United Mechanics Be Warned!

[mriya225]

A 15 year veteran UA mechanic in Denver was fired today for allegedly pulling airworthy aircraft out of service for unnecessary repairs, working in slow mode, and refusal to work over-time.
I'm so disgusted I can't see straight!! They wouldn't have dared to piss on their glamour boys during recent slow-downs and cancellations during the pilot contract negotiations!
That guy won't be the last mechanic they kick in the teeth out here...

Grrrrrr :mad: F@ck 'Em!!


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Un diva très doué.

[This message has been edited by mriya225 (edited 17 November 2000).]

[mriya225]

Isn't this interesting in light of recent events! :rolleyes:

Hey, I've got an idea, why don't they get their pilots or their high-altitude waitresses to "tackle" it....

United Set To Tackle 777 Gear Overhauls

by Sean Broderick

11/17/00 02:29:45 PM U.S. EST

United's San Francisco maintenance center will break new ground next week when it starts overhaul work on Boeing 777 landing gear, making it the first airline shop to tackle the job in-house, the carrier says.

The work, which United says is being done independently of heavy airframe checks, will be kick-started by pulling equipment off the first aircraft and replacing it with new-off-the-shelf gear. A United team then will take about 90 days to analyze and overhaul the gear removed from the plane, readying it for a return to service on the next 777 that comes in.

The landing gear program was developed by a team of employees representing component maintenance, plating and machining, inspection, inventory planning, material distribution, engineering, plane overhaul and strategic planning, the carrier says.


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Un diva très doué.

[Countdown]

You should know by now it does not matter if your an engineer or pilot if commercially you are expendable you will be.Life is a bitch isnt it.

[redtail]

You can't have a war without taking a few casualties. Hopefully his union will bring him back. We had the same situation occur during our fun in spring '98. Some never came back, and some took up to two years to come back.

[GalleyWench]

Mriya, We 'high altitude' waitresses support out mechanics 100%. Partly for the selfish reason that if there is raises for them, it will be hard not to give raises to us. Secondly, we ALL have been jerked around by upper management and love to see someone be able to sic it to them! After one hell of a pilot induced summer, whats wrong with the winter of IAMs discontent? We just pack extra undies for longer layovers and watch the mechanics take 30 minutes to bring a logbook up the jetway. Go get em boys and girls!

[mriya225]

Posted by USA TODAY on November 28, 2000 at 15:28:24:
United seeks identities of Web site's users
By Marilyn Adams and David Field
USA TODAY

In an escalating battle with its mechanics, United Airlines has obtained a subpoena for computer files and user identities from a Web site popular with airline mechanics.

United went to federal court Nov. 17 and obtained a restraining order forbidding mechanics from taking part in a job action that would delay or cancel flights. In a subpoena obtained Wednesday, United's lawyers seek identifying information on about 30 mechanics who have posted messages to a bulletin board on the Web at www.the-mechanic.com. (http://www.the-mechanic.com.)

United confirmed the subpoena on Monday and said it believes mechanics posting to the site had encouraged violating the restraining order. The airline said it canceled 60 flights Monday, about three times normal. It is in negotiations with the mechanics union.

''It is clear the temporary restraining order is not being complied with,'' United spokesman Andy Plews says.

The subpoena, a copy of which is on the Web site, went to Dennis Lee Sanderson, a United mechanic who runs the site out of his Virginia home. Mechanics from various airlines trade information and sometimes criticism of airline management on the site.

The subpoena requests the names, addresses and telephone numbers for mechanics who have posted messages to the bulletin board by user names such as Brokenwrench, Jetmech and Torquemaster. It also seeks any information tying the site to the International Association of Machinists, which represents United's mechanics, or the American Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), a rival union that's seeking to organize United's mechanics.

''The objective of the whole thing is to shut the Web site down,'' Sanderson says. ''I'm no constitutional lawyer, but don't people have a right to disagree with corporate management?''

He says that he received a letter from a United supervisor accusing him of participating in the slowdown and threatening him with disciplinary action. Sanderson denies taking part in any job action.

He says he supports AMFA but has no official role and receives no union support. He says he doesn't have personal information on most mechanics who post to the site.

United is not the first airline to go after its employees' personal computer records. In January, Northwest Airlines obtained a subpoena to search the home computers of flight attendants for proof they were engaging in a possibly illegal work slowdown. That action was dropped when a new contract was reached.

Sanderson says he doesn't have the resources to fight United.

''They must think I'm some kind of AOL or Yahoo,'' he says. ''I'm doing this in my basement.''

Enough said... :mad:

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Un diva très doué.

[Maint99]

http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/confused.gif http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/confused.gif

Excuse me for being blunt, but if your American constitution allows Neo Nazi and Skinheads to host their own websites, what's the problem with a few underpaid, ouerworked, under appreciated engineers blowing off a little steam??? Obviously United sees Mr Sanderson as some kind of radical subversive or something!! Watch out, boys & girls. Looks like Communism is rearing its ugly head in your own backyard. What's next, United?? Storm Troopers, Shock Troops.

How come no-one dares take action with the pretty boys in the pointy end when they use a "work to rule" , or other job action?? This really steams my clams!! :mad:
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"You want it on the gate for WNEN??"

[This message has been edited by Maint99 (edited 01 December 2000).]

[HAWK19M]

No comparison.
Engineers know the Entire aircraft,& why a particular light came on.The reason behind it.
pilots just know what to do when a light comes on.

But the pilots are the clean guys & we get to carry out the trash.

Speaks for itself.
:)
regds.

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HAWKEYE BALBOUY

[mriya225]

We've got an awesome reporter here in Denver who seems to be taking this seriously: going back and finding records on a/c grounded for parts shortages (rather than the publicly reported "disgruntled mechanics"), investigating why it is that United acts surprised that other labor groups within the organization expected that the bar would be substantially raised for them as well as the pilots, etc.

For all UAL A&P's: Remember that tommorrow is the vote!! Cast your vote for one union solidarity; DEFEAT THE IAM - VOTE AMFA!!! :)

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Un diva très doué.

[This message has been edited by mriya225 (edited 04 December 2000).]

[redtail]

"Remember that tommorrow is the vote!! "

When did the United mechanics and related file for a representational vote? Did they finally get enough union representational election cards signed?

[mriya225]

redtail,
Naw honey, I'm afraid I wasn't very clear...
no commentary needed from the peanut gallery here ;)
The vote was actually for IAM-AW leadership replacements in Indy. As far as I know the AMFA is not comfortable enough with their margin, over 50% +1, to file on UAL yet. My post was supposed to allude to the AMFA drive. As in, you're in the right gear, you're there, you're voting--now do the smart thing damnit - support the AMFA!
I'm so eager to see the AMFA succeed in representing aircraft mechanics across the board that I get a little over-eager sometimes.
I'm starting to get genuinely concerned though, there are a lot of hurdles to jump first... Starting with the Railway slave Labor Act; until that get's a much needed rework, the National Mediation Board will continue to be indifferent.

Sorry, didn't mean to digress there...


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Un diva très doué.

I may have even managed to confuse myself here...
The last report on their vote in Indy:
"Big turnout, by far the largest ever, early return estimate at over 50% which is huge!! That simply means the IAM boys got smoked".

Can it be true?... Dare I hope?...

Maybe sweet reason has found its way after all!

[This message has been edited by mriya225 (edited 07 December 2000).]

[redtail]

mriya, don't get too excited by IAM elections unless you are personally counting the ballots. We tried several times to elect a mechanic slate, only to have the elections nullified at the discretion of the higher ups in the IAM. We did not vote AMFA in until we found out that it was not possible to change the IAM from the inside. The IAM does not follow their own rules.

On a positive note, many of the lower level IAM representatives were also AMFA supporters before and after the representational election, since they were more concerned with workers issues than union careers.

Eventually United will come around, but it will the take the backshops to do it.

[mriya225]

Judge Hibber lifted the TRO today...

<A HREF="http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/001207/airline_me.html" TARGET="_blank">http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/001207/airline_me.html</A>

redtail,
The IAM are a bunch of sleazy lying theives; I'll be helping to organize the AMFA's efforts to replace them as the CBA agents wherever they are until they're not representing aircraft mechanics anymore--anywhere.

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Un diva très doué.