Machinists' union opens Mobile office targeting Airbus workers

With its sights set squarely on the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers opened this week an organizing office in Mobile.

"Airbus workers need a location outside of work where they can meet and learn about their collective bargaining rights and the process that leads to a union representation election," IAM Lead Organizer Al Granado said in a prepared statement, adding, "The IAM office will also provide organizing support and information for workers employed at the dozens of area vendors which will supply the Airbus assembly line."

Toulouse, France-based Airbus will launch production this month at its first A320 final assembly line on U.S. soil at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, expected to figure prominently in the company's ability to efficiently fill the mounting backlog for the popular single-aisle aircraft. The $600 million facility is expected to deliver its first Mobile-assembled aircraft to JetBlue in the second quarter of 2016 and employ about 1,000 people when it reaches full annual production of 40 to 50 aircraft by 2018.

Airbus Americas spokeswoman Kristi Tucker confirmed in June that the company had hired a total of 225 employees for the U.S. Manufacturing Facility, 160 of which are on site while the remainder are in training with Airbus in Europe.

Of the new hires, 56 percent hail from Mobile and Baldwin counties while another 30 percent are from other parts of Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. Thirty-percent of the hires are U.S. military veterans, and hiring is ongoing, she said.

Airbus will officially open the U.S. Manufacturing Facility in September with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event. Meanwhile, construction on some of the buildings on the campus will continue through the close of 2015. 

According to the released statement, the prime objectives of the IAM-Airbus organizing campaign in Mobile include training, respect on the job and fair compensation for the Airbus workforce. The new office is located on Government Boulevard across from Whataburger.

Granado emphasized, however, that the potential Airbus workforce and associated suppliers the IAM aims to assist will be in addition to the more than 100,000 aerospace workers it currently represents in the United States and Canada.

"Despite feverish opposition in some states to union organizing drives, Alabama and the Gulf Coast has a long history of collective bargaining contracts that provide significant stabilizing benefits for the employer as well as the employee," Granado said, adding, "We believe the establishment of a non-union aerospace enclave would create corrosive cost-cutting competition in an industry that has a reputation for high quality and high productivity."

All told, the IAM represents nearly 600,000 active and retired members, making it one of the largest active industrial trade unions in North America.

Source: AL.com