Friday, May 26, 2006

IAM / Continental Micronesia Tentative Agreement Ratified – From William O’Driscoll, President-Directing General Chairperson, District 142 – Dear Brothers and Sisters:  Ratification meetings were conducted from May 19, 2006 through May 26, 2006 on a daily basis at which time an explanation of the tentative agreement was provided and any and all questions answered.  The tentative agreement has been ratified by a majority of the voting membership.  I would like to thank the negotiating committee for their stellar efforts and the membership’s support during this round of negotiations.  With best wishes, I remain – Sincerely and Fraternally, William O’Driscoll, President-Directing General Chairperson.

Contrary to information currently circulating among Continental Flight Attendants, you do not have to “activate” or claim your stock options by a certain date or risk losing them.  Your negotiated stock options will become vested in thirds beginning February 1st, 2007.  Other work groups at Continental became vested for their stock options March 30th, 2006.  If you have any questions regarding this provision of the new collective bargaining agreement please stop by your base Grievance Desk to discuss it with your Union Representatives.

IAM History Makes Online Debut – IAM history comes alive with the online debut of all of the Machinists’ Monthly Journals from the earliest edition in 1889 all the way through its last year of publication, 1956. The collection, which also includes the Machinist newspaper published from 1946 to 1994, is a joint project started in 2004 between the Georgia State University Southern Labor Archives and the Machinists union.
Representatives from Georgia State and the IAM met at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center to demonstrate the new digital collection. “This has been a tremendous project to capture our history and make it available to our members, labor scholars and anyone interested in labor history,” said Winpisinger Center Director Jim Leslie. Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA, has been the official archive of the Machinists union since 1988 and houses many of the IAM’s most precious documents. The IAM was founded in Atlanta in May, 1888.

“This project uses the latest technology to take us back to our earliest days. We want our members to use this site to learn about our past and our struggles so we can stay strong in the future,” said Headquarters GVP Bob Thayer who was at the debut. Thousands of pages of Monthly Journals and Machinists newspapers have been converted to digital PDF format and are keyword searchable, including name and topic. The new site is the result of a two-year effort that involved compiling a complete set of Machinists’ Monthly Journals and Machinist newspapers, converting thousands of pages of materials into digital format, cataloguing the collection and making it available online. “This is an incredible collection,” said Pamela Hackbart-Dean, director of the Southern Labor Archives for Georgia State University. “These publications give not only the IAM’s history but are a source for scholars, students and IAM members to get labor’s perspective on some of the greatest events in North American history. The IAM has made a great contribution to labor history.”

You can access this information at http://www.iamaw.org/

Americans flying despite higher fuel and fare costs – More people are expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend than last year, despite higher costs, according to AAA. An estimated 4.3 million people will fly this weekend, an increase of about 1% over last year, said David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association.
We would like to encourage all members to attend your Local Lodge business meeting.  Each base must have a quorum to conduct business. The following is a schedule for upcoming meetings:

Newark:         Tuesday, June 13th, 3:00 p.m. at the Newark Doubletree Hotel.

Cleveland:    Thursday, June 8th, 4:00 p.m. at 669 North Rocky River Drive.

Guam:            Wednesday, June 21st, 4:00 p.m. at the Airport Conference Room.

Houston:       Wednesday, June 28th, 1:00 p.m. at 15710 JFK Blvd.