Women from the Transport Workers Union Women's Committee traveled to London, England to attend the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) Women's Conference in early February. More than 200 union women from 62 countries attended the Conference where participants discussed a wide variety of issues important to working women in today's world.

Discussions, panels and speeches covered issues from across the globe, from sexual harassment of women workers in Belgium, to maternity leave issues in the Asian Pacific Region, to violence against women while traveling to work in Australia. The international crowd was able to relate to each other on many different topics, despite the vast differences in background, culture and jobs.

"Women need strong unions, and strong unions need women," said TWU Organizer Dill, reflecting on her experience at the event. In addition to exploring the multitude of challenges that today's working women face, the Conference emphasized the need for women to be involved at the negotiating table, in organizing, and in strengthening international union solidarity.

"The Conference was one of the most amazing opportunities I've ever had in my life," said ATD Working Women's Committee Chair Angela Tucker. "It was incredible to hear so many women tell their stories and find that many suffer the same troubles, no matter where they are from."

Tucker attended the Conference along with Civil and Human Rights Director Sandra Burleson; Managing Director of Organizational Development Tonya Gordon; Organizer Linda Dill; Chair of Transit Division Working Women's Committee Delissa Brown; Chair of Local 100 Women's Committee Oneshia "Gracie" Portlette; Local 100 E-board member Christine Williams and Local 100 Sec-Tres. Benita Johnson.

After four years of contract talks and little progress, the Transport Workers Union today presented a letter to the National Mediation Board (NMB) requesting that the union, which represents 28,000 workers at American Airlines and American Eagle, be released from federal mediation. TWU’s action now starts a process where the NMB will determine if the union will be granted “self-help” -- essentially the right to strike.

“While we have reached tentative agreements for some workers at American Eagle and significant progress has been made in recent days for Fleet Service workers at American, overall AMR has not sufficiently demonstrated that they value the sacrifices and hard work of our members,” said TWU Air Transport Division Director John M. Conley. “We have been at the bargaining table for years and will continue to work toward agreements, but it’s time that we moved the settlement process to the next step.” TWU represents 11 bargaining units at American and American Eagle. You can read John Conley's letter requesting to be released from federal mediation here.

Labor laws in the transportation industry are different than the rules for other private sector workers and the right to strike is not guaranteed. Under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the law pertaining to labor relations for workers in commercial aviation and railroads, unions must request self-help before moving toward a strike. Once a request is made:

-the NMB will notify the opposing party, in this case, AMR, the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, of the request for “release.”
-Following notification, a comment period from 10 days to two weeks will be declared for both parties.
-After the comment period, the Board will then review the record and consult with the federal mediators who have been involved in the contract talks and then issue a determination.
-The Board can propose arbitration, further mediation or suggest other actions.
-If either AMR or TWU would reject an offer of arbitration, a 30-day countdown or cooling-off period is triggered. The union is granted self-help at the end of 30 days -- unless President Obama intercedes and declares a Presidential Emergency Board or PEB. (During the Obama presidency, airline unions on two occasions have requested release. In the case of Hawaiian Airlines, a settlement was reached without a strike, at cargo carrier Amerijet a strike did occur. TWU is the first union at a major carrier to file for release in the Obama years.)


A PEB:
-Can occur if the NMB "notifies" the President that in its "judgment" the dispute between a carrier and its employees cannot be adjusted and "threaten[s] substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential transportation service."
-The President may then, "in his discretion,” create a board to investigate and report on such dispute. The NMB submits a recommended list of potential neutrals to the President.
-The PEB usually has 30 days to develop a proposed agreement and present that agreement to the parties for consideration.
-After the PEB delivers its proposed agreement, there is a further 30-day cooling off period. Under the law, Congress also can create a settlement if both sides reject the judgment of the PEB.

While TWU has filed for release, negotiations can continue.

“We want equitable and rational agreements, we are prepared to negotiate, but we will not stand by as AMR executives are awarded large bonuses and our members are left with pennies. We will not move aimlessly, we will not go in reverse, as today’s filing demonstrates we plan to move forward,” said Conley.

March 8 is celebrated around the world as International Women's Day, a day to recognize economic, political and social achievements of women. The day is also an opportunity to discuss issues that still affect women in many countries, like wages inequalities, lack of sick leave policies and workplace violence.

The first National Women's Day was observed in honor of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, when women protested against long working hours and low pay, and demanded voting rights and an end to child labor.

According to the ILO report on 2009 Global Employment Trends for Women, women are "often in a disadvantaged position in comparison to men in labor markets around the world [and] in most regions, the gender impact of the economic crisis in terms of unemployment rates is expected to be more detrimental for females than for males."

The TWU has been dedicated to continuing founder Mike Quill's vision of fair working conditions and equality for all, regardless of race, creed, religion and gender. The union's Women's Committee was formed several years ago to fill a need for union women to collaborate and learn from each other. Today, both the Transit and Air Divisions, and some locals, have their own, referred to as Working Women's Committees (WWC). More than 100 women and some men are involved in WWCs today, and the numbers continue to grow. Read more about TWU WWC's here , and watch a video that features Local 100's WWC here.

The TWU remembers women that made a difference in America's Labor Movement on this day, to name a few: Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, American Labor Union activist Karen Silkwood, the first woman professor at Harvard Medical School and founder of occupational medicine Alice Hamilton, the director of the Occupational Safety and Health during the Carter Administration Eula Bingham, and the former director of OSHA's Office of Risk Assessment Susan Harwood, who helped develop OSHA standards to protect workers exposed to blood borne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.

Today the tradition continues with the current Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. The TWU congratulates these sisters and expresses its commitment and solidarity with all women workers who fight for workplace rights and economic justice with equal opportunities.

Fighting for Women's Rights with CLUW
Sister Seher Tumer, branch secretary of SES, the Trade Union of Public Employees in Heath and Social Services in Turkey, was imprisoned in April 2009 for her activist in the Labor and Women's movement, according to Public Services International. The TWU supports the Coalition of Union Women's efforts to demand that charges against sister Tumer be dropped. If you can, please help in CLUW's efforts to demand the charges be dropped. See the letter below to learn how you can help.

Letter from Karen J. See,
CLUW President:

According to Public Services International, the global union federation for public sector workers, Seher Tumer, branch secretary of SES, the Trade Union of Public Employees in Health and Social Services in Turkey, will spend International Women's Day 2010 in prison. But international solidarity action, they say, could open the door to freedom for her.
Please take a moment to send a message to the Turkish prime minister, demanding that all charges be dropped and that Seher Tumer be immediately released. Her next court appearance is planned for March 9.

Ms. Tumer has now been detained in a Turkish prison for almost a year, with no clear charges being brought against her. PSI is convinced that her arrest is linked to her activities in the labor and women's movements in that country, including participating in International Women's Day activities last year. Tumer, who is Kurdish, was arrested and imprisoned in April 2009.

In solidarity,
Karen J. See,
CLUW President

Dear Mr. Walsh:

I am writing on behalf of our “Oneworld” colleagues at Unite.

Labor unrest and discord distracts the workforce, creates uncertainty in travelers (our customers), impacts the lending institutions and further weakens an already fragile enterprise.

It seems AA & BA are on the cusp of turning the corner in terms of potential opportunity resulting from ATI & JBA approval.

Your intuition must tell you, that if the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. One in your position cannot separate leadership from relationships – Unite is not the enemy – after all without labor, including you, nothing prospers. Labor drives and delivers on BA’s commitments and promises to the customer.

The ground floor gives life to the top floor’s ideas and propels them from fantasy to reality. The Cabin Crew, your employees and Unite members represent the face of BA and have the most interaction with passengers, providing for their safety and comfort, while enhancing the travel experience.

I am clear that your instincts and experience must prevail, in working to lead the parties to an amicable agreement and a return to a relationship of basic harmony, trust and equity.

The TWU at AA represents approximately 28,000 ground workers who as you know, are facing their own challenges in negotiations.

The Transport Workers Union of America AFL - CIO pledges its full support, influence and resources, squarely behind our contemporaries at Unite. Thank you for taking the time to indulge me and making every effort to strengthen the “Oneworld” Alliance, by exerting your considerable persuasive talents to secure an agreement.

Respectfully,

John M. Conley
International Administrative Vice President
Director Air Transport Division


JMC:kla opeiu-153

C: Steve Turner
Tony McCarthy
Gerard Arpey

More than 3,000 Local 100 members rallied outside of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Public Hearing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan on Thursday evening. A large contingent of high school and college students joined the Local, vociferously protesting the MTA's planned elimination of student MetroCards.

The MTA has threatened to hike fares, cut service, layoff hundreds of workers and eliminate free student MetroCards. On March 1, more than 1,000 workers received a letter in the mail from the MTA explaining there would be a "Reduction in work force," but that it was not a lay-off notice.

That letter says that MTA Chairman Jay Walder doesn't care what caused the Authority's financial crisis, but that he wants transit workers, students, the elderly and the New York public to pay for it, Local 100 John Samuelsen explained at the rally.

"What kind of upside down society is this when the federal government bails out Wall Street bankers to the tune of $700 billion dollars. But students, transit workers, and New York’s working families get kicked to the curb?" said Samuelsen.


Many allies in the union movement and in the government supported Local 100 and the student activists. To name a few supporters: New York State AFL-CIO President Dennis Hughes, PBA President Pat Lynch, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, the UFT's Michael Mandel, DC 37’s Oliver Gray, Teamsters Local 237's Gregory Floyd, and Public Advocate Bill DiBlasio.

President John Samuelsen called upon members to speak in a single voice: "Hell no, Mr. Walder. We will fight your attempts to steal our jobs; we will fight your attacks on our students; you will not destroy our transit system."

UFT leader Mandel questioned the contradictions in the MTA’s budget priorities, seeking congestion pricing tolls on the one hand, while cutting service on the other. Pat Lynch spoke of his father’s longtime membership in TWU Local 100 and demanded that the fat cats on Wall Street surrender their raises and perks before working families face firings and pay cuts.

Local 100 is working a multi-pronged strategy to win additional funding streams for the MTA in Washington, Albany, and in New York's City Hall.

"Tonight we are speaking as one," said Local 100 President John Samuelsen. "We have to continue to shout in one, loud, unified voice."

Speaking for all 28,000 TWU members employed by AMR, we’re very disappointed that the flight attendants union was not able to reach an agreement with American Airlines. It now appears that APFA will seek release from mediation. We know where they’re coming from. It has become increasingly clear that management at American Airlines is not committed to reaching an agreement with the airlines’ workers and AMR’s unions must take additional steps to secure a new agreement.

Just sitting at the bargaining table is not negotiating. The flight attendants, like AMR’s ground workers, require a contract that is “ratifiable.” Our members who kept this company aloft by taking thirty percent wage cuts and making other sacrifices will not accept pennies for their labors, nor will they just grin and bear it when management is taking seven-figure bonuses.

American Airlines is gaining anti-trust immunity in the Atlantic and strengthening the Oneworld alliance in the Pacific, it’s stock is up 30 percent in February alone. If management would only address its labor issues it would fly even higher.

AMR’s executives are simply not recognizing the enormous contributions made by our members. Over the past four years we have utilized a facilitated approach, direct negotiations, mediation, super meditation and recess sessions, all to no avail. Releasing the parties is the natural order of progression and called for under the Railway Labor Act. TWU will be making an announcement about next steps in the bargaining process for ground workers next week.