In the 1960’s and 70’s air travel wasn’t as convenient as it is today. There were few cross-country flights and many flights hopped from mid-size city to mid-size city. In order to attend as many membership meetings and contract negotiations as possible, General President James R. Hoffa often flew in a small plane to get where he was needed. In fact, there’s one story from the book “Hoffa: Messages to the Membership” where he shared an experience of landing on a small runway in Wisconsin during a snowstorm – where you couldn’t tell the difference between the runway and the cow pasture.

(TUKWILA, Wash.)—Life is about to change for a group of over 150 fuelers, dispatchers and mechanics working at Sea-Tac Airport, as they voted yesterday to ratify their first-ever Teamster contract.

The smell of jet fuel was strong in the meeting room, as workers voted enthusiastically and overwhelmingly in favor of the contract, a contract which makes them among the highest paid Swissport fuelers in the country, and codifies strong language that will dramatically improve their daily lives on the job.

Shop stewards who represent aircraft mechanics at United Airlines (UA) wrapped up a two-day training last week  at IBT headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“I’d like to thank everyone who made time to come out to our training last week,” said Capt. David Bourne, Teamsters Airline Division Director. “Whether you have been a Teamster in the aviation industry for three years or 30 years, there’s always something new to learn.”