Local 525 members at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are making the final preparations for the last shuttle launch in darkness to take place this weekend. Visit twu.org on Sunday, Feb. 7 for exclusive video coverage of TWU members preparing for the launch. With this week's news of Obama's proposed budget cuts ending NASA's Constellation program, among other drastic changes, the launch has significant meaning for TWU members on the ground, for the space industry and for the country. Sunday's twu.org video will feature Local 525 members discussing what these dramatic changes, if passed by Congress, could mean for their jobs and their community.

TWU's Local 525 is almost as old as the U.S. missile program itself. The Local received its TWU charter in June, 1957 and has since been involved with every launch from Cape Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center. Local 525 members are involved in many aspects of the space industry from manning the fire trucks that accompany the shuttle down the runway to launching commercial and military satellites.

This weekend's launch is the first of NASA's five final shuttle missions planned for 2010 before the three-orbiter fleet is retired to make way for future spacecraft. It marks NASA's 130th shuttle flight since the fleet began launching astronauts to orbit in 1981.

The space shuttle Endeavour is planned to launch at 4:39 a.m. on Feb. 7 from the Kennedy Space Center. The five-man, one-woman crew, commanded by astronaut George Samka, will be hauling a brand-new room for the International Space Station, as well as a seven-window observation portal dubbed the Cupola. The mission will last 13 days.

Remember to visit http://www.twu.org on Sunday, Feb. 7 for exclusive footage of the launch and Local 525 members who help make it happen.
Photo credit: NASA

The chance to hunt the game laden plains of Africa is only a dream to the average hunter. Such a safari requires travel to a different hemisphere and is wildly expensive, financially out of reach for most. But to one TWU Local 556 member's surprise, she won just that, the hunt of her dreams.

Karen Carrolan, a Southwest flight attendant and hunting enthusiast, was working a return flight to her home base, Chicago, when a stranger asked her if she'd fill in for a hunting buddy of his who had unexpectedly canceled on him. Carrolan knew something unusual was going on when she noticed a camera pointed directly at her and the stranger. Then, over the aircraft's public address system a co-worker announced that Carrolan had just won a hunting trip to Africa and the plane full of people burst into applause.

That was when she found out the stranger next to her was actually Tom Ackerman, the host of Escape to the Wild. Escape is a television show that rewards union men and women with trips to fantastic hunting locations around the world and airs their excursions. The show often highlights participants' commitments to species conservation, one that is particularly strong in the community of union sportsmen and women. Union Sportsmen's Alliance (USA), the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), both affiliated with the AFL-CIO, support the show.

Carrolan started hunting several years ago with her oldest son and her boyfriend; mostly in central Illinois with an occasional trip to Minnesota. Carrolan lived in Africa for a brief period of time as a child when her father was working as a carpenter in Nigeria. But Carrolan's mother became very ill while they were there so they returned to the United States. Carrolan never dreamed she would have an opportunity to return to Africa.

Carrolan loves her job as a Southwest flight attendant, which she has performed for than nine years. She always keeps an eye out for the hunters on board. "I always chat with passengers, particularly those that look like they are going hunting," she said. "Anyone wearing camouflage clothes." Carrolan said that people think it's "cool" that a woman enjoys the outdoors and hunting wild animals.

Carrolan's hunting trip of a lifetime will be broadcast on January 24 at 8:30 p.m. on the Versus Country television network. Check with your cable company for the proper channel in your area. You can also go to the Versus website to find a clip of the show and other web exclusive materials after it airs.

The Transport Workers Union of America and the International Association of Machinists are committed to raising their member's awareness of an industry killer, "the fatigued worker." Working with the Federal Aviation Administration and sleep study experts, the TWU and IAM expose the dangers of sleep deprived aviation maintenance workers in an industry that operates 365 days a year, 24 hours per day. The inherit risks posed by extreme hours, irregular shifts and outside distractions, are substantiated by medical studies and reported by medical experts like Dr. Bill Johnson, Dr. Katrina Avers and FAA Human Factors Researcher Erica Hauck. These informative articles are included in the second edition of "MX Fatigue focus," available here. Learn about the importance of the biological processes that regulate an individual's sleep patterns, the homeostatic and circadian process and why they are important to workers' safety and the safety of others. Your life may depend on it.

Offshore aviation maintenance is a disaster waiting to happen. American Airlines is the only major air carrier that keeps the bulk of its repair work here in the United States. TWU members who go through necessary background checks and training maintain AA planes and ensure passenger safety. Foreign maintenance allows companies to forgo employee background checks and FAA inspectors are forbidden from making spot checks and surprise inspections.

TWU continues to fight to keep aircraft maintenance here at home and keep the flying public safe. Read more here.

With time running out, the House passed HR 4217 on December 8th, extending funding of the Federal Aviation Administration through March 2010.

The FAA has been operating under a series of extensions since its authorization expired back in 2007. Without Tuesday’s critical “yes” vote to extend funding, the latest extension would have expired Dec. 31, 2009 with Congress in recess for the holidays.

"Although the House passed an FAA reauthorization bill last Congress, the Senate did not, resulting in the need for a series of short-term extension acts that, unfortunately, continues to this day," said Representative James Oberstar (D-MN) Chair of the House Transportation Committee.

Representative Jerry Costello (D-IL), Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee, echoed Oberstar's comments. "The FAA has been operating under a string of short-term extensions for over two years since the last FAA reauthorization bill expired," he said in the well of the House. "Short-term extensions and uncertain funding levels can be disruptive to the aviation industry and communities because they do not allow them to plan for long-term growth. Frankly, every month that goes by without a long-term FAA authorization is a lost opportunity to improve aviation safety, security, and to create and maintain jobs around the country."

Additionally, HR 4217 extends aviation taxes and allows the FAA to spend those tax revenues on programs it deems necessary to safe operations in the aviation industry.

Dispatchers at Southwest Airlines, represented by TWU Local 550, opened negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement today, Dec. 11.

"We look forward to continuing a positive relationship with Southwest Airlines during the negotiation and obtaining an agreement that truly recognizes the outstanding service and unparalleled safety records our dispatchers provide Southwest every day," said International Representative Gary Shults. “We are confident that the current relationship the TWU has with the airline will bring a fruitful contract for our members that recognizes their value to the daily operation.”

Southwest dispatchers’ previous 12-year contract became amendable November 30, 2009 and the Local looks forward to negotiating the solid new contract. Local 550 was formed when the dispatchers’ independent employee association merged with the TWU last fall. The Local now represents about 180 employees.

Statement by John M. Conley, Director of the TWU Air Transport Division, on the Retirement of American Airlines’ Senior Vice President and Former TWU Member Carmine Romano and the Promotion of Jim Ream as New Senior Vice President for Maintenance & Engineering:

Carmine Romano has been a critical link in developing and maintaining a cooperative relationship between American and TWU maintenance professionals. Largely because of this relationship, American and the TWU have produced award-winning results and received recognition, while successfully defending the craft and class against the outsourcing trend that has pervaded our industry. Carmine’s leadership, respect for our members, and commitment to continuous improvement have been integral to the preservation of American jobs. We thank him for his dedication and professionalism, and wish him a happy and healthy retirement.

Additionally, the TWU welcomes Jim Ream, as Senior Vice President of Maintenance & Engineering, who is taking over for Carmine on January 1st. In the coming months, we anticipate forging a strong working relationship with Jim that builds on the one shared over the past several years on Carmine’s watch, one that will continue to put American jobs first.

American Airlines flight attendants held a successful symbolic strike yesterday at American Airlines bases around the country.  The TWU was on hand to support the Association of Professional Fight Attendants during their “OUR TURN Around Campaign” in Washington D.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and other bases around the country.

Picketers carried signs that read, “It’s Our Turn,” and, “Is Your Flight RED Today?”  At all base airports APFA members announced certain designated flights as “Red Flights.”  The flight attendants working the “red flights” wore symbolic red disks to indicate to the company the widespread problems that would be caused by a real strike. 

Like TWU members employed by American in other fields, the company’s flight attendants made major concessions in 2003 to help their employer stay afloat.  The company promised its workers “Shared Sacrifice, Shared Gain,” but today, American workers are hearing a different slogan in regards to the new contract:  “Zero Sum.”

“In short, American demands that any improvement in wages, vacation, or any other benefit be offset by a concession of equal value,” APFA wrote in its negotiation update posted on their website. “Nothing goes into one of your pockets that hasn’t just been taken from another.” 

Like APFA, TWU and other American unions are all engaged in the mediation process with assigned mediators working to gain an acceptable agreement, but American refuses to give its workers the contracts they deserve. 

Learn more about APFA’s “Our Turn Around Campaign” at apfa.org.

On November 18, 2009, Assistant Director of TWU's Air Transport Division Robert Gless, testified before the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection of the Committee on Homeland Security. The hearing included testimony specifically addressing the problems with security risks at foreign repair stations.

Gless, a certified Aviation Maintenance Technician himself, laid out his concerns for the subcommittee saying, “There are three major concerns that we have with regard to repair work performed at foreign aircraft repair stations. First, we have long held that our belief is that the same standards should be applied to repair work being performed on U.S. bound aircraft regardless if the work is done in the U.S. or abroad. Second, the loss of thousands of American jobs to outsourced foreign repair mechanics further weakens our U.S. economic security. And finally, we have a concern regarding security breaches within and around the perimeters of facilities which can lead to sabotage.

Gless offered the subcommittee four major recommendations:

1. Require that all maintenance on aircraft used in domestic U.S. service be done in FAA-certified repair facilities.
2. Require, as a condition of FAA certification, that all repair stations meet the same standards. This would include, but not be limited to, drug and alcohol testing and Part 65 aircraft mechanic certification.
3. Reconfigure FAA inspection and oversight to place the greatest scrutiny on those repair stations whose audits determine to pose the greatest risk to safety and security.
4. Require, as a condition of FAA-certification, that all repair stations be subject to unannounced FAA inspections. The FAA shall be prohibited from certifying any repair station in any countries that prohibit unannounced inspections and shall immediately revoke any existing certifications in such countries.

Watch Gless' whole testimony and question and answer session above (total running time: 11 minutes) and read it here.