| Union Election |
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and collect information. We really want a voice on the job and a legally binding
contract.
It has been proven over and over again that you cannot win an election without a
sound structure in place. Depending on the size of your location, we generally need 1
person for every 10 who want a union to take part. This can be anything from
collecting interest cards, passing out information, talking to, and assessing the level of
support. These agents will work with the union reps to ensure correct information is
getting to agents and that any questions agents may have about the union are
answered.
As we near filing for an election each of these agents will be responsible for 10 agents
they work with to get the actual representation cards signed and to ensure their
people vote once voting instructions are sent out. It has been proven over and over
again that if a structure is not in place, the union election will be lost due to the
company's anti-union campaign.
It is important to assess where agents stand throughout the campaign and to be sure
agents with questions aren't left in the dark. We don't want agents receiving
information through the "rumor mill", we want to be sure they have the proper
information.
We must not forget that during our election in 1998, management ran a very
expensive anti-union campaign and hired an outside company to run it and to train all
managers and supervisors in union avoidance. American Airlines hired one of the most
powerful union avoidance specialists in the country. They are paid to ensure that
agents don't want a union by creating materials and training supervisors to hold
captive audience meetings to scare agents into not voting for representation.
The majority of agents at American Airlines have been in these meetings or have
received anti-union information from the company during our last union election.
Although the company shouldn't spend millions of dollars, as they did during the last
election, hiring a firm to get us to not want a union, we cannot be sure that they won't
do it again. There is a small minority of agents left working who have not been
through the anti-union campaign.
New hires in reservations for home based and reduced work week programs have told
us that they were given the anti-union rhetoric during their initial training. So we
cannot be sure that American Airlines will not spend millions of dollars they do NOT
have to run another anti-union campaign as we get closer to filing for an election.
We filed for our last election with a majority of support from the agents and still lost.
Almost 15% of those who signed representation cards saying they wanted a union,
didn't vote in the election. The company's anti-union campaign left them confused.
Many agents opted to let others make the decision for them by not voting. These
agents didn't realize that not voting actually meant you were voting NO. If you
thought you would sit out the election and did nothing, you actually voted NO. The
We will talk more about the anti-union campaign later. One thing we must remember
is that by not having a union to represent us the company doesn't have to negotiate
our working conditions, pay, or benefits, like they do with other front line employees --
the pilots, flight attendants, ramp, facilities maintenance, or the mechanics. As a
matter of fact, the same management that tells you that you DON'T need a contract,
have employment contracts for themselves.
contract.
It has been proven over and over again that you cannot win an election without a
sound structure in place. Depending on the size of your location, we generally need 1
person for every 10 who want a union to take part. This can be anything from
collecting interest cards, passing out information, talking to, and assessing the level of
support. These agents will work with the union reps to ensure correct information is
getting to agents and that any questions agents may have about the union are
answered.
As we near filing for an election each of these agents will be responsible for 10 agents
they work with to get the actual representation cards signed and to ensure their
people vote once voting instructions are sent out. It has been proven over and over
again that if a structure is not in place, the union election will be lost due to the
company's anti-union campaign.
It is important to assess where agents stand throughout the campaign and to be sure
agents with questions aren't left in the dark. We don't want agents receiving
information through the "rumor mill", we want to be sure they have the proper
information.
We must not forget that during our election in 1998, management ran a very
expensive anti-union campaign and hired an outside company to run it and to train all
managers and supervisors in union avoidance. American Airlines hired one of the most
powerful union avoidance specialists in the country. They are paid to ensure that
agents don't want a union by creating materials and training supervisors to hold
captive audience meetings to scare agents into not voting for representation.
The majority of agents at American Airlines have been in these meetings or have
received anti-union information from the company during our last union election.
Although the company shouldn't spend millions of dollars, as they did during the last
election, hiring a firm to get us to not want a union, we cannot be sure that they won't
do it again. There is a small minority of agents left working who have not been
through the anti-union campaign.
New hires in reservations for home based and reduced work week programs have told
us that they were given the anti-union rhetoric during their initial training. So we
cannot be sure that American Airlines will not spend millions of dollars they do NOT
have to run another anti-union campaign as we get closer to filing for an election.
We filed for our last election with a majority of support from the agents and still lost.
Almost 15% of those who signed representation cards saying they wanted a union,
didn't vote in the election. The company's anti-union campaign left them confused.
Many agents opted to let others make the decision for them by not voting. These
agents didn't realize that not voting actually meant you were voting NO. If you
thought you would sit out the election and did nothing, you actually voted NO. The
We will talk more about the anti-union campaign later. One thing we must remember
is that by not having a union to represent us the company doesn't have to negotiate
our working conditions, pay, or benefits, like they do with other front line employees --
the pilots, flight attendants, ramp, facilities maintenance, or the mechanics. As a
matter of fact, the same management that tells you that you DON'T need a contract,
have employment contracts for themselves.
| HOW DO WE WIN OUR NEXT UNION ELECTION? |