Never Forget Trans World Airlines Terminal 5 at JFK AirportAll former (TWA) AA Flight Attendants were LAID OFF AS OF JULY 2003.
All former TWA'ers are on the street and some will lose recall rights at American this Fall as the APFA union only gives a 5 year recall window. Not recalled in 5 years, you are basically left with NOTHING after many years of service at TWA, some nearly 50 years.
Recall rights extension is the morally right thing to do for all who have been furloughed!
26 comments:
And why should you care? Because it will probably happen to you in the very near future unless we put a stop to it right away; before it becomes the normal way of treating all employees.
I am one of the unfortunate TWA flight attendants who was furloughed from AA over 3 years ago. I cannot believe that this can happen to hard working Americans who have done an excellent job for 30 years and have nothing to show for it. My biggest sorrow is that nobody seems to care until it directly affects him/her.
If we were warned at the beginning of our career, as newly hired people are today, that our future, including retirement benefits, was not secure, it would be easier to accept but I was counting on the job and the benefits. I am in my fifties and never thought that I would have to prepare for a new career at this point in my life.
That is one of the biggest travesties of this furlough.
Many former TWA flight attendants are at an age where it is difficult to find other employment. This job had been my life for 31 years at TWA and then 2 1/2 at AA before AA and their flight attendant union felt we were expendable. Didn't matter that we had experience, that there were so few of us that merging seniority's would hardly have been felt.
BTW pilots, ramp, and ground agents were all merged, and ramp personnel who stayed in NY KEPT their seniority. Meanwhile TWA F/A's from all over the United States were told if they wanted a job they would be based in St. Louis, so for the 2 1/2 years I worked for AA I had to commute from my home in NJ in a stand by status to get to St. Louis just to start the flight I was scheduled to work. This was incredibly stressful.
With TWA I was holding trips down to the Caribbean and back in the same day so I could be home with my family. Now I was gone for 3 and 4 day or more at a time. If my flight back into St. Louis got in late and I missed my last flight home to NY I had to stay in St. Louis another day in a hotel I paid for myself thus cutting into my rest time on my
days off at home. It was really tough, but we thought if we stuck it out things would eventually get better and we NY people would get based back on the East coast.
But guess what they did? They started laying us off little by little and ALL of us were gone with nothing on July 1, 2003. They blamed it on 911. They blamed it on fuel prices, and now are working their flights at minimum staff just to not call us back.
It seems like they are trying to do anything and everything to not call back any TWA flight attendants. Even if they claim dire straits they could offer us an extended recall, but they won't do that. So October 1 some of our people will drop off the recall list all together with no chance of ever having their career back thru no fault of their own.
And this is all sanctioned by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the union that is supposed to represent us at American Airlines. I think they call themselves an "Association" because they do not conduct themselves like a union.
False rumors about TWA flight attendants being eligible for exorbitant pensions that would bankrupt AA are not addressed by the APFA, so their own "true" membership fears us.
We have been treated so unfairly and no one cares. Hot shot lawyers at AA find every loop hole.
I never dreamed this is how my career would end.
After 23 years with Ozark Airlines and TWA I was furloughed in April 2003, six weeks away from my 50th birthday. Had I reached 50 years of age before I was furloughed, I would have been able to prefund my medical and been able to retire at 55 with my airline passes and medical insurance. If I am not recalled by April 1, 2008, those 23 years in the airline may as well have never existed.
In in the same boat. This is one time in my life i wish i was older. Having the medical insurance would change the quality of life for so many. Oza Twa AA and end up with SQUAT !!!!
Having had a small skin cancer and not being 50 at time of furlough, this leaves me really stuck also because unless I have a good job I can not obtain health insurance. If aa does not extend recall rights, I will always have to be working at another job that will give me health insurance. I can not get insurance any other way. My husband is self employed and I can not get insurance under him due to melonoma. After 25 years at Twa I am in that boat also. Having that medical insurance would make my life more secure. thanks aa one great future NOT!
Dito
American pilots have been given unlimited recall rights. Why are the flight attendants discriminated against and given only 5 years of recall rights? The flight attendants should have the same benefits as the pilots. If the company is able to offer such benefits to the pilots, they should also be able to offer them to the flight attendants. Every flight attendant for American, working or furloughed, should be asking their union, APFA to make this their #1 priority, to ensure that they will always have the opportunity to return to their job in the event of reduction in force. It is standard throughout the industry to have the benefit of unlimited recall rights and why should the American flight attendants accept less than the pilots or flight attendants from other airlines? Are we accepting the fact that Arpey receives over a 20% raise and flight attendants are turned away from their jobs so that the company can hire from the street? What is APFA doing to pressure the company to save the jobs of its members?
My husband and I were BOTH TWA f/a's. He had 27 yrs and I was just starting my 26th yr. Unfortunately, we were both too young when furloughed and were not yet 50...........so zippo, nada, nothing for a total of 53 yrs to show for it as far as benefits. We can live without the passes, but we'd have to work another job for 25 yrs elsewhere to retire with medical benefits. One career started too soon and now starting too late. That scenario seems highly unlikely. We do have much to be thankful for after having been a part of the TWA tribe. The friends we made there will never be forgotten. We were both proud to be part of TWA and are astonished at the treatment handed out to us by APFA, their f/a union, if you can call them a union. They should be doing everything they can possibly do to ensure extended recall rights to all of us. I wish all the TWA furloughees the best of luck.
The FORMER TWA'ers are the biggest cry-babies on this planet! Sherry Cooper and the IMA union 'screwed' ALL the TWA'ers!!! Cooper and Co. agreed to the contract when AA 'aquired' TWA. There was NO merger! These old 'Bitter-Bettys' need to move-on!!!
ALL I WANT IS MY JOB BACK!!!! I don't want your retirement or your seniority, just let me earn what was promised to me. Why should I have any respect for a union that has done NOTHING for me. APFU is so in with the company that when we came close to voting down the last contract they extended the deadline. Oh yes, MANAGEMENT met our flight to tell us we could change our votes. Where was APFU then? I'm not whining I'm SCREAMING! Walk in my shoes. After 32 years, my whopping retirement is about $450.00 a YEAR. Yes folks, that's right, about $37.50 a month. You are only threatened by your own ignorance. Why don't you "move on" and I'll move closer to being recalled.
I believe that you would be crying to, if you lost a job you loved after 26 years. Through no fault of your own. What is it that AA and apfu say, its because of 911 we were furloughed. Then give the TWA and AA furloughed Flight attendants unlimited recall or let the terrorist win.
What are the rumors about benefits or pensions if recalled?
The TWA F/A's have a pittance of pension from AA ... only 3 yrs of service. Our TWA retirement plan was plundered (Thank you Carl Icahn)and taken over by the government (PBGC) which is paying pennies on the dollar of what we were all planning on living on after retirement. Mine was projected at $1,800 per month ... I get $197.00 per month.
After the staple job we received at the hands of APFA, unlimited recall rights is the absolute least they can do to MEMBERS OF THEIR FLIPPIN' UNION!
It is a fallacy that TWAers returning will be able to retire with large benefits monthly. I have no idea why is 'rumor' came to be, it the truth is that TWAers get nothing to mention in regards to retirement. Call APFA and ask them point blank what TWAers are entitled to in retirement. APFA SHOULD have made this clear to the membership early on. The truth be known, it is not exTWA that will be detrimental to your demise, but the apathy of native AAers who continue to turn a blind eye to current issues that demand attention.
The following was sent to all AA flight attendants as part of the weekly communique.
We have 3,882 APFA members on furlough. Of those 3,882 Flight Attendants, more than 1,100 including original AA F/As and former TWA F/As – all APFA members – are scheduled to fall off the American Airlines F/A Seniority List in October of this year due to the five-year language in Article 16. APFA received notice that American Airlines will be mailing letters to these more than 1,100 Flight Attendants shortly. With the equipment and route cuts resulting in Leave of Absence proffers beginning this September and through the remainder of the year, AA has informed us that they do not intend to recall more of our members in the foreseeable future. Please keep all of our furloughed members in your thoughts as well as our ten members serving full time in the military.
That's it for this week. Thank you for calling the APFA Hotline
THIS is the email I sent them back in response to our latest "union" communication.
Dear APFA:
If AA has no intentions of recalling in the near future, and over 1000 f/a's jobs are at stake, don't you think you as our union should be trying to extend recall rights? It would cost you nothing, and would not hurt any of your active junior people. In fact it would help them gain seniority if we should ever be recalled. We ARE on the BOTTOM of the list right where you put us. We are in essence your cushion.
AND if you blame the furlough of over 4000 people on 911 then can you NOT AT LEAST have the compassion to not punish us for a terrorist act that we had no control over?
We hear nothing from you, our union representatives, except in your communication "keep our furloughed f/a's in your thoughts"???? Why are you asking your membership to do that when you yourself turn a blind eye to our plight?
I would like to know what actions you are taking on behalf of the furloughed f/a's ????
Gretchen Studier
# 648113
This is AMERICA!!!! Go out there and get an education (increase your value) and get a new job. What have you been doing for the last 5 years??
Yes, it is difficult starting over after a ZILLION years, but IT IS POSSIBLE!! The only force that will keep you back IS YOU. Why would you capitulate your power to fear and laziness????
Why would you want to return to an airline and union that (allegedly) treated you like SHIT??
Ozark......wasn't it TWA who wanted Ozark at the bottom of the TWA seniority list during that aquisition/merger???? But you couldn't/didn't get that.....funny how people forget the past.
What dont the TWA people understand..........you are EXPENSIVE! A new hire is less than half the cost per hour.....
AA has no incentive to extend anything to you without something in return.
You complain about THB but it's YOU that are the reason she's in office. Had you not been able to vote for the Nat'l Officers Election(which hopefully will be changed very soon) we wouldn't have the current "leadership"
Why dont you sue the IAM for misrepresentation (like you should have all along) and at least get some MONEY!!!!!!!
To the poster 8:38am----I did return to school and it was all paid for--I graduated and now have my own company. I also have some of the finest workers in the world working for me! X-TWA Flight Attendants. AA's lose is my gain! And if you get furloughed. Don't bother sending me your resume. I miss my flying days, but love following my passion. And fear and laziness, those words are not in my vocabulary!
This is pathetic. The entire principle of Americans losing their jobs and ALL benefits after decades of service is a disgrace. Yes, I have found a new job and I am educated, but I was promised pension benefits and worked over 30 years to secure them. Now I have nothing!!!! I lost the job that I loved and everything that went with it.
People in this country ..."WAKE UP"...this is the way of the future and it can happen to every single one of you.
Don't let corporations and unions treat us like we mean nothing. Help the TWA flight attendants and in return help yourselves.
Add your comments to this blog and write to Congress, the media, APFA, and AA.
Make sure the future of the American worker is protected!!!!!
Excerpts from Mr. Carty's testimony on February 1, 2001, before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation include the following statements. "We are proposing to acquire substantially all of TWA's assets, to hire all of TWA's employees, and to continue a hub operation in St. Louis." "Senator Carnahan, let me say to you in particular that we look forward to adding TWA's 20,000 employees to the American family." Job protection for "virtually all TWA employees" during the congressional hearings was part of the incentive for the DOJ to expeditiously approve the TWA/AA merger.
From Corporate Communications dated, March 1, 2001, "American is working to ensure that TWA employees have employment terms in line with what they are now receiving at TWA and then to eventually be transitioned to those terms enjoyed by Americans existing employees."
From AMR annual report filed March 22, 2001, ex-10.88 OTHERDOC, asset purchase agreement dated February 28, 2001, "Purchaser and sellers agree to encourage their respective unions to negotiate in good faith to resolve fair and equitable seniority integration."
In letters from American Airlines General Counsel to the ALPA and the IAM, dated March 30, 2001, "American Airlines agree to use it's reasonable best efforts with its labor organizations to secure a fair and equitable process for the integration of seniority".
On August 9, 2001, an April 10, 2001 seniority date was imposed on the Passenger Service Agents. In the document dated August 9th, it states, all TWA agents on payroll as of December 31, 2001 will be provided with at least one job opportunity with American that does not require relocation."
From a corporate communications communiqué in September 2001, Donald Carty stated that there would be a reduction of approximately 20,000 of the approximately 138,000 employees of American Airlines, American Eagle, and TWA. These reductions would be evenly divided amongst the three carriers.
First of all, It would be nice if all Unions, AFL-CIO affiliated or not, would put pressure on AA/APFA to extend recall rights to the former TWA flight attendants. Secondly, AA/APFA should look up the definition of the word "UNION". We, the former TWA flight attendants, must keep up the pressure. NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE.
Once again, the unions supporting S. 1992 are:
ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS (AFA)
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
AIRCRAFT MECHANICS FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION(AMFA)
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL FLIGHT ATTENDANTS (APFA)
COMMUNICATION WORKERS OF AMERICA (CWA)
TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION 530 (TWU)
SHEET METAL WORKERS 36 (SMW)
JOBS WITH JUSTICE (JWJ)
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS (IBT)
GREATER ST. LOUIS LABOR COUNCIL (AFL-CIO)
CENTRAL TRADES & LABOR COUNCIL (AFL-CIO)
GAS WORKERS UNION LOCAL 11-6 (USW)
I am a past TWA/AA flight attendant to be off the recall list in January, 2008. So little time left. I retrained after my layoff. I got another job after training. I dislike it immensely. I am a flight attendant by heart. I miss it. There is nothing like having a job you enjoy. Being a flight attendant was more like going out for a new adventure. Being stuck in an office is so depressing. Besides, I still do not have medical or retirement with this job. I lost 18 years of seniority with my flight attendant position and my medical benefits.
Recently, on a DH, I encountered two f/a's that were upset with their co-worker, an ex-TWA f/a, who had in formed them in no uncertain terms "I will get my 30 yrs. seniority back now that Glading is in office."
Ms. Glading, if you monitor this blog, I hope you will realize the incredible amount of animosity that is being generated by the fact that the seniority issue has once again reared it's ugly head.
During your campaign you stated that you represent all AA F/As and yet only TWAers were invited to your STL rally. My google search for a Glading blog brought me to this site, ninety percent of which is dedicated to TWA issues.
Ms. Glading, as an ex-TWA f/a, I challenge you to stop pitting the two groups against one another, to stop speaking out of both sides of your mouth and make a formal statement to ALL AA f/as as to your honest intentions concerning this issue.
Yes, I am an ex-TWAer. In 1986 I honored the TWA strike for three months while the current APFA STL Chair walked across it. Mr. Hunter was then and is now, a scab who was in it for himself when he took my job. He is still in it for himself today, albeit via different venue.
While on furlough for three years I didn't spend idle time bemoaning my fate. Like countless others I chose to prepare for the future and in 1987 I was hired as an AA f/a. By the time I was recalled to TWA the writing was on the wall for all to heed. It didn't take a genious to see that the post Icahn TWA's days were numbered.
At that time I chose to take control of my life by leaving 9.5 years seniority behind and resigned from TWA. Many of my collegues did like wise, while others chose to stay with a sinking ship.
My first year with AA I made $12K as a b-scale flight attendant compared to the $25K I earned in my last full year at TWA. I endured 9 yrs. on B-scale wages and still serve reserve after 21 yrs. Life is full of choices, I made mine and have no regrets.
Among TWAer is a common belief that AA is responsible for the demise of TWA.
Yet that is selective memory at best. Prior to AA aquisition, TWA was on the steps of bankruptcy on two previous occasions. If one were to lay blame one could start with the TWA pilots union who sought out Carl Icahn to serve as a "white knight" in lieu of Frank Lorenzo. In the subsequent years, Icahn proceded to strip TWA of anything of value and began the downward spiral. Where were the Missouri legeslators back then, when TWA had a chance at survival?
TWA f/as should look to the IAM, their legal bargaining agent during
the AA aquisition. In agreeing to negate your contract the also gave up your seniority. Until the day of the actual closing of the AA-TWA deal it was IMAs duty to represent you, not that of APFA or John Ward. APFA was beholden to represent the interest of AA f/as
and the IAM was negligent in not holding AA to it's promise to facilitate a meeting between the two unions prior to signing off on the agreement. This is all public record in the appeals decision.
Several years ago I spoke to Patt Gibbs who held the notion that TWA f/as "gave" Ozark their date of hire seniority. I was there and do not recall being asked if I wanted to give up my seniority. In fact I was on the picket line when IFFA and Icahn made the agreement. IFFA agreed under duress as they had just lost a TWA law suit, requiring a payment that would have bankrupt IFFA. Am I the only one who remembers this?
Can you in good faith say that had you been given an option that you would give up you seniority to Ozark f/as? I doubt it.
Ms. Gibbs went on to say that the APFA decision was "un-union like."
Even after 30 years as a union supporter and two strikes I can't answer that. However, I would ask how union like was B-Scale, when I worked side by side with collegues that earned twice my salary for 9 years.
All that being said, I agree that recall rights should be indefinite and welcome all my ex-TWA collegues back to the line. I beseech you to realize that long time AAers are as determined as you are to protect our seniority rights, just as you would be if the shoe were on the other foot.
I don't know what Laura Glading promised you, but I think you will find that she like THB made promises she cannot keep. (Any comment from Ms. Glading?)
Angry comments and the threat to disrupt the seniority of 16,000
f/a's can only lead to futher anxiety to all those concerned and lead to a negative work environment for all of us.
Look to the future and let sleeping dogs lie.
Evelyne Miller
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