(The following news release was issued by the TTD on April 8.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Responding to mounting threats to aviation safety and security due to government policy and airline management conduct, the AFL-CIO’s three airline mechanics unions have formed, under the auspices of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), the Aircraft Mechanics Mobilization Committee aimed at stopping the erosion of aircraft maintenance standards and the ongoing threat to the job security of skilled aircraft technicians.
“These increasingly difficult times make it more critical than ever for us to stand up for how important the work of airline mechanics is to the industry and the nation,” said TTD President Sonny Hall, the International President of the Transport Workers Union, stating that “the workers who maintain the nation’s aircraft have an awesome responsibility, and take great pride in their work.”
“A coalition of aircraft mechanic unions is essential to properly represent our mechanics in contract negotiations, before Congress, and with the FAA,” said International Association of Machinists General Vice President of Transportation Robert Roach, Jr. “Just as airlines have formed alliances, employee unions must do the same.”
According to Don Treichler, Airline Division director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, “FAA oversight has been lacking and needs to be strengthened quickly to ensure that we have proper safety and security in the airline industry.”
The immediate priorities of the Committee will be developing strategies to counter outrageous airline management demands for more outsourcing of aircraft maintenance overseas and domestically, and formulating regulatory and legislative responses to the recent federal action to delay rules strengthening oversight of U.S. aircraft repaired overseas. At the request of business lobbyists, the FAA extended key deadlines – some to as late as 2005 – for compliance with new regulations governing repair work performed on U.S. aircraft in FAA-certified facilities abroad.
“At a time when the nation faces mounting security threats – and when air carriers face growing pressure to cut corners – this move by the FAA makes no sense and is downright dangerous,” said TTD Executive Edward Wytkind.
The Committee, which will bring together mechanics from different parts of the country, will also address growing threats to worker rights in the name of homeland security, such as new rules allowing the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to revoke a mechanic’s certification if the TSA determines that individual poses a security risk, as well as unfair criminal background checks providing employers inappropriate access to sensitive personal information. The new TSA rules, unlike those that would cost a mechanic a license for a safety violation, deny the worker an independent appeal and, in many cases, even the chance to review the evidence used to make a determination.
TTD represents 35 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org