Amerijet On Strike!

So the "unofficial" word I got about ALPA's (lack of) involvement in this was that they feel that the IBT has been "poaching" airlines as of late and as such don't want to get involved. Seems sort of short sighted to me and maybe an official response will be forthcoming. Interesting note, my MEC knew nothing about the strike until I asked if we were going to put out a blast mail.

I'm not sure if that's the case or not (I haven't asked anyone in Herndon), but it's certainly true that relations were destroyed between the two unions when Bourne started raiding ALPA properties, and then he made things worse by getting that sleaze-ball Dan Brannan to work for him, who subsequently tried to torpedo the AirTran merger drive. Lots of bad blood there.
 
Yes, that's where my question was leading. How would one at a 3rd party even know if they were flying struck work, and would they still be held accountable for stuff they don't know, in that respect? Thinking back to my own cargo days, there were a number of items I'd carry that I didn't know who had carried it by the time it got to me.
More than likely you (at least at airnet) wouldn't know. They'd slap a USC airbill on it and say "go to ___ and take a ___ full of ___ to ___", and you'd do it.

If it's marked, then it's easy enough to become "weight restricted" and bump it. I'm sure anyone knowingly flying a box with an AJT airbill on it can be found.

If you all of a sudden are finding yourself TDY in MIA, then that should give one a hint.
So what about the companies that will decide rather than do business with AJT, who's in the middle of a work stoppage, they'll contact another carrier...that carrier goes to MIA now and gets the work?

Is that now not "amerijet's cargo"? How do the technicalities work here?

-mini
 
They are flying struck work, yes. But how would it be known who specifically at a contract carrier was flying Amerijet cargo (struck work) for the purposes of their being identified as a scab?

That what i was wondering, if individual pieces of Amerijet cargo could be tracked on 3rd party transportation systems, so it could be determined who/what is transporting them outside the actual Amerijet network.

Good questions Mike. I'm pretty sure Amerijet runs palletized cargo. On each pallet is a tag for the freight with the pallet's information.

So anyone uploading a pallet would check the tags. The pilots should crawl the freight if the are going somewhere AMJ goes.

If you're not sure, I'm sure a pilot could get in touch with anyone at the picket line, and the strikers will be able to tell them if it's AMJ freight or not.

Gulf Stream?

According to the email, they are already walking the line.


Remember what this group of AMJ pilots are asking for. They want the unilaterally imposed paycuts back, a meager pay raise, bathrooms on their airplanes, water and food if it's a real long flight.

They aren't asking for anything more than basic human rights.

Let's stick together and support this group of pilots.
 
"Brotherhood" would appear to only apply when in the same family then, if this is indeed true.

Union politics are above my pay grade.

If the problem was internal to the union, then there would be a right to some beotchin', but this is more like NWA's 2005 mechanics strike tussle where the AMFA (ex-IAM) had attempted to poach other IAM members for years then, after striking, complained about the lack of brotherhood on the part of the IAM. Rather self-serving on the part of AMFA if you ask me.
 
Good questions Mike. I'm pretty sure Amerijet runs palletized cargo. On each pallet is a tag for the freight with the pallet's information.
Pallets get broken down and put on smaller stuff...or re-packed. Then what?

But I'd agree...if you see an AJT pallet that's a pretty good indicator. "Oh Teh Noez! We're too heavy for that!"

-mini
 
So what about the companies that will decide rather than do business with AJT, who's in the middle of a work stoppage, they'll contact another carrier...that carrier goes to MIA now and gets the work?

Is that now not "amerijet's cargo"? How do the technicalities work here?

-mini

If a customer of AMJ drops AMJ and contracts with another carrier, then it's OK.

Remember, if you don't already know, AMJ is an integrator like UPS or FedEx. They run their branded door to door service. You see AMJ trucks in MIA.

They are very specialized serving the Caribbean, but they aren't a typical charter operator. They are scheduled 121. Big difference.
 
If a customer of AMJ drops AMJ and contracts with another carrier, then it's OK.
Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.

Remember, if you don't already know, AMJ is an integrator like UPS or FedEx. They run their branded door to door service. You see AMJ trucks in MIA.
I kinda guessed that. That's why I was wondering if say Spacely's Sprockets called UPS and said "hey, AJT is on strike and we need our stuff moved from ___ to ___" it wouldn't seem right that the UPS pilots would be considered scabs when it's just the customer's choice who carries the work.

Thanks for clearin it up for me!

...they aren't a typical charter operator. They are scheduled 121. Big difference.
That's a debate for another thread, another day. :beer:

-mini
 
Seems to me the only people that are getting the short end of the stick are the potential 3rd party pilots. They probably have no choice other than to be fired. However, I can't believe people would actually scab in their own airline. There is no benefit because it's not like they're going to jump seniority for the long term or anything plus they'll be labeled scabs at an airline they are lifers in anyways, why not just strike? I don't understand it.
 
Idea -

Non-union pilots have no recourse if they get fired for refusing this freight. They also have a diminished motivation everytime an Amerijet pilot scabs his own airline. After the strike, the strikers will have a job, the scabs will have a job, and the non-union pilots who displayed more courage than either of those groups are absolutely toast - they get nothing. So, IBT, ALPA, APA, and the rest should try to give some kind of tangible benefit to these people if they actually do get canned. I would think some kind of job assistance or placed on a preferential hire list somehow. ALPA/APA/IBT/SWAPA are all quick to condemn (via the scab list), but what are they doing to help non-union guys who display the courage of their convictions?
 
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