A UNION SAVED MY JOB

As I recall, in February of 1987 on the SLC tarmac the weather was even colder than the normal winter season. Fortunately I had the luxury of working in the Western Air Lines Commissary and had a heated truck to work out of. Life was good. We were hard working, busy employees and we knew that we gave value every day to our airline and our customers.

The pace of our work was frenetic and no time could be wasted. We hustled from plane to plane and galley to galley restocking the continuously depleted supplies in a fashion that appeared to be well choreographed. Every second counted and time was always an enemy. We hurried, sometimes way too much. We couldn’t help ourselves; our dedication to the task was paramount and sometimes safe practices took a back seat in those days.

We were young and thought of ourselves as ‘bullet-proof.’ On one such day our two man truck was dispatched to the rear door next to the left engine to resupply the coach section; unfortunately we were sent to the wrong plane and it was departing, not arriving. The plane was about to push and in those days there were no wing walkers and panic set in. The plane would have pushed into our truck so we hurriedly backed out and clipped the flaps causing major damage.

It was all caught on tape and Western Air Lines was not happy. I was the driver and I moved the vehicle without a guide, given the situation, I felt that I had no choice.

They decided to fire me and they brought in the big guns to get it done.

The union stepped in, went to work and represented me with vigor and professionalism; they left no stone unturned and treated me like a man on death row. Their skill level was remarkable and I was both stunned and amazed at their preparation and verbal dexterity. They both surprised me and made me proud to be part of such a proficient organization.

They saved my job. No doubt about it. Did I deserve to be canned? Given the facts and mitigating circumstances; firing me would have been unjust.

What do you think would have happened to me had the merger already taken place and the union was no more? I have seen Delta in action and you never know whether or not the evidence is sufficient for termination. It generally depends on what mood they are in as to whether or not one gets fired. Sometimes it takes no evidence at all and other times the mostly guilty walk. It matters who you are and who you know.

I have sat in on hearings with and without representation and believe me, having a mouth piece with skills is much more preferable.

Why would anyone not want that kind of ‘on the job’ insurance? Do you know what the ironic part of all this is? The union official who saved me later became a Delta Manager and then moved on to one of those contractual firms in SEA.

He was let go because of damage done by his workers who had no representation!