Amerijet On Strike!

[Polar742]

More, if you live in MIA:

Your brothers and sisters at Amerijet are now on strike. We encourage all available crewmembers in Miami who are not on duty or in the middle of required rest to attend the Amerijet picket lines. Rally support among your fellow crewmembers in the Miami area and show your full support for the Amerijet crews at this difficult time.

We ask that you assist in anyway you can. Please plan to arrive in uniform, carry picket signs if possible and demonstrate the fraternal unity that exists within our profession.

Picketing is occurring at the following location:

6185 Northwest 18^th St.
Building 716
Miami (Cargo City)
Picketing Guidelines:
-Introduce yourself and present your ID and/or Union card.
-Let them know you are there to assist them in picketing.
-If you are asked to carry a picket sign, remain within the designated picketing areas.
-If the press is on site and you are approached, direct any questions they may have to the on-site strike coordinator/representative.
-Don’t forget non-alcoholic beverages to prevent dehydration.

Can this get a sticky until the strike is over?

 

[jhugz]

Can this get a sticky until the strike is over?

Agreed. Their wages are pitiful according to APC. Good luck to those pilots.

 

[cmill]

-Don’t forget non-alcoholic beverages to prevent dehydration.

Sorry, i know this is serious, but that part made me laugh out loud. Only a pilot would have to be reminded not to get blitzed while picketing.


And +1 for the sticky. Everyone should be aware of this and support our fellow pilots in whatever way possible.

 

[germb747]

More, if you live in MIA:



Can this get a sticky until the strike is over?

Just got the exact same email; was going to post it but you beat me to it. Unfortunately, I won't be in Miami any time soon, but these guys could use all the support they can get.

 

[MikeD]

Sticky - Stuck.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

As for ALPA and scab lists, ask an ALPA attorney and watch them run. Keeping a list is illegal and they would be subject to all kinds of legal actions.

Patently false, and I can point to the case law to prove it if you insist on spreading misinformation.

Would someone who crosses a Teamsters line end up on an ALPA list? Who knows? Based on CAL and others, it seems that if you pay ALPA enough blood money, ALPA will turn a blind eye to anything. To them, a scab with a checkbook is just fine.

Don't you have a strike to worry about instead of wasting time attacking ALPA as you always do?

Good luck to the Amerijet pilots. I'll try to get down to MIA to join you on the line.

 

[surreal1221]

Good luck guys/girls.

20% already across huh? Shameful.

 

[3enginejock]

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AJT852

More scabs operating Amerijet aircraft...

 

[Polar742]

Press Release:

<table border="0" width="649"><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="649"><tbody><tr><td>Teamsters Urge Amerijet to Return to Bargaining Table
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr id="ucContent_imageRow" style="display: none;"> <td style="" colspan="7">

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="649"></table>​

</td> </tr> <tr id="ucContent_trENRAssets" style="display: none;"> <td colspan="7"> <table width=""> <tbody><tr> <td id="ucContent_td_ENRAsset1" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" valign="bottom">
</td> <td id="ucContent_td_ENRAsset2" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" valign="bottom">
</td> <td id="ucContent_td_ENRAsset3" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" valign="bottom">
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <!-- #BeginEditable "release" --> <!-- Render Story Content --> <table border="0" width="649"> <tbody><tr id="ucContent_trSubHead"> <td colspan="3" style="width: 645px; padding-bottom: 8px;">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="width: 645px;"> <link href="http://news.prnewswire.com/StyleSheet.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet"><storycontent> Statement By Captain David Bourne, Director, Airline Division, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, On Amerijet Strike
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement was released today by Capt. David Bourne, director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division, on behalf of striking Amerijet pilots, Local 769 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters:
"Despite Amerijet's walkout from negotiations and refusal to negotiate in good faith, we and the federal mediator remain at the table waiting for Amerijet management to return and negotiate with honesty and integrity. The failure to reach a fair agreement and avoid this strike rests squarely on the shoulders of a management and law firm whose union-busting practices caused this strike. Amerijet management feels it's perfectly acceptable to pay substandard wages and provide unsanitary and unsafe working conditions to its airline pilots. Its law firm specializes in preventing pilots from exercising their legal rights to representation and a decent contract.
"Amerijet's management feels justified in paying the same substandard wages today that they have paid since 1999 - wages that are below the federal poverty level in many cases. They also feel justified in demanding to further cut pay if a crewmember is ill and not legally able to fly. Substandard conditions and pressure to fly sick are being considered as a factor in the tragic crash of Colgan 3407 this year.
"It's reprehensible that we now see the same thing happening here in South Florida. To refuse to provide drinking water or meals on extended flights, to refuse to provide a safe operating environment, speaks volumes to the kind of airline Amerijet wants to run.
"Amerijet's senior vice president of Business Development insulted his customers when he said there has been no interruption of service. Last night, two Boeing 767 aircraft operated for them by ABX were grounded by pilots who refused to cross the Amerijet picket line. Those two flights represent more than 372,000 pounds of freight per airplane that is not shipped for customers. In addition, two Amerijet 727's were grounded because of the strike.
"Perishable food will not get to grocery shelves in San Juan and other islands and critical oil rig parts won't get to Trinidad. Fresh fish, flowers and other cargo will not come to the customers of South Florida and elsewhere. Each 727 that does not fly is another 120,000 pounds of cargo that is not moving for customers.
"For Amerijet management to trumpet their recent multimillion dollar acquisitions while claiming they can't afford to give back the money they took from their pilots - or provide a 3 percent pay raise that does not even cover cost of living increases - speaks to their lack of core values. To them, this five-year process has been about one thing: breaking the union.
"The millions spent over five years trying to deny the pilots their legal rights as Americans to a union is staggering when compared to the small amount they are asking for. It's time for Amerijet to come back to the table, negotiate honestly and fairly and become a real airline.
"We're still here and we're still waiting."
</storycontent>

</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!-- Render Story Content ends here --> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

 

[727to7400]

Patently false, and I can point to the case law to prove it if you insist on spreading misinformation.



Don't you have a strike to worry about instead of wasting time attacking ALPA as you always do?

Good luck to the Amerijet pilots. I'll try to get down to MIA to join you on the line.

Jesus ATN, you'd better not ask the senior ALPA lawyers. Who knows, they might be smarter than you.

Actually, how about this. Since you seem to be all knowing; how about getting ahold of Prater and tell him to get off ass and get down there to support these pilots? UPS, SWAPA, APA, USAPA (East AND West) are there. Labor across the board is there. Even internationally.

He doesn't need an invite. All he has to do is call Bourne. He's got the phone number. So does his buddy Bruce York.

 

[higney85]

The next scab list that comes out should have every single one of the pilots that crossed the line on it. The last update was 3 scabs from the comair 2001 strike.

If you know one of these scabs the place to send to "update" is scablist@hotmail.com


ALPA, IBT, INHOUSE union- it's all the same.

Good for Amerijet, hopefully they get a deal that compensates and treats them like pilots for the job they do!

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Jesus ATN, you'd better not ask the senior ALPA lawyers. Who knows, they might be smarter than you.

I work with them on a regular basis. You?

Actually, how about this. Since you seem to be all knowing; how about getting ahold of Prater and tell him to get off ass and get down there to support these pilots? UPS, SWAPA, APA, USAPA (East AND West) are there. Labor across the board is there. Even internationally.

He doesn't need an invite. All he has to do is call Bourne. He's got the phone number. So does his buddy Bruce York.

After the way Bourne behaved, I would never ask Captain Prater to speak to him again.

 

[Divine Wind]

So far, ALPA has been strangely silent.

It's on the super-secret ALPA website right now: "Rots'o'ruck GI. Next time join a pilot's union, not a truck driver's union." irate:

As for scab lists, they exist, but I do not believe they are sanctioned by ALPA. IIRC, a bunch of Eastern scabs sued ALPA because they couldn't get jobs due to these lists held by ALPA pilots on the interview boards. It didn't go anywhere because ALPA doesn't maintain them.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Next time join a pilot's union, not a truck driver's union." irate:

:clap::beer:

IIRC, a bunch of Eastern scabs sued ALPA because they couldn't get jobs due to these lists held by ALPA pilots on the interview boards. It didn't go anywhere because ALPA doesn't maintain them.

It didn't go anywhere, but not for that reason. The EAL scab lists were indeed maintained by ALPA at the time, but the judge ruled that they weren't libelous because the pilots named were indeed scabs.

The lawsuit was Dunn v. ALPA, and here's the relevant excerpt:

The Supreme Court has emphasized that the epithet "scab" is "commonplace" in labor disputes and is a factual allegation that will support a libel claim but only if false and made with actual malice. Linn, 383 U.S. at 60-61, 86 S.Ct. 657; Letter Carriers, 418 U.S. at 282, 94 S.Ct. 2770. Indeed, the Supreme Court's Letter Carriers decision involved a "scab" defamation suit where the Court explained that "the only factual statement in the disputed publication is the claim that appellees were scabs." Letter Carriers, 418 U.S. at 285, 94 S.Ct. 2770. The Supreme Court examined the context in which "scabs" was used and held that naming the appellees as "scabs" was factually true and therefore appellees' claims failed, stating:

Rather than being a reckless or knowing falsehood, naming the appellees as scabs was literally and factually true. One of the generally accepted definitions of "scab" is "one who refuses to join a union," Webster's Third New International Dictionary (unabridged ed.1961), and it is undisputed that the appellees had in fact refused to join the Branch.

Id. at 282-83, 86 S.Ct. 862. In Letter Carriers, there was not even a union organizing campaign, much less an ongoing strike or work stoppage. Yet, the Supreme Court held that the description "scabs" was not false even where used in the context of a union's simply gathering supporters.(6)​

 

[Bandit_Driver]

Press Release:

Each 727 that does not fly is another 120,000 pounds of cargo that is not moving for customers.

Did I misread that? Since when can a 727 carry 120,000 lbs of cargo?

I hope the Amijet pilots get what they are asking for in the contract.

 

[Divine Wind]

It didn't go anywhere, but not for that reason. The EAL scab lists were indeed maintained by ALPA at the time, but the judge ruled that they weren't libelous because the pilots named were indeed scabs.

Thanks for the clarification, ATN.

I hope the Amijet pilots get what they are asking for in the contract.

Agreed, Bandit. It's helps all pilots when the infamous "industry average" pay goes up. However, I think 727to7400 is out of line to toss rocks at other unions regarding assistance. If my airline went on strike I certainly wouldn't be looking to the IBT for help since I'm not a member of their union.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

727to7400 is nothing but an angry ex-ALPA rep that likes to throw stones at his former union. I wouldn't pay too much attention to him.

As far as helping IBT members, I have no problem with it, and actually support it. I'm working on getting some of our pilots, including myself, down to the picket lines this week, if possible. I'll never support the IBT, but I'll certainly support their members.

 

[jhugz]

727to7400 is nothing but an angry ex-ALPA rep that likes to throw stones at his former union. I wouldn't pay too much attention to him.

As far as helping IBT members, I have no problem with it, and actually support it. I'm working on getting some of our pilots, including myself, down to the picket lines this week, if possible. I'll never support the IBT, but I'll certainly support their members.

I thought we had this discussion before. You don't get the point across by throwing other people under the bus.

 

[Minuteman]

Does ALPA, as a whole, want the strike by this pilot group to be ineffective? I'm a little confused now.

It seems like the smart thing to do for The Pilot's Union is to remain focused on their own efforts and, after the strike is ended, continue lobbying the AJT pilots to leave IBT. Or, if it was unsuccessful, be able explain why ALPA would have succeeded where the IBT did not.

This is not the right time to be undermining the work of organized pilots. Sit on your hands.

Good luck Amerijet pilots.

 

[Polar742]

Here's the latest I received:

[FONT=&quot]This is the talk in the airline industry community:<o></o>[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]<o></o>[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All hell's breaking loose down there in <st1><st1:city w:st="on">Miami</st1:city></st1>. IBT is in full force supporting these guys. One scab flight operated yesterday. ABX flew a management team in on a chartered Lear to fly a 767 last night, under threat of losing their contract with Amerijet. The flight didn't move.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]If you have an office in the Western U, better bring trash bags and Fantastic...the Teamsters cleaners have stopped cleaning the buildings since Amerijet is there. The other cargo operators in MIA have lined up and are refusing to haul Amerijet cargo.

In<st1> <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region></st1>, there's an obscure little law that says any foreign registered commercial aircraft there in excess of 48 hours get's impounded. The Venezuelan unions have announced support for the pilots and reminded the government of the law. As of 4pm today there's an Amerijet 727 that becomes a ramp ornament, pending a fairly lengthy investigation and likely fines for breaking the law.

Pilot support around the industry has been pretty good too. SWAPA is coming in and putting together a strike fund. USAPA (both Airways and West) are onboard as well and opening their wallets.

APA's (American's union) President flew in from DC yesterday and walked the line. He is one of the many American pilots who stopped by and peeled off a $100.00 bill and dropped it in the kitty for the Amerijet pilots. It's apparently going viral with the AA guys on strike fund donations as well. They sprung for lunch – two days in a row - for the picketers as well. <o>

</o>[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]We have had the following Union brothers and sisters come by and support us on the strike line:<o></o>[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]DHL warehousing / ABX[/FONT][FONT=&quot] / Atlas / Polar / Continental Express / Kalitta / ATI / Arrow Air / Jet Blue / Gulf Stream / American Airlines / UPS Pilots / UPS ground /<o></o>[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]<o></o>[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All this for a small IBT cargo carrier. And a union of truck drivers, bakers and such.

Ladies and Gentlemen...THIS IS WHAT TRADE UNIONISM IS. You stand up for the smallest, just like the biggest. We have LEGACY CARRIERS...American, USAirways, America West and Southwest standing up for a [/FONT][FONT=&quot]7 plane cargo carrier.

Not bad. If they can do this for Amerijet, imagine what we can do if we start to stand up as one, solidified group and support our leadership and negotiators. [/FONT]