American Airlines, from 911 bailouts, customer rights law overturn, outsourcing, lax FAA enforcement, the Allied Pilots Association and the Teamsters

"Today, on the news, they said the cancellations may get worse. Worse? How can they get worse? What are they going to do? Take your luggage and then punch you in the face, too?" --Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, April 10th.

The airline industry which the tax paying people of the US bailed out in 2001, is screwing us all over again, our lives hang in the balance in this ever greedy corporate world, where the entire idea of putting profits over people, the lawful duty of a corporation, is destroying our world.

Since the 911 bailout, the airline industry has successfully sent highly skilled and FAA certified American jobs to other parts of the world where they don't even need FAA certification.

Unions, who some claim have overstayed their welcome, still are fighting the good fight to equalize the playing field for the common man.

Without union involvement and the help of whistle blowers acting out against the social injustices of corporations, the world would be much worse off.

Image from www.TellYourAAStory.com

Un-fuck-ing-be-liev-ab-le

In New York just 3 weeks ago, on 3/25/08, a Federal appeals court struck down the New York state law requiring airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck in delayed planes, saying the measure was well-intentioned but stepped on federal authority.

The very next day, 3/26/08, American Airlines grounded it's fleet of Boeing MD-80's

The nation's largest carrier canceled more than 340 flights — or about 14 percent of its scheduled service — according to the latest results from FlightStats.com.

The need for the new inspections became known during an audit of American by a joint team of inspectors from the FAA and the Fort Worth-based airline.

It's now 2 weeks later, and heres a clip from ConsumerAffairs.com (4/10/08) :

The mandatory inspections of its fleet of MD-80 aircraft forced American Airlines to cancel 500 flights on Monday and nearly 1,000 on Wednesday, creating long lines of frustrated passengers in the nation's airports. The chaos is likely to continue today, with as many as 900 more flights scratched.

At Denver International Airport Tuesday, 19 of American's 22 scheduled departures were canceled, along with the same number of arrivals, according to the Denver Post. The newspaper reported lines to American's sixth-floor ticket counter snaked to the mezzanine area overlooking the terminal's north security checkpoint.

It was the same story in Orlando, where 22 flights were canceled Wednesday.

"Folks, if you think this is going to get better, hang on. It's going to get a lot worse." Rep. John Mica (R-FL) told WDBO Radio.

And it has only been getting worse, according to AeroNews.net (4/12/08) :

"We anticipate returning to a full schedule on Monday." That statement Friday from American Airlines no doubt comes as little reassurance to hundreds of thousands passengers inconvenienced in the past three days, due to the cancellation of nearly 3,000 flights for emergency inspections of its fleet of MD-80 airliners. In an email message to previous American Airlines customers, Marketing VP Dan Garton said the airline is really, really sorry for the trouble.

Recent FAA emphasis in the wake of heavy criticism

According to ConsumerAffairs.com (4/10/08- same article as above) :

American is just the latest airline to react to the FAA's new emphasis on inspections, in the wake of heavy criticism of the agency's monitoring and enforcement of inspection mandates. Southwest Airlines faces a possible $10 million fine after it few a number of its Boeing 737 jets that had not been inspected for cracks in their fuselage, as ordered.

The unions have responded in both cases, most recently in the American Airlines situation

Allied Pilots Association on American Airline's

From Airline Biz (4/10/08) :

The Allied Pilots Association, 19 months into non-moving contract talks with American Airlines, has taken out a big ad in USA Today to attack the airline's management.

Under photo of a disgruntled-looking man sitting on a cot with his roll-on bag by his side, the ad's headline asks the question: "Why is American Airlines failing its customers?"

The message includes a reference to the union's new Web site that allows employees and customers to complain about American, www.TellYourAAStory.com.

The ad sums up many of the complaints the APA has lodged against American management: poor maintenance, poor customer service, penny-pinching, etc. As an interesting note, it doesn't mention the union's beef about executive stock awards.

The ad doesn't say so, but we presume the timing is tied to American's decision to ground some 2,500 flights Tuesday-Thursday to go back and re-inspect its fleet of MD-80s that it had grounded two weeks earlier for the same reason.

On Tuesday, the union plans meetings at all its bases to turn up the heat over the executive stock plan, which will distribute stock to top executives and other key employees the next day.

The Teamster's on Southwest Airlines and airline outsourcing

Same article from above- Consumeraffairs.com (4/10/08) :

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Southwest, which faces a potential $10 million fine over the inspection violations, has cancelled plans to outsource aircraft maintenance to a company in El Salvador.

"We've been trying for years to get the FAA to pay attention to how dangerous it is to outsource maintenance overseas," said Teamsters Union President Jim Hoffa, whose members perform maintenance work in the U.S. "Our mechanics keep telling us how they often have to re-do work that was done wrong by airlines' outside vendors."

"Airline mechanics have to meet much higher standards in America than they do overseas," Hoffa said. "Mechanics in foreign shops don't even have to be FAA-certificated."

Hoffa said that between 1997 and 2006, U.S. airlines increased their outsourced maintenance expenses from 37 percent to 64 percent," Hoffa said.

In advance of Oberstar's Capitol Hill hearings on the subject, FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell said the agency would institute a two-year ban on former FAA inspectors going to work for airlines in important maintenance jobs.

FAA whistle blowers have increasingly complained that FAA inspectors failed to act on repeated warnings about Southwest's inspection lapses, allowing the airline to "voluntarily" report missed deadlines, thus avoiding penalties.

Is that what the airlines did with the 9/11 bailout money?

BusinessWeek, from way back in (11/26/01) :

Airlines used the attacks as justification for large federal subsidies, and Congress responded. A board of federal officials, headed by Federal Reserve Governor Edward Gramlich, has been authorized to dole out $10 billion in government-backed loans. Some $5 billion more is available in outright grants, and half of this amount has already been distributed to many airlines.

This assistance, with perhaps more to follow, is unwise because stockholders, creditors, employees, and suppliers should have to bear most of the costs of the economic slump and the aftermath of the hijackings.

From ConsumerAffairs (1/22/05)

JetBlue, Southwest, America West, Northwest and United are among the carriers who outsource major maintenance of their aircraft to contractors in other countries, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

• As JetBlue's new A320 Airbus fleet ages, aircraft are sent to a repair hub in El Salvador;
• America West also sends its jets to El Salvador;
• Southwest has always outsourced its major maintenance;
• US Airways mechanics agreed Friday to pay cuts and the outsourcing of 2,000 mechanics jobs;
• Northwest sends its wide-body jets to Singapore and Hong Kong;
• Bankrupt United Airlines recently won union approval to begin using outside contractors for heavy maintenance.

It wasn't long ago that major airlines employed their own highly-skilled mechanics, each with his or her own Federal Aviation Administration license. The mechanics, who often studied for two years before taking the test, could make $60 or more per hour.

Mechanics working for outsourcers don't have to be licensed. Only supervisors are required to hold FAA licenses and are responsible for oversight of the mechanics, who in countries like El Salvador may make $10 to $20 per hour.

Like squeezing the juice from a lemon, once again the tax paying American public has reinvested against it's own interests.

CEO's should be repaying into the tax system, not reaping great benefits. We got screwed without even a kiss.

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Censorship, Atheists, Labor, Toxic Toys, Romney, Giuliani, Willie Nelson, 911 conspiracys and other stuff you may have missed

Random thoughts from around the net

Starting with censoring Atheists from Rupert Murdoch's MySpace:

• Banned: MySpace deletes world's largest atheist group

Social networking site MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has sparked controversy by deleting the world's largest online atheist group following complaints from people who find atheism "offensive".

"Atheist and Agnostic Group" boasted 35,000 members until it was deleted on 1 January for the third time in as many years. It was founded in 2004 by Bryan Pesta, an assistant professor at Cleveland University who established it as a social network "specifically for godless people."

The group was closed down for the first time two years ago after an organised campaign by Christians persuaded MySpace to delete it. It was eventually restored and MySpace promised to protect it. This time, despite a petition from 500 users and repeated emails to customer services, MySpace seems reluctant to reverse its actions.

• MySpace deletes Largest Atheist Group in the World
• MySpace Atheist and Agnostic Group Restored (sort of)
  

What is the real bad side effect of losing your social networking account? Eric Lee creator of Labourstart could see this happening to organized labor and expressed a very strong argument to not outsource your campaign to their networks (back in Nov.)

• Bandwagons and Buzzwords: Facebook and the Unions

What you're doing by outsourcing your campaigning to Facebook is growing their company, giving them direct access to your supporters and members. What's the alternative? Do-it-yourself online campaigns where you retain the information on who has sent off protest messages.

LabourStart has campaigned this way for years. Every time we do a campaign, we collect the emails, names and unions of participants. If they've given us permission, we've added them to our mailing list and they receive our weekly email newsletter. Our list has grown from 3,000 names five years ago to 51,000 names today due to these campaigns.

Imagine if Facebook had existed five years ago and if we had tried to campaign using it. We wouldn't have a mailing list today and we certainly wouldn't be able to send out more than 50,000 emails a week.

Which eventually we have seen come to pass, when a Union Organizer and Labourstart correspondent, whose goes by the nickname Blackadder, had his account removed from Facebook, it took John Wood, a dedicated unionist from the United Kingdom who created a site urging people to E-Mail Facebooks customer service and a Labourstart campaign sending E-Mails direct, to get him reinstated.

• AFL-CIO Weblog | Banned Union Organizer Back on Facebook

This isn't the first time a Big Media outlet has banned a less than conservative opinion, in Sept. 2007 Verizon took the step of banning text messages from the Pro-Choice group NARAL

• Verizon Blocks Messages of Abortion Rights Group

The dispute over the Naral messages is a skirmish in the larger battle over the question of “net neutrality” — whether carriers or Internet service providers should have a voice in the content they provide to customers.

Which leads me to the impotence of the agency that is supposed to protect us from unsafe products, the CPSC, better known as the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This is a clusterfuck by all standards

• The CPSC's quorum to expire—again

Over the weekend, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will lose its quorum—just like it did for eight months in 2007 before Congress gave it a temporary reprieve to continue to operate with full authority.

Why should you care? Because without a quorum (in the CPSC’s case a quorum means having three commissioners), the agency’s activities are limited. It cannot vote on new safety standards, issue mandatory recalls, or take further action on civil penalties above $50,000 against firms that have failed to report defective or hazardous products.

An online friend, John, who has been following the toxic toys mess in this country E-Mailed his Senator with an article which explained that Japan has a very extensively researched product safety standard and a giant list of unsafe imported products, he has a great point in just asking for the list and giving it to the CPSC, I'd go one further, remove the CPSC and outsource their jobs to Japan.

You would think the Govt. wants sick and retarded citizens, could be theres an awful lot of Big Pharma money getting stuffed in politico's pockets, look at how they get whatever they want, look at how your asking your doctor for Viagra and all the other shit they want you to jam down your gullet, that hasn't been tested properly yet and makes you sicker so you can get more shit that makes you sicker so you can buy more shit. Heres his E-Mail:

Dear Senator Lisa Murkowski,

The enclosed news articles show the persistent problem of importing unsafe and toxic goods from China to America. The CPSC has been unable to get on top of this problem, because they say they don’t have the resources to do the job. I recently heard a news broad cast pointing out that America will have this problem for years to come.

The news story said that Japan does not have this problem and will never have it. Japan sends over inspectors to see to it that unsafe and toxic products are not shipped to Japan in the first place. Japan has a list of products that have passed inspection and a list of products that have not pass inspection.

What the US of A should do is get a copy of the list of products that Japan has screened and follow it as they do. Then the problem of shipping in unsafe and toxic products will come to a halt. As Japan does not have this import problem of products from any country, nether will the US of A.

I am sure that Japan would be willing to give a copy of their safe product list to the US of A for free. I hope you get a copy of this safe product list and give it to the CPSC for them to use in their screening of products that are shipped to America.

I'm all for it John, unfortunately in its impotent state the CPSC cannot do a thing. Speaking of ineffective, did you catch Mitt Romney, who after blowing $40 Million of his own cash bashing unions on the way out the door.

• On His Way Out the Door, Romney Attacks America’s Workers

It’s high time to lower taxes, including corporate taxes, to take a weed-whacker to government regulations, to reform entitlements, and to stand up to the increasingly voracious appetite of the unions in our government!

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, the only thing better than him leaving the race is when Giuliani dropped out, but has Mr.911 really dropped out. He has thrown his support into Mr.War McCain, who the conservatives allege is a Liberal, hoping all us closet Racists and Misogynists will storm onto his bandwagon. Well as this article will explain, Giuliani would be the perfect choice to make sure that the Fascist police state we are heading towards is enforced

• Does The Brownshirt Party Have Aces Up Its Sleeve?

In a McCain Regime, Cheney will be back in office with another stint as Secretary of War. Norman “Bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran” Podhoretz will be Undersecretary for Nuclear War with General John “Nuke them” Shalikashvili as his deputy. Rudy Giuliani will be the Minister of Interior in charge of Halliburton’s detention centers into which will be herded all critics of war and the police state. billy kristol will be chief White House spokesliar.

The first year Mr.Giuliani was in office I got arrested while trying to convince my friend to give the police his ID, who tried to remain in office during our time of mourning the devestation, which has become a popular thought as Mr.Bush has effectively created the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive.

• Bush To Be Dictator In A Catastrophic Emergency

The directive defines a “Catastrophic Emergency” as the following.

"Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;

So what does this mean? This is entirely subjective and doesn’t provide any real concrete definition of what such an emergency would entail. Assuming that it means a disaster on the scale of the 9/11 attacks or Katrina, there is no question that the United States at some point in time will experience an emergency on par with either of those events. When one of those events takes place, the President will be a dictator in charge of ensuring a working constitutional government.

Mr.Giuliani, as my friend George at work informed me, had part ownership of SkyWatch, who in collaboration with Raytheon(God how I love that companies name), a large military contractor was developing technology to build a virtual Border fence. Although he had dropped his assets in the company Mr.Giuliani was promoting his "fence" for quite some time, as recently as Feb.5th., the day he filed his papers to become a Presidential candidate

• Giuliani Owned Stake in Border Fence Venture

(Feb.5th.2007 he stated)"I support security at the borders," Mr. Giuliani said. "I do think that with the fence, the fence honestly has to be a technological fence."

He forgot to mention 9-11 and Terrorism in that statement, must have been an off day. Which brings me to conspiracy theories, lets see, big politicos who have big military ties, big corporations who swing right on the issues, terrorism, terrorism, terrorism. America's favorite pot smoking country singer Willie Nelson has come forward stating that 9-11 was an inside job.

• (AOL-News:)Willie Has 9/11 Conspiracies on His Mind

This comes less than a year after another beloved, well known and respected member of the entertainment industry Charlie Sheen came forward expressing his disbelief, I don't remember seeing this on the news or in the paper, do you? God I got to see Britneys ragged snatch shot thousands of times and her new drug of choice is plastered all over everything, but when a legitimate member of the entertainment industry comes forward with such shocking words its buried. Oops, I stand corrected, Showbiz Tonight did a story on it.

Nothing in this world could make someone wonder more than Zeitgeist Movie. When first viewed it gave me the shivers, now I stick to the Serenity Prayer. The best comment I have read so far about it is from RustyLime.com

Well, in saying all of that, remember that conspiracy is just another form of propoganda. While movies like these, the Dawkins ones, the Loose change series, Al Gore's movie etc are principally informative, all information is greatly slanted towards the makers' own bias, prejudice, translation and interpretation.

The only source for information that is trustworth is you. You do your own research and make up your own opinions (if you feel it necessary). Otherwise, you are left with mindless cretons, sheep if you will.

Warning: View At Your Own Risk

Enough with the conspiracies, read a few articles about construction safety here in New York

• Trying to make it safer to do a dangerous job

Construction of low-rise buildings – 14 stories and under – is up 31 percent over last year, and "construction incidents" on such buildings are up 2 percent, from 288 in 2006 to 294 in 2007, she said.

But "the regulation framework within New York City is geared toward high-rise construction,” maintains Coletti of the building trades association. He also thinks DOB is not proactive enough. “DOB has always been reactive,” he said, voicing a sentiment echoed repeatedly by those interviewed. Until recently, “it was the Wild West show out there. They need more resources.”

I wholeheartedly agree, get more people and funding. Start investigating even the smallest sites, construction companies do not go into business to get smaller, expecting the growing companies to concern themselves with safety when they do get the larger projects, is like taking the driving test after you already have bad habits.

I'm starting to think that all pedestrians walking in the City Of New York should wear a hard hat, they would be a hell of a lot easier to sweep up if they were crushed, and at least it would make those guys digging 2 feet into the street have a real reason to wear a hardhat.

Which makes me wonder why the city is so lax on illegal aliens entering the state and working in construction, wouldn't it really suck if say a terrorists were to get underground at Grand central Station or the UN. Doesn't take a genius to figure a way to make a steam main explode, sometimes it happens on it's own. Hell if the workers are getting shit on for $8 an hour for 100+ hours a week any Al Quaeda operative, who could figure the correct language to speak to one, could surely get him to plant a bomb for a pittance. Probably just for some medical insurance.

• Steam Pipe Explosion Jolts Midtown; One Person Is Confirmed Dead

Meanwhile, Republican Senators have made sure via a threat of filibuster that the better version of the Economical Stimulus Plan were not made available to the public, unfortunately a plan which did not include extension of unemployment benefits and heating assistance for those who need it most has been adopted and voted in. John McCain didn't bother to vote, some Liberal he is.

• Improved Stimulus Package Fails in Senate By Single Vote; Chamber Passes GOP Alternative Instead

In the 110th Congress, out of 450 votes, McCain missed 56.7% of them. The only one who missed more was a senator who had a brain hemorrhage.

Senate, they don't have to worry, they get to collect their salary even after they have left office.

• Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years.

For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments.

For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. Nada. Zilch. This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan.

Speaking of Liberals, a new friend and contributer here, Mike from Springfield, MA Union News had a great story which he posted on his site.

• Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican

(excerpted) Joe gets up at 6:00am to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to insure their safety and work as advertised.

All but $10.00 of his medications are paid for by his employers medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance, now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs this day. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

Liberal, socialism all that gets me confused, but I know that Starbucks definitely fears union organizers, the Wall Street Journal explains that there were E-Mails floating company wide to management, expressing concern that they had union sympathizers in their ranks.

• Starbucks Emails Describe Efforts to Stop Unionization

According to several emails, in early 2006, Starbucks managers discovered that two pro-union employees in New York were graduates of a Cornell University labor program. According to an email, managers took the names of graduates from an online Cornell discussion group and the school's Web site and cross-checked them with employee lists nationwide. They found that three employees in California, Michigan and Illinois were graduates of the program and recommended that local managers be informed.

The Gunite workers sure could have used unemployment extension in the Stimulous package if the are out too long.

• ‘Getting tougher all the time’ for Gunite pickets

Workers say they’re still united to get a better contract but admit that two months on picket lines collecting unemployment is a strain on their families. While the unemployment benefit is about two-thirds of a worker’s pay, it’s based on a 40-hour workweek. Gunite’s 136 union workers average 66 hours a week, according to the UAW.

“It’s getting tougher all the time,” millwright Mark LeFevre said. “It gets a little frustrating. For one thing, they stretched the talks out.”

In the meantime, security guards hired by the company keep a constant eye on the pickets. Replacement workers and salaried employees are operating the plant.

All leading to the newest book I have asked for a review copy of

• Union Free America: Workers and the Antiunion Culture

"An outstanding contribution to our understanding of the lives of working people, past and present. Lawrence Richards's careful examination of workers' resistance to union appeals breaks new ground, while his case studies of failed organizing campaigns illuminate workers' ambivalent and often hostile views of organized labor. This account of men and women who are usually neglected by celebrants of unionism enriches the historical narrative and reminds us of the cultural and ideological obstacles that labor activists have faced and continue to confront."--Robert H. Zieger, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Florida

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