Eastern strike faces tough challenge

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BOSTON-The strike against Eastern Airlines, begun March 4, is solid. So far, the machinists, flight attendants, and pilots have stopped Frank Lorenzo's union-busting attempts cold. Passenger manifests of three and four people on Eastern flights show the tremendous support for the strike from the public.

Machinists here project a long strike. They are Visiting other unions throughout the area to keep them informed and to raise funds for the strikers. A collection is planned at the gates of the General Electric plant in nearby Lynn. And another mass solidarity rally is planned in the next few weeks.

One attempt to end the strike failed when Lorenzo refused to step aside while a buyout deal by former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth was finalized. Since then, Texas Air's board has voted to not sell Eastern, seeking to get the airline out from under the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which has been pushing for a sale to Ueberroth, Carl Icahn of TWA, or some other "white knight."

Eastern's "reorganization plan"

On April 24, Eastern announced plans to sell off $1.8 billion in assets over the next eight months, and "rebuild" a much smaller company-without its 8,500 machinists and 4,500 pilots. Lorenzo would stay at the helm.

Eastern has been selling off its profitable assets for some time. Workers contended that in precipitating the strike Lorenzo would try to strike the final blow against the unions— by liquidating the company. This new plan confirms this. According to The New York Times, "Although many Eastern workers would be hired by other airlines operating in hub cities, a liquidation would force thousands from the industry forever."

The labor movement and the flying public are still behind the strikers. The Eastern terminal here is like a ghost town; even the hourly Shuttle to New York, normally jammed, is flying nearly empty. And the depth of unity among the strikers is unprecedented.

One key problem facing most strikers is money. While pilots receive $2400 a month in strike benefits from the Air Line Pilots Association, machinists get only $100 a week and flight attendants get nothing. One flight attendant told The Boston Globe that she was just scraping by, and was eating "macaroni at the union hall every night" to save money.

John Peterpaul, a vice president of the machinists, said, "The machinist union will (continued on page 4, in “Boston labor activists discuss Eastern strike strategy, anti-union role of courts”)

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