Machinist Union Weathers the Storm

In bankruptcy, the IAM "managed to have a sensible defense in a bad situation, in contrast to the suicidal offensive effort that AMFA carried out," says Thomas Kochan, professor of work and employment relations at MIT Sloan School of Management. "The AMFA situation illustrated the cost of a union coming along and arguing that it can do better than any other union."

The IAM is now "in a good position to insist that there be a fair sharing of whatever gains come forward in the industry," Kochan says. "It can now reach out and say to companies: 'You can't get there without us, we need to work together to look for productivity and service quality enhancement and to bring about a [sustained] recovery.'"

Aviation consultant Robert Mann said the IAM has shown resilience, but may have difficulty improving post-bankruptcy contracts. "It's going to be a tough slog through management's [insistence] that it doesn't want anything to change," he says.

The union's advantages became clear over the past 15 months.

Success at United

In July 2005, about 16,000 United agents, ramp workers and stock clerks, represented by the IAM, approved a new contract with $700 million in wage and benefit reductions. But the contract, which runs through 2009, includes a defined-benefit pension plan, which no other United workers have.