60 Years of Service: Key Players

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محتوى الصفحة: Home > مجلة النقل الدولي "Transport International" > Issue 37 - October 2009 > 60 Years of Service > Key Players

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As the section celebrates its 60th anniversary, we spoke to some of the key players about the state of civil aviation and how the section has helped them

Carla Winkler

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), US, ITF section chair

The IAM has on numerous occasions relied on the solidarity of unions in other countries and has had successes as a result of their assistance on many of our priorities.

When we have a dispute with Alitalia in the US, we know we can count on our Italian affiliates to help us with the home airline. As the airline alliances become more critical to carriers, it is important that the section focuses on our alliance meetings, so we can keep on top of plans the companies may have that would affect our members.

History of a flight attendant

Roberto N Schamum tells us about his career as cabin crew staff and union activist in Argentina.

In 1949, when the ITF Civil Aviation Section was founded, I was based in Portugal, flying between Lisbon, Paris and London.

In the 50s and 60s, the most notable change was in the airplanes themselves. The old planes were replaced by newer model with pressurised cabins, radar and safer flight technology. Working conditions become more comfortable and we needed more staff in the passenger cabin. Family life also changed, because of the length of these flights.

Unfortunately, this was also a dark period, because of the failings of the new planes.

One of my most memorable flight was in 1946, my first flight to the UK in a seaplane that took 11 days to arrive. The Sunderland, like all other seaplanes from that time could not fly at night for operational reasons, so we had to stay over in different stages: from Buenos Aires to Brazil, over to Lisbon, Biscarosse (France) and from there to Liverpool. From the northwest of England we went by bus to London, passengers and cabin crew together. Today the flight from Buenos Aires to London takes 17 hours.

I always wanted to travel the world, and my work gave me the opportunity to do this and to start a new life. I met royalty, presidents, scientists, sports people and most of the important people of the time. Inside the plane, everyone was equal. Cabin crew offered passengers confidence and security. Our job as cabin crew was very important and it still is. Crew then comprised a captain, two pilots, two radio operators, two flight engineers and two cabin crew – staffing levels that must seem very strange today.

My greatest happiness was my constant desire to be flying. I was lucky enough to be working on many special flights. My sadness was not to be with my family and not to be able to be there for the birth of some of my seven children.

Roberto N Schamun is the author of Relatos entre nubes, a history of his life as a cabin crew member.

Flight attendant certification and the air rage campaigns are definite successes for many affiliates around the world, and certainly in the US. Another success is having a greater presence at ICAO, with a voice that is now given more consideration than in the past.

Mergers and consolidations have huge impacts on our members and usually lead to downsizing and temporary layoffs. Sorting out seniority leaves everyone unsettled and uncertain and often causes a great deal of friction. And because of laws in the US, it leaves members wide open to decertification attempts by the carriers. Properties that have been unionised for 50 years are targets of companies that want to rid the worker of their collective voice.

When we reach across oceans and borders to work together for international solidarity, we all gain. When we offer benchmarks and best practices and use those channels of information, we aren’t just representing members at one union, at one carrier, but a global voice of workers throughout the world.

When we target carriers for international organising, we are preventing abuses by companies that look for the lowest denominator to exploit. When we advocate safe and healthy workplaces, we bring the standard up for everyone who may not be able to speak for themselves. In these tough economic times, the worker is the first target of employers. Unions have to work together around the world to fight those attempts and we need to do that through the Civil Aviation Section of the ITF.

Manfred Calsow

Ver.di, Germany, ITF section committee member

The continuing communication between the aviation secretary and the aviation sector inside Ver.di has always been a key area for our international relations, projects and campaigns.

Dealing with the problems at low cost airlines, human rights campaigns and the fight for union rights across the world are all projects that would not have been possible without the excellent work from the ITF.

The biggest challenge now is obviously the financial crisis, with its rising influence on our business:

– pay cuts

– loss of jobs

– bankruptcy of airlines

– smaller capacities in worldwide air traffic.

The section secretary and committee as well should discuss a political position about the effects of the crisis. We need to comment publicly in the media and set the agenda for an action plan concerning the very different problems of our affiliates around the world.

Wadha Daabis

General Air Transport Union & Tourism, Jordan, ITF section committee member (women’s representative)

The section has helped me and other unions in many areas: it has raised our awareness of union issues, workers’ problems and the struggle to keep our jobs and improve working conditions. It has helped us to understand the issues around open skies, globalisation, privatisation, and the hidden threat to workers in applying these ideas.

The section enhances equality by supporting women’s participation in workshops, meetings and conferences, aiming for a 30 per proportion of female delegates.

The studies and research conducted by the section give unions a wider picture of workers’ common and general problems, both globally and regionally.

We have the opportunity to benefit from the experiences of other unions, especially in issues related to campaigns and to organising workers. The section teaches members to think in terms of solidarity. It has helped our union a great deal.

In 1997 and 1998, Royal Jordanian(RJ) airlines was being privatised. The management and government refused to meet the union to negotiate on workers’ demands. The union tried several ways to convince them, without success. So, we got in touch with the ITF, who discussed the problem with us and agreed to help. The Civil Aviation Section arranged a meeting between the head of our union and the head of the Transport & General (T&G) union in the UK. T&G members worked at Heathrow airport, to which RJ had a daily flight.

Together we came up with a solidarity plan: the T&G workers at Heathrow refused to do the flight plan for Royal Jordanian flights, so the aircraft could not fly. The aim was to put pressure on RJ management and the government.

Information about this plan reached RJ management and the government, who contacted RJ pilots to check the information and its effects on the flights. As a result, the government told RJ management to listen to the union and negotiate on its requests. Within a month, management and the union had reached an agreement which preserved the workers’ rights and compensated them against jobs losses.

My union may face problems because of the current economic crisis. In a recent interview, the Royal Jordanian president said the company might force employees to take unpaid leave.

A preventive strategy should be coordinated by ITF Civil Aviation Section to tackle any problems that occur.

Josef Maurer

Transport Workers’ Union, Czech Republic, ITF section committee member

The most important thing is a constant flow of information. In the past, we have benefited a lot from information received from the ITF. For example, many studies and results of surveys have been used in our collective bargaining.

The most valuable support in recent times has been the ITF’s involvement in the Fairlines organising project, co-financed by the European Commission.

As part of the SkyTeam Union Coalition, the ITF helped us develop the Global Code of Conduct and Social Responsibility, setting out global standards for airlines in the SkyTeam alliance. This document was signed by union representatives and our chief executive.

As with many other airlines, we have been hit by the current crisis. While in the past we have been negotiating to improve standards for workers, we now negotiate in order to defend our current position.

The other challenge is ongoing neo-liberalism. Currently, we are in the privatisation process of Czech Airlines, soon to be followed by Prague airport.

The most important thing for us is to share information, so that we do not have to re-invent the wheel. The privatisation process is much more advanced in other countries and we would like to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Jimi Masege

Aviation and Allied Workers’ Union, Kenya, ITF section committee member

The section has helped my union by sharing information with affiliates. Exposure to other airlines’ issues and their solutions to the problems has helped me to learn about the industry. It has helped me to understand the aviation industry in a wider and more detailed way than I would if I was not a member of the section.

The section has been a source of information which I have used to solve some of the problems within my union and with employers. It has also helped me to prepare collective bargaining agreements.

The biggest challenge the union is currently facing is the cabin crew weight issue, which is in court. [Kenya Airways specifies a maximum height and weight for its cabin crew.] I need information on how other airlines are handling such situations, either using BMI or “Uniform” to determine the right weight for cabin crew.

The aviation section can best support our union by sending us information on the weight issue so that we can convince the court that the weight of the cabin crew is not a safety risk, as being alleged by Kenya Airways. We believe that weight is only being used to discriminate in appearance.

الصفحة الرئيسية للأقسام:
Issue 37 - October 2009

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