgency of making sure that the current bad blood between the two labor federations be quickly replaced with an understanding and a solution on how to work together. If you look back at the debate here over the Solidarity Charters, there is a general sense that people at the local level want the Change To Win coalition and the AFL-CIO to figure out a way to co-exist.

2. Raiding is bad. See the mess AMFA finds itself in--no love, no support and unions giving it the international middle-finger flip-off. Raiding is bad. It's a waste of time and resources. Did I make it clear enough--raiding is bad.

3. The Change To Win coalition's push for strategic mergers is on the money--and the AFL-CIO has adopted some of that rap. There is even more urgency to accomplish this and I, for one, hope that the resolution adopted by the delegates at the AFL-CIO convention doesn't get drowned in the red tape of the Blue-Ribbon Commission and buried...though I'd say I'm not optimistic.

Comments

[leftistblue]

I really hope that the AFL and CTW can both get past their differences and realize that if the AMFA fails, we're all screwed.

Are the flight attendants at NWA doing any kind of sympathy efforts to work in tandem with the AMFA? Its obvious to me that without all the NWA unions working together, the AMFA is going to lose this one big time.

[Jesse]

It is bad, yes, but it is way to early to judge. The mechanics have ten days to make repairs on minor problems - from what I understand the pilots are supportive of the mechanics and if those minor repairs are not made the pilots can refuse to fly.

Also, at a repair terminal where there is typically only one plane waiting on Sundays, there was nine yesterday.

1300 replacement workers were hired to replace 4000 workers.

Northwest spent $100 million to train those workers.

[Peter Rachleff]

Thank you for calling attention to the AMFA struggle at Northwest Airlines. I am working with AMFA Local 33 (Twin Cities) to build labor solidarity for their strike. There is not, I repeat, NOT, "universal disdain" for AMFA. Many workers, local officers, and labor activists have expressed strong support for AMFA and the mechanics, cleaners, and custodians they represent. One must look carefully at the horrendous misrepresentation that IAM foisted on mechanics and the Teamsters foisted on flight attendants at Northwest in the 1990s before dismissing AMFA and PFAA as "raiders." NWA management has devoted $108 MILLION to strike preparations, including the hiring of more than 1,000 scab mechanics and 1,000 scab flight attendants (not yet put into use, but a major intimidation of flight attendants) and the notorious Vance Security. They are also seeking to contract out maintenance work to Singapore, Hong Kong, El Salvador, Mexico, and non-union facilities in the US South.
In the Twin Cities, at a rally in protest of union-busting at the Minnesota state capitol in St. Paul two weeks ago, speakers who pledged solidarity to AMFA included the president of UNITE-HERE Local 17, the Lakes and Plains Council of the Carpenters, SEIU Local 26, PFAA, UFCW Local 789, an organizer from another SEIU Local, the local chairman of a UTU local, a message of solidarity from AFA-CWA, AFSCME Local 3800, and more... We are now circulating a solidarity statement, raising funds for a food shelf and other material assistance for the strikers, and planning public actions against NWA and the scabs.
I am chagrined to admit that the AFL-CIO at the level of the state of Minnesota and the two city central labor bodies have refused to support AMFA out of "courtesy" for IAM. It's disgusting! Leadership has interfered with the distribution of solidarity information for AMFA and has discouraged individual unions from providing support. At the same time, there is new support from the District Director of the United Steel Workers Union and activists in the Twin Cities chapter of TDU who wonder where the Teamsters are in this struggle.
Yes, the IWW was right 100 years ago when they referred to the AFL as the "American Separation of Labor." But there is NOT "universal disdain" for AMFA and the 4,000 mechanics who are fighting for their jobs and their livelihoods. Please pitch in and help. You can contact me if you would like to see the solidarity statement we are asking labor activists to sign or send money to AMFA.
Thank you.
Peter Rachleff
Professor of History
Macalester College
St. Paul, Minnesota
[email protected]

[Kevin F Droste]

Here we go again. As we saw in the debate on this site over the treatment of workers at 16th Street, we will again have a whole lot of debate over whether AMFA "deserves" the assistance of either C2W or the AFL-CIO. Any union that can assist these workers in any way, shape or form, should do whatever it can to assist these workers. If the unions won't do it, then it is up to every rank and file member of every union to do whatever they can to aid these workers. Sometimes I just wonder why the emotional growth of so many "leaders" of the labor movement is so stunted!!

As to raiding, I agree it is a waste of resources that could be better used elsewhere in the labor movement. What I don't understand is why everyone takes this so personally? If Union A offers the members of Union B a choice of representation, and the Union B employees decide that Union A is better for them, why all the gnashing of teeth? Why shouldn't the rank and file have a choice as to who will represent them? Is it the assumption by most of the people on this site that the rank and file don't know what is best for them? I stipulate to the waste of resources, however once a union commits to doing this, why all the crying when it is over and the rank and file have spoken?

[Lee]

I agree with Jonathon that this could be a watershed moment in union busting. I doubt the big three have planned far enough ahead to follow Northwest's lead under current negotiations, but there is always next time.

Of course all unions should support AMFA's efforts. I read the Times article and there is no indication of pilot support for the mechanics. One pilot even went to a hangar to pick up his plane so customers were not kept waiting.

AMFA sold itself as a militant alternative to constant give backs. Now is the time to prove itself and, instead of deploying creative strategies, it is relying on the good old strike--something Northwest was hoping for. The climate is wrong. There are thousands of unemployed mechanics available to scab. And they will.

I was involved in a successful 6 month RN strike. It was a success because, among other things, there was an RN shortage and the strikers could work elsewhere. They did and they held out for a good contract.

This situation is a miscalculation and a mistake.

[mendel]

tasini, i find it disturbing that someone with your level of labor knowledge would take such a simplistic view of raiding. while there may be genuine problems with the sort of raiding that AMFA has engaged in, there have been many instances in labor history where raiding was a good and necessary thing.

the fact is that the two largest unions in this country have historically done little to service their members. when unions don't stand up for their members and don't do what needs to be done, they should expect to be raided and there is nothing wrong with that if it improves the lives of the workers in question. the NEA learned that the hard way in the 60s-70s, and SEIU will (hopefully) come to learn it in the not too distant future. they ought to take a long, hard, soul-searching look at what happened to the Illinois Nurses Assoc. and see that they're next.

well, tasini, what's your response?

[runner5]

Thanks to Peter for his comments. On the ground, there is certainly not "universal disdain" for AMFA, as he notes. In New York, Dallas, and elsewhere rank-and-file TWU members came out to the picket lines this weekend. In Detroit, Machinists have walked the lines and pledged support.

It's true that there is "universal disdain" for AMFA among the top leadership of some of the most retrograde and incompetent unions in the US (read, the Machinists), but if we wanted a good barometer for how unions should act, I'd say we'd want to see what Buffenbarger and the IAM are doing and do the opposite.

Beyond that, AFL-CIO unions raid each other all the time. Change to Win unions (SEIU) are defending their right to raid AFSCME. So these lines are a lot muddier than they might seem.

[Leighton Woodhouse]

Mendel, I'm curious: on what basis do you claim that SEIU has been of so little service to its members?

[albert parsons]

Lee is right. This situation is a miscalculation and a mistake. First of all, when the papers are reporting that "Wall Street wants a strike", then it is *not* the job of a union to give them what they want.

Second, when your strategy is, "Strike 'em til they puke," and you strike and they don't puke, you better have a Plan B. I see no sign that AMFA has anything of the sort.

But sometimes you have to go to war with the army you have, not the army you want to have. NW mechanics deserve solidarity and support, regardless of what strategic errors they may have made. This includes the strategic error of trying to succeed as a small independent union against a large multinational company.

Yeah, they made a bad call (under bad circumstances, because the Machinists were doing a lousy job.) And PATCO made a bad call when they endorsed Reagan. So what? If we want to show that it's better to be part of a strong and united labor movement than to go it alone -- then we had better demonstrate what that looks like.

One thing it does not look like is asking other workers to take unacceptable risks on your behalf. I don't think mechanics have a right to feel "betrayed" by pilots and flight attendants who are reporting to work under threat of losing their own jobs. Unless I'm missing something, there are no common expiration dates at NW, so other workers are still under contract and are at considerable legal risk if they don't honor their own agreement.

Of course, the facts on the ground could change if large numbers engaged in sympathy strikes --but I would be very cautious about risking my livelihood in that type of situation under present circumstances. Asking other people to drink Kool-Aid on your behalf isn't solidarity -- it's stupid. And the way this is being played out makes the problem worse. Most people don't know much about the implications of different contracts for different bargaining units at the same employer, or why honoring the mechanic's picket lines could be dangerous for other workers. So the whole thing looks awful, as if different groups of workers don't care about one another. Which is not true, as Peter and others have pointed out above.

There are ways to fight smart here, because an airline has to interact with hundreds of thousands of customers a day. Effective strategies are available -- and would be much more effective if all who have a stake in this would put aside past differences and cooperate.

But that doesn't appear very likely. Sadly, JT is probably quite right. This ain't going to be pretty.

[Tasini]

Peter: I appreciate your long-time concern for labor solidarity. I was certainly referring to the disdain expressed for AMFA by most of labor's leadership. But, really, let's acknowledge this: AMFA is no rank-and-file, progressive union--it's a business. Delle-Femine has been at this for sometime but things only took off for him when a new hampshire management consultant and a both-sides-of-the-fence law firm got together and backed him over the last 5 years --- it is just a business venture for all of them.

In my humble opinion, in its raids, AMFA appealed to the absolute worst instincts, saying that skilled workers could get by without anyone else. Where they raided, it was a craft-class-race appeal to defeat AFL-CIO aircraft unions (some of whom I've been quite critical) that are general constructed along industrial union lines --- and now they find themselves isolated.

As for negotiations, I think if you asked people at the IAM to be honest they'd say, yes, some of their guys fell down on the job. But, the flip side is in 1999 the IAM got these guys $36 an hour; AMFA said we'll get you $40 an hour--that was a pretty base appeal in an industry that was clearly already hobbled.

I have said before that with some exceptions, raiding is a bad thing--exceptions being corruption and truly bad representation. But, there has to be a very high bar, for me, to hurdle to justify a raid--and what AMFA did didn't even come close.

All that said, it's a grave situation--but, Peter, you have to acknowledge to people how we got here.

[LaborVet]

Yes, the Change to Win Coalition and the AFL-CIO should help, but not by letting these fools dictate strategy and take the whole labor movement down with them, waste tens of millions of dollars, destroy jobs and lives, etc., especially when you consider that the pilots aren't supporting it. For those of you old enough to remember, all that is is Eastern Airlines all over again.

Sweeney and Burger should issue a joint letter calling for an airline worker summit and telling AMFA that we are jointly prepared to help but only if you meet with us and the other employee groups at NWA and throughout the airilne industry and we are all able to agree on a joint strategy which might include going back to work and running some kind of corporate campaign.

Unless you get AMFA, AFL-CIO, CTW, ALPA, Teamsters, Flight Attendants, etc all in one room like should have happened a long time ago, it's just good money after bad.

Labor solidarity should never have meant that if you go off on your own in a death march, everyone else has to follow you.

Labor solidarity should mean everyone who is affected -- which is all of us -- develops a joint strategy and then everyone is accountable to carry it out.

The best signal that Sweeney and Burger could send right now is that the day of unions acting like lone cowboys is over and from now on if you expect support you have to be part of a movement-wide strategy. Instead of wasting money and people's hopes on the ultimate example of union dysfunction in an industry. Sweeney and Burger should use this as an opportunity to try to bring that dysfunction to an end.

[Mother Jones]

Peter Rachleff, I'm sure you are a well meaning guy, but your history is supporting heroic losing non-strategies like Hormel. It's the Labor Notes style infatuation with anyone who poses as militant and tough and confrontational and who actually has no idea what they are doing and leaves thousands of families bankrupt and ruined in their wake.

I agree with LaborVet. Support for AMFA's leadership should be conditioned on a winning strategy or not at all.

What I don't see in this climate is how LaborVet thinks that Change to Win and the AFL-CIO are going to respond in unison. Although they should.

[runner5]

Laborvet, you said, "Labor solidarity should mean everyone who is affected -- which is all of us -- develops a joint strategy and then everyone is accountable to carry it out." How the hell is that going to work? Do you mean all of the airline unions? Why the hell should an incompetent jackass like Buffenbarger get to have a say about what the mechanics, cleaners, and janitors in AMFA do? That guy's an embarassment to the labor movement, and you think he should be consulted. Or maybe we should check with Hoffa-- who was too stupid to support the UPS strike in 97, the last big victory for labor. Maybe he can give us some pointers based on his great work at Overnite.

Mother Jones (and a cynic like you should be ashamed to use that name), you accused Rachleff of: "the Labor Notes style infatuation with anyone who poses as militant and tough and confrontational and who actually has no idea what they are doing and leaves thousands of families bankrupt and ruined in their wake."

I'm curious-- what the hell are you talking about? Labor Notes and those in their wing of the labor movement supported the Justice for Janitors strikes of the 1990s, the 1997 UPS strike, the 2000 Verizon strike, the (failed) UFCW Southern California grocery strike, and most other strikes since. When relevant (see the grocery strike), they've been critical of leaders' failures to prepare and strategize effectively for strikes. When workers strike, you don't cross the lines, whether you're a union member or not.

The IAM is encouraging its members to do struck work-- do you know what that means? It means that IAM members are not only crossing the lines in many cities, they're also doing AMFA members' jobs. So, fine, you want to criticize AMFA's lack of preparation or creative strategies, go ahead. But I'll line up with the strikers before the scabs any day. I guess you'd rather wait to see if they win before you choose sides, you fucking scab.

[D Flinchum]

I think that the Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) struck illegally. They had perfectly legitimate grievances; but having struck illegally, they put themselves in a no-win position. These union members have a right to strike; whether it is a smart move is another matter.

[Tasini]

Hey, hey...folks, let's turn down the volume a notch (i.e., we don't need to be calling ech other "fucking scabs"). I think this debate over this strike is likely to get even more heated so let's try to exercise some restraint. I've only banned one person (today) from this site in the 10 months it has been going for over-the-top abusive language. We can be passionate, tough, critical, sarcastic, in disagreement (including with me) but let's try to not cross the line. Of course, "the line" is subjective but since I get to decide...be forewarned.

[LaborVet]

Runner 5, I don't imagine anyone here is talking about or condoning crossing picket lines. If the IAM is doing that, they should be expelled from the AFL-CIO.

But what about not just "observing" the strike but then mortgaging the farm to support it with all kinds of financial support and human resources and turning it into a symbolic test for all of labor? Is it your position that a handful of AMFA leaders get to make that decision for the whole labor movement?

[john williams]

I'm with LaborVet. This is a losing situation unless something drastic happens right away. The only way anything drastic is going to happen is if all the airline unions stick together, including those in the AFL, CTW, and the independents. So as many unions as possible should meet and agree on a strong course of action to defend the AMFA now and each other in the very near future.

To answer runner5, the reason we seek counsel and cooperation from people who are "incompentent jackasses" and "embarassments" and who are "too stupid" is because the "jackass" represents hundreds of thousands of pivotal workers and the "too stupid" guy was one of the few US union leaders elected by direct ballot by the members to head a union of 1,400,000 workers. Anyone who doesn't try to include everyone possible in helping the air line industry workers isn't trying to build a union, they are trying to have a g-d d-mn club (credit to the great scene in Matewan).

[just a joke]

Hey Tasini-
Where do you get your money? Just kidding.

[Mother Jones]

runner 5: it is true that the Labor Notes crowd supports every strike that comes along as does everyone else in labor but the "struggles" they really fall in love with are the ones that are hopeless, that go on forever with no chance of a victory, that have no allies with any power or effectiveness. They make the best martyrs, the best conference speakers, the best signers of fundraising appeals.

and you make my point with your namecalling its-all-black- and-white outburst. My point is that we've got to start talking straight with each other about strategy. Not every organizing drive is a principled effort to build power for workers. Not every strike is a smart strategy. Not every political endorsement builds a stronger movement for the long run. We need to get away from knee-jerk traditions that are observed "just because" and be willing to say to each other, "so does that actually work?"

I thought you raised an interesting question about so do we consult Buffenbarger or Hoffa, etc.? But I'd be more interested in how you would answer that. Is the answer to let the head of AMFA decide by himself? Why wouldn't you support what LaborVet said about this being the right time for an airline worker summit?

[seiu_guy]

I agree with Tasini that this will continue to get heated. Laborvet, IAM is definitely crossing the lines and as runner 5 said, reports are that they are doing struck work in some locations. From what I hear though, Rachleff's report on local support is also true, though it's uneven. Some Machinists locals are supporting AMFA folks, some TWU folks are etc.

I agree with Laborvet that IAM's leadership should be sanctioned for what it's doing. It would be great if the AFL-CIO had more of a role in coordinating strike support, though of course, in this case (with an independent union) it's unlikely that could have happened.

Whatever anyone thinks of AMFA, I'm confused about how anyone calling him/herself Mother Jones could ridicule people for supporting striking workers.

[pw]

Its interesting that AMFA preached a craft union approach-- and NWA says they are "mostly" planning to lay-off the non-mechanic cleaners that AMFA got by accident. And, having raided IAM, AMFA can't expect support from the ramp workers, who are still with IAM. Asking why any union would sanction an AMFA picket line brings the whole question of why we have (had) a single federation into play. These airlines are financed in a way so that they never show a profit-- asking to "see the books" with them is like asking for a slice of the after-cost profits from a Hollywood movie--the whole point is to make a profit on the financing, distribution and services, and to never show a taxable profit.

[seiu_guy]

One more thing-- can someone (Tasini?) provide the scoop on the accusation that AMFA is a racist union, and please provide as much as possible? I've heard that accusation tossed about a few times, and never corroborated by anything other than accusations from TWU or IAM bureaucrats-- who aren't necessarily dishonest, but certainly have an interest in painting AMFA with a negative brush.

[Doug]

Only a General Strike will save the labor movement. Little by little, corporate America is destroying the working class. All workers, both union and non-union, need to shut down this country for about two or three weeks. They do this in Europe and in South America on a regular basis. The time for a General Strike in the United States is overdue.

[Thad Russell]

I second mendel's comments on the benefits of raiding for the rank and file and the unorganized. Jonathan Cutler and I make the argument in an op-ed that was published last month in the Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0706/p09s02-coop.html

Elaine Bernard and Richard Freeman have made a similar argument.

I would really like to see a more thoughtful response -- or any response at all, for that matter -- to the points that mendel, Cutler, Bernard, Freeman, and I have made.

[jim]

Just an observation, in general. When I first started reading this site, about a month ago,a link provided by ABCNEWS>COM's the Note..., (i am a political junkie)I was struck by how informative and well read most of the people were. Passionate,intelligent, committed. Now, it seems as if this blog, for better or worse, reflects the labor movement in general. No wonder why the big federations (AFL, CtW) are split. All you guys do is fight and flame. Is this a blog for the exchange of ides for the betterment of labor or not?I feel like this is a microcoism of the problems we (at the rank and file level) are having. The big boys are too busy pissing on each others shoes to notice the barn is burning around them. I am a dues paying proud 4th generation union member, who would like one day to have a labor movement to inherit. If it is not too much trouble, could you guys knock it off and act like you are grown ups?

As I said in an earlier post, I am a member of CWA (and proud of it)and I would be willing to work with anyone who has my interests in mind.

Mr. Tasini, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to come to a blog and learn something.