Mechanics Go to Washington to Fight Outsourcing at UAL

  UAL Mechanics Meet with Teamsters President, Politicians 

 Pictured from left are Paul Stripling, Vice President of Teamsters Local 781; Kevin Giegoldt, UAL mechanic; Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President; and Jim Connolly, UAL mechanic. Along with Stripling, Connolly and Giegoldt (both UAL mechanics out of Chicago), recently flew to Washington, D.C. where they met with Hoffa and brought mechanic concerns to Capitol Hill.

 Thank You for Giving UAL Technicians a Voice

 By: Jim Connolly, UAL mechanic, Chicago

I was impressed that soon after the USA Today article ran on aircraft maintenance overseas repair stations and their lack of oversight, I was invited by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to Washington, D.C. to meet with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, Senator Dick Durbin’s office and Congressman Dan Lipinski. We discussed this issue along with other concerns affecting UAL technicians. In particular we discussed:

·         The quality of work coming from third-party maintenance;

·         The money grab by senior management at UAL while taxpayers are on the hook for $6 billion to bail out our pensions;

·         The potential sale of the UAL engine shop and its resulting loss of jobs;

·         The right to strike and picket our place of employment; and

·         Keeping aircraft maintenance jobs in this country. Unlike the loss of manufacturing jobs, this is a government regulated industry.

It was impressive and empowering to see the Teamsters headquarters located one block away from Capitol Hill. I had the ear of my elected officials and was accompanied by an organization representing 1.4 million potential voters—not an association located in the middle of nowhere with nothing more than a P.O. Box.

Thank you for giving UAL technicians a voice!