USAir Demands Concessions from Its Workers

Jun 3, 2002

USAir is claiming it must find 1.3 billion dollars or the company will go under. And it is demanding the workers come up with 3/4 of that amount.

Management says it has had big losses in recent years. But why should workers believe what the bosses say? Every day we hear still more companies admitting to falsifying their books.

Unless the workers themselves were the ones to monitor all the books–all the income and outgo of every part of the company, including its hidden subsidiaries–all its dealings with the banks, etc., workers have no way of knowing what the company’s situation is. And they certainly have no reason to accept what the company says.

But even if the company’s claim were true, so what?

The labor of USAir workers over the years created massive profits, which enabled the stock holders who own millions of dollars of shares to draw dividends and get big gains on the stock market by selling USAir stock. The banks and wealthy bondholders received interest payments from the profits created by the workers. Top management has been able to draw its million dollar salaries.

If there’s no money today–and that’s a very big if–it’s because these parasites already bled the company dry, because management made the decision to let them do it. If the company really needs 1.3 billion dollars, let management get that from the people who bled USAir dry.

If management can’t do that, let the company be taken over by the government, with no golden parachutes to execs, no compensation to stockholders, no loan repayments to the banks, nothing to these parasites that stole the wealth. Let the government use the money that it put aside for loan guarantees to keep the company working and fully maintain the workers’ wages, benefits and working conditions.

Today the government talks about giving USAir loan guarantees. No, use that money to guarantee jobs.