Labor

A nationwide strike of 46,000 flight attendants has been authorized by the board of the Association of Flight Attendants. They are resisting airline employers making workers labor for longer hours at lower wages, and threatening to get rid of their pensions. A strike vote will be taken at four airlines——UAL Corp.'s United, US Airways Group Inc., ATA Holdings Inc.'s ATA Airlines and Hawaiian Holdings Inc.'s Hawaiian Airlines—with the votes set to be counted by the end of December.

Many U.S. air carriers are in financial distress and squeezing their work forces in an effort to return to profitability. The judicial branch of the state is a key player. For example, US Airways is trying to use federal bankruptcy court to void collective bargaining agreements for current and retired employees over hourly pay, pension plans and health care coverage.

Several factors are driving insolvency for US Airways. One is the rising price of jet fuel. This has increased the cost of energy for the carrier and the airline industry as a whole.

Mansfield, Ohio’s locked-out AK Steel workers celebrated “One Year of Solidarity” on September 9 by staging a rally and throwing a picnic for a few thousand friends and supporters.

On September 1, 1999, AK Steel, formerly Armco, commemorated Labor Day by locking out some 620 members of United Steelworkers of America Local 169 after their contract expired. Barbed wire and paramilitary thugs with jackboots and billy clubs greeted the night shift workers who tried to enter the plant.

The locked-out workers report that these so-called private security guards continue to follow Local 169 members and their families around Mansfield, to and from the Union Hall and even like to stake out local schools in an obvious attempt to provoke violence and intimidate the workers.

AK Steel is also employing the use of “slap” lawsuits against the Union, its members, city officials and even a local police officer, in a blatant effort to financially pressure the Union and its supporters. The company has even sought an injunction to prevent the locked-out workers from requesting public information from the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Two recent controversies at the Ohio State University, the flagship educational institution in the Buckeye State mostly known for its football prowess, underscore that institution’s shift from its original liberal arts land grant mission to corporate shill and Republican Party booster.

Under the direction of President William E. Kirwan, two new courses were added to the University’s general education curriculum: The Art of Scabbing 101 and Intermediate Snitching 250. During the recent Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 4501 strike, Sarah Blouch, Director of Transportation and Parking Services, personally instructed the overwhelmingly white student scabs on the joys of scabbing against the predominantly minority and vastly underpaid service and staff workers. She proudly informed the Lantern on May 8 that, “Our students have been the backbone of our [bus] service.” Blouch saw nothing wrong with the fact that “the student drivers are working more than 60 hours a week.” Perhaps she can become the advisor to a new student group, Future Scabs of America.