IAM Transportation Department

General Vice President Sito Pantoja today issued the following statement to mark the somber anniversary of 9-11:

Thirteen years ago today, the United States suffered mind-numbing acts of barbarism. Cowardly terrorist murderers hijacked United and American Airlines jetliners and killed thousands of innocent people. United Airlines Customer Service employees and IAM members Marianne McFarland and Jesus Sanchez were onboard United 175. IAM Organizer and New York City Firefighter Keith Maynard was lost in the collapse of the World Trade Center. The heroic pilots and flight attendants that reported to work that day, the workers in and around the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the hundreds of New York City and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey first responders, and the courageous passengers on those doomed flights – today and everyday we remember them all and the senseless acts that took them from us.

The horrific acts of 9/11 stunned the world. These unspeakable acts of terrorism threw the airline industry into free-fall and contributed to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, airline bankruptcies and ongoing industry consolidation.

Unfortunately, we still face real threats and IAM members are on the frontlines. Whether it be in the cabin or the ground, at an airport or on our nation’s rail system, IAM members are responsible for the traveling public’s safety and security.

That’s why the IAM has fought senseless efforts to permit knives and other weapons back on board aircraft and to regulate and restrict the use of foreign aircraft repair facilities where personnel are not subject to criminal background checks yet have unfettered access to aircraft. We are fighting to stop dangerous “flags of convenience” schemes that undermine the safety and security of air travel and the misguided efforts to allow mobile voice calls onboard commercial aircraft, which would allow terrorists to better coordinate another attack.

After more than two years of direct talks with Southwest Airlines, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today announced it filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency that oversees contact negotiations in the airline industry.

“Southwest earned nearly a billion dollars last year, is on pace to report a larger profit for this year, has the most productive workforce in the airline industry and yet refuses to offer any real improvements," said IAM District 142 President Tom Higginbotham. "Management is hell-bent to move to a risky variable compensation system as opposed to offering guaranteed wage increases. It’s clear this is a numbers oriented airline instead of a people oriented airline.”

Coupled with Southwest’s deteriorating labor relations, the carrier’s operational performance has plummeted: The carrier has among the worst on-time arrival rate in the airline industry, it ranks among the bottom in mishandled baggage and hovers at the top of the airline industry in denied boardings.

“Southwest has merged its way to super-profits and is doing everything it can to stonewall its employees from sharing fairly in the success they’ve worked so hard to create,” continued Higginbotham. “This is greed, pure and simple and the IAM will not stand for it.”

If the IAM’s application for federal mediation is granted by the NMB, the agency then begins the process of attempting to resolve the differences between the parties via mediated discussions. If no agreement can be reached through mediation, the Railway Labor Act (RLA)—the federal law that governs collective bargaining in the airline industry—has several mechanisms to bring both sides together, including arbitration and a possible strike.

The IAM represents approximately 6,000 passenger service and reservation agents at the carrier and has never before had to utilize the NMB’s mediation services to achieve an agreement with Southwest.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today announced District 141 and United Airlines reached a tentative agreement for IAM-represented maintenance instructors.

In a letter to United CEO Jeffrey Smisek, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) questioned the airline's recent decision to outsource certain smaller "line stations" to low-paid vendors.