Secrets of the City

B96’s Tony Fly was at the picket lines broadcasting all day today, in a VERY pro-union mode. never even heard npr every do anything that wonderfully brazen, it was really stunning. i wonder if they’ll get any shit for it.

I think its interesting that no one has really mentioned that the Mechanics pissed off basically all thier union buddy’s by breaking off in the late 90’s so they could negotiate fat contracts for themselves and leave all the other union members to vie for themselves. I have a machinest’s union friend and she basically said all the other unions HATE the mechanics in the AMFA. She virtually assured the Tuesday before the strike deadline that there would be no sympathy strike.

Doug,

I think its interesting that you assume no one has really mentioned that the mechanics pissed off the other union, when I mention it on a regular basis.

You assume bias, and you assume wrong.

Here is an article that I linked to today that shed’s light on what you speak. Here is another.

Geez, I wrote about it yesterday too. Keep digging, there are more in there.

I have my opinions, but I’m not going to turn a blind eye to any facet of the story.

I think the AMFA is frequently refered to as a “rogue union,” which not only sounds cool, but also makes me wonder if cads will ever unionize, or if the flight attendants have a “rouge union.”

Hmm…can you project assumptions onto another person? I guess if your an ass!

When I said “no one” I guess I was a little general. I was refering to local (MSP) mainstream media. I forget that bloggers think that everyone reads everything that spews out of thier “Typing by Mavis” instructed fingertips. I guess preaching to the choir and ego are now available for all.

Doug,
You are incorrect. The ill will the AFL-CIO bears towards the AMFA has been covered by everyone from the Strib to the NYTimes. Last week, the Strib even wrote a long profile of the quixotic quest of the AMFA founder to build a credible union over the past 30 years. It’s strange that anyone following the strike could miss the prominant story theme of AMFA members standing alone because of their outsider status.

hmm…the machinists are no long part of the AFL-CIO.

hmm…the machinists are no long part of the AFL-CIO.

Doug,

I really don’t assume that everyone reads everything that spews out of my “Typing by Melvin” instructed fingertips. Since my blog was mentioned in this post, I thought perhaps you had read what you were commenting on.

You said “[m]echanics pissed off basically all thier union buddy’s by breaking off in the late 90’s so they could negotiate fat contracts for themselves and leave all the other union members to vie for themselves.”

If I were trying to preach, it wouldn’t be to that choir. I understand the hard feelings that the IAM may have towards AMFA, but as you pointed out, it was the late 90’s. There has been at least one round of contract negotiations since then, and across the board (excepting the mgmt of course) are facing the same layoffs and paycuts, so if one union is bitter at another union, last year was the time to sort out the differences. Besides, politics is politics, and the recent split of the AFL-CIO should serve as a reminder that these things happen and they must stay focused on the reason they’re in a union to start with.

What the rift has done is opened an opportunity for NWA to employ a divide and conquer attack, and they have done it with quite a bit of success. Your comment, as true as it may be, is only one small part of this story, and it is exactly the kind of dialogue that NWA wants to hear in the public realm. It will make it easier for them to break the IAM and outsource your friends’ machinist job later down the road.

Your last name wouldn’t happen to be Steenland, would it?

I also did a story called, “Why Other Unions Do Not Support Mechanics” for the 10pm news at WCCO. You can find the story here: in the video section of wcco.com