Teamsters at UAL: More Than Just a Campaign
By:
Rich Petrovsky, UAL mechanic and Chair of the Committee for Change
As Chair of the Committee for Change, I work very closely with each of our committee members to stay on top of “hot topics” occurring daily across United’s system.
But one of the most important topics receiving very little attention is the issue of what our campaign has evolved into—and this is something you should all know about.
When we first started the campaign in 2005, it was not much more than an attempt to get a true union with enough bargaining power and stamina to go up against the corrupt Corporate Chieftains running United Airlines today. What happened next should be of great interest to each and every mechanic in the aviation field.
In 2007 the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
joined forces with our committee and turned our grassroots campaign into
a full blown national card drive! But it didn’t stop there. In September
of this year during our
This is the kind of “political clout” O. V. Delle-Femine had dreamed of, but would never actually realize as the AMFA’s founder and National Director for the past four decades.
Today, it is becoming a reality with the Teamsters and will be achieved when we certify the Teamsters Airline Division as our official bargaining agent at United Airlines!
At the present time, the Teamsters are not only helping us organize the mechanics at United Airlines, but are organizing the mechanics at FedEx and ABX Air as well!
Part of why Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa
had the Teamsters leave the AFL-CIO for the Change to Win organization
was he wanted to build power through organizing more people into the
union. The expansion of union membership would give the Teamsters the
voting power to march onto Capitol Hill. It would give a much needed
voice to the needs of the masses over those of corporate
What started as a campaign for stronger representation and better job security has turned into a national movement to arm the aviation mechanics in this country with the power to negotiate a better, more secure future for ourselves in our profession.
Most of the mechanics at UAL understand the urgency behind our goal to complete this change in representation. Meanwhile, fellow aviation mechanics across the country—who are already members of the Teamsters—are just as anxious for us to succeed. They too realize the power that will come from us joining the ranks of the Teamsters Airline Division. And don’t think for a minute that our success in this cause hasn’t been on the minds of Glen Tilton and his cronies!
NOW is the time to finish what we started, before we lose it all!
Rich
Petrovsky
Chairman,
Committee for Change