Every mechanic has purchased a shiny new tool that looked great when it was first put in the tool box and performed just fine when conditions were perfect, but couldn’t be relied on in bitter cold or the heat of the summer. The normal reaction is to put the tool back in the box for good or ask for a refund and then go back to using tried and true equipment.
In a recent article, an AMFA officer suggested that his organization was the “right tool” for mechanics in this industry because it was a craft rather than an industrial union and wasn’t weighed down by lesser skilled workers. However, the AMFA tool has been used before in this industry and the results, particularly when conditions are not ideal, are not impressive. In 2003 AMFA represented more mechanic and related employees than any other labor organization. It was certified to represent approximately 25,000 mechanic and related employees at the following carriers:
- Independence
- NWA
- ATA
- Alaska
- UAL
- Horizon
- Southwest
- Mesaba
Today AMFA represents approximately 2800 mechanic and related workers at two carriers. It lost representation at the others for various reasons. ATA and Independence were liquidated. At Mesaba and NWA it could not secure the necessary support to even challenge for an election after those carriers merged with other airlines. And, of course, at UAL and Horizon it was decertified.
AMFA has provided many explanations for its failures at the majority of properties where it has been certified. At NWA the Company was out to get them and other unions wouldn’t help them. At UAL it was dealing with a bankrupt company which used an unfair law to extract concessions. However, the simple fact is that AMFA has never been voted back in on any property where it lost representation.
There is another irony about AMFA’s continuing claim to superiority over the “catch all” industrial unions. NWA strikers received close to a million dollars in assistance from the treasury of the United Auto Workers, a treasury built by the contributions of the very sort of industrial workers who AMFA has derided for years. This was more economic assistance than AMFA was able to provide to its own members.