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updated 05/13/2008 12:05 PM

Founding of the WIN Committee

16 years ago, the resolution to form the Women's Involvement Now Committee at District 143 was overwhelmingly approved by the delegates at the 40th District 143 convention. Four primary goals were established in that resolution that still hold true today:

1. Increase the participation of women in their Union;
2. Promote affirmative action in the workplace;
3. Stimulate political action on women's and Union issues;
4. Organize the unorganized

With the bankruptcies among the legacy carriers and the changes and challenges that have arisen from those bankruptcies, knowledge of contractual rights and full Union participation is vital. The IAM has been the wall that stands between our membership and corporate greed. Without the protections in our contracts, the membership would be completely at the Company's mercy -- which we all know does not exist. Knowing how things work allows a member to use the resources of the IAM and District 143 to the fullest. Knowledge is power and it's nice to have.

District 143's WIN Committee is still dedicated to the goals outlined so long ago. We are committed to increasing women's participation in the IAM. As they say about the lottery -- you can't win if you don't play. By fully engaging the total membership, our airlines will find they can't push us around anymore, We will become masters of our own destiny. Remember, "united we bargain, divided we beg," a sentiment that only grows more true and more important as the industry continues to evolve.

Happily we have made great progress with affirmative action in the workplace. Though there are still areas that need improvement, many of the problems that faced women in the airlines in 1991 have been resolved. Today it is not unusual to see women working on the ramp or in aircraft and Plant Maintenance -- a rarity in 1991. We've come a long way in many areas.

This year and next will be important politically for labor. Unless changes are made, working people in this country risk losing it all. Not only are our jobs being outsourced to foreign countries, they are being outsourced within this country to cheaper labor markets. It seems to keep working -- people need to buy a trailer to follow their job from state to state! When a person working full-time does not have or cannot afford health insurance, something is terribly wrong. Political action and awareness is the only answer and educating our members is the way to get that answer.

Lastly, and I believe, most importantly, is organizing the unorganized -- educating our members to understand and value what is available to them through their Union. To help people help themselves in the workplace is to empower them in their total lives. Not just women, but all members, face challenges at home as well as the job. Skills learned from Union education can be utilized to overcome those hardships and conflicts.

Rags

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of wearing rages to work. Frayed cuffs and shiny pants do not a uniform make. Shirts washed so many times they are dingy and limp, stained ties with picked threads, sweaters with holes at the seams do not put me in a professional mood -- they make me feel even more disrespected and disregarded than the meager staffing and broken equipment I'm faced with every day and that's saying something.

And for those of us who returned to the airport after being outsourced -- it's even worse! At my station, some members are forced by necessity to wear old gray ramp pants and red 4-hour rule polo shirts that have all seen better days. We've taken to wearing our own clothes to have something approximating a uniform with varying results. Our newly-hired employees don't have even a single item and have worn their own clothes from the beginning of their employment. Not the best way to start off in a new job at the airline in my opinion. We are a motley crew at best and a band of gypsies at worst with our wide array of make-do uniform pieces. Some of our agents have taken to buying flight attendant pieces to try and stretch out the few options they still have. Have you noticed the auditors don't even comment on agents being in uniform? They know we don't have any! Where are our uniforms?

Yes, I know we have all been told that some time in the fall of 2008 we will get new uniforms. Or, at least that's the story we are hearing. Why not now? I find it hard to believe that a company as large and as newly wealthy as NWA can't push up the delivery date on our new look. After all, there aren't as many of us to put in uniforms any more, are there? They keep telling me it's a new day, but I'm in the same old ratty quasi-uniform. I wonder if upper management find it as embarrassing as we do to see us arrayed in uniforms that are shabby and worn out.

What's really going on? Here's my theory: All the time spend in committee meetings and suggestions from employees about the new look for NWA has been a ruse. These merger talks have been in the works or ongoing for years now. They knew they weren't going to order any more old uniforms and didn't want to commit to new ones. The real hold-up is deciding just whose logo is going on our shirts, jackets and sweaters. We are consigned to rags while the executives wrangle over who ends up on top. Once again, what the employees need is pushed aside and ignored as our corporate leaders take care of themselves first. Our company has an obligation to provide us with uniforms -- it's in the contract. Enough said -- just do it and do it now!