Weekend Vote Lopsided in Favor of New Affiliation

We have just talked with Mr. Hillary Francois, President of AMFA Local 37, in central California, and he told us, "We just got the results back. Of 8239 total votes, 5234 went for AMFA, and 2994 IAM!" We asked what happened to the other 9. "I don't know where the rest of them were," he said, as puzzled as we were. "I thought there were ten thousand, myself. Apathy just runs very deep." Why change? "I  guess people were just tired of the IAM..."

Almost got a vote last year...

"We filed [to represent United mechanics, plant workers, and cleaners] last year, and the year before that -- we lost [the chance to bring a vote] before, by a few votes; we had to wait a year to re-file." It turns out that was a good thing: "If we had had an election and lost, we would have had to have waited four years to re-file."

Big changes at Local 37

Local 37 of AMFA used to have just over 500 members, and it covered a huge geographical area. With a big influx of new members, that's gonna change. "When all the United units finally get chartered," Mr. Francois told us, "my local will get shrunk. The locals will be made from one big one -- the old one had San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Las Vegas, Oakland, Phoenix, Denver -- local 37 was large in size, not membership."

Here are new locals to be formed, and their approximate memberships:

• Local 3, LA, 921
• 8 - Denver and Salt Lake City, 815
• 9 - San Francisco, 4114
• 17 - Portland (OR), 517 (including 45 UAL) the rest are Alaska and Horizon
• 32 - Southwest, in Phoenix, 470
• 4 - Orlando, 1632
• 11 - Southwest, Dallas, 669
• 18 - Honolulu, 569
• 1 - JFK 729
• 39 - IAD (Houston) 694

Every new local is larger than last week's AMFA Local 37. Here's the estimated population, by airline:

• Alaska, 1372
• ATA, 837
• ACA, 299
• Horizon, 448
• Mesaba, 328
• Northwest, 6159
• Southwest, 1775, and
• United, 8610 (43.42% AMFA)

That's 19828 total.

There may be a change in the air.

Hillary said, "I can't wait for AMFA to win at the other airlines. We are a class and craft union, and we're trying to bring that back to the industry, including the plant maintenance workers and the cleaners."

The IAM is still a factor at United -- but not in the "craft" segment that includes the plant engineers and aircraft maintenance workers. The IAM still represents some 26,000 United ramp workers, baggage handlers, ticket agents and customer service representatives.

United's statement:

"United has always respected our employees' right to select their union representation. We will work professionally and cooperatively with all our unions as we move forward to make United a more competitive and profitable enterprise for the long-term."

These employees were formerly represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 141M (IAM 141M). Sixty- three percent (8,239 of 13,144) of the eligible group voted; of the eligible employees who voted, 64% (5,234) voted in favor of representation by AMFA. The NMB, a federal agency that oversees union negotiations and elections in the airline industry, tallied the final count in Washington, D.C., shortly after the polls officially closed today at 2 PM EDT.

All terms of the mechanics' contract including current terms of wages, work rules and benefits, remain in place through April 2009, the negotiated duration of the collective bargaining agreement.

FMI: www.the-mechanic.org; www.the-mechanic.com/amfapage.html#craft; www.united.com