B727DRVR

Hey All,

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't today the 20th anniversary of the day the IBT-IBT Strike of 1997 ended. I believe that it went on from July 31st until August 21st, 1997. I wish that I had a camera taxiing by that day with all those planes parked with no one to fly them. It looked like Dunquerque, with everything from ATI DC-8's, to Falcons, to Lears, to Shorts, to Metro's, to pistons parked on the ramp with pilots refusing to fly them. That was a rare and proud moment when everyone stuck together, even the subcontractors. Does anyone on here have any pictures of the ramp that day UPS lost the court battle? I'm guessing not, because if you were a UPS pilot there on the ramp, well.... But maybe a subcontractor pilot who came in empty and ditched their airplane there might have taken some photos.. I know that there were quite a few of those who taxiied in and just left there planes there when they heard over the radio what was happening. What crazy times they were..

B727DRVR

Wow,

I'm surprised nobody has any pics from or even seems to remember this historic day.. I know that the IPA was taking long range pictures and had other airline pilots keeping an eye on the ramp to see if contractors were flying and which ones.

Oh well...

osupilot

The pictures should be from the 'strike party' with the classic 747 flying over....

birdstrike

My Grandma saw me on the news with a picket sign and called to tell me how handsome I looked :-)

B727DRVR

I'm sure she was very proud of you, and as a fellow pilot, I am too!

I was very proud of the small group of IPA pilots who drove an official looking van and took up a position right under the underpass at Standiford Lane where subcontractor pilots in hotel vans would have had to drive by to get to their airplanes at the AVCenter SDF (now Atlantic Aviation). UPS now Captain MH was there with a big video camera "filming" the vans driving the subcontractor pilots to the FBO. I say "filming" because I don't think that they actually had any film in the camera, but it looked threatening all the same. The rest of the IPA pilots held picket signs..

Prior to the video camera, I was a little depressed that there had been no picket line set up in front of the FBO, which could have protected non-union pilots from being terminated for refusing to cross the line because they felt "threatened". That would have been their only protection an at-will employees. I took a box of picket signs and set them up every 100 feet or so all the way to the FBO until I ran out of signs.

I'd like to express my thanks to the small group of IPA'ers who realized our predicament and went out on a limb to help subcontract pilots by setting up that video checkpoint with or without IPA/IBT approval. I know of several pilots who'd flown in from YIP, ADS, etc. the day before the "picket" was set up and didn't know that the subcontractor flying had finally been banned as struck work. Upon seeing these IPA pilots, they refused to taxi over to the hub and flew back to their bases. This small group of IPA pilots helped to enforce the strike and help it end, and they helped at-will pilots feel "threatened" so that they would have a safe out. I have only met one pilot who was terminated for refusing to fly that day, a Shorts Captain. He found out about the IPA's fund for subcontract pilots who were terminated because refused to fly years later when I told him about it. While the fund didn't benefit him, he considered it a badge of honor to have been terminated for such a noble reason.. But his advice to me after having gone through many interviews since that termination, not too many HR types agree that was a good reason to have been terminated.

Good for you, Birdstrike!

whalesurfer

Every UPS pilot (actual pilot, not mgmt ) is grateful for what you guys did back then. It was before my time but I've tried to learn about the strike as much as possible.

I'd say it was even more admirable subcontractor pilots honored the strike as it was IPA's decision to honor an IBT strike, a decision involving two unions subcontract pilots didn't belong to. I always make sure our newbies are aware of all past battles and sacrifices made by the pilots, some more so than others.

A sincere Thank You what you and your brothers and sisters did back then.

.

Boris Badenov

I walked the IBT line at SDF. First job out of high school and blammo we go on strike. I didn't see any bricks thrown, but I wouldn't have wanted to be one of the managers who had to drive past us to the parking lot. Wonder if they'd ask about that in an interview. "Sooooo...did you throw anything at me 20 years ago?"

Vito

I remember being assigned to walk the picket line at EWR. When I pulled into the lot there were about 50 teamsters picketing in front of the gateway. As I walked to join them, one guys yells "The Pilots are here!" They let out a huge cheer and everyone starts shaking my hand, slapping my back etc....felt like a damn rock star for a minute! They appreciated our support.