TWU Local 514 headquarters in Tulsa
The union that represents American Airlines maintenance workers is stirring some controversy locally after a poor turnout in a local leadership election and the resignation of one of the elected officers.
Recently elected Transport Workers Union local 514 chairman of stores Pat Bax is resigning as of today after winning a runoff election against Carl Hinton on July 25. In the first election, the two tied with 88 votes.
But Bax said some of the union membership wasn’t happy with the election that he is stepping down and asking for a revote. Bax said he plans to run again.
“The perception amongst a small percentage of my union brothers and sisters are that this was a tainted election,” Bax said in a letter announcing his resignation and posted on the local union website. “I too, had my questions about the results. I want to make it very clear, that my belief is that the most important issue is that this election must uphold the credibility and integrity of this union.”
Based on the vote for president, just over 1,800 people voted in the election out of 4,819 eligible members at the local American Airlines maintenance and engineering base.
One recently retired AA employee told me that the low turnout may be the result of waning support for the TWU as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters vies for representation of workers.
Dale Danker was elected as president of the TWU Local 514, but the vote for vice president was only separated by two votes. A recount confirmed Gary Yingst as the winner over Ray Wilson, 677 votes to 675.
Local elections happen once every three years, but this recent one comes on the heals of AA’s bankruptcy and heated contract negotiations where maintenance workers gave up pensions.
A handful of former Local 514 leaders lost elections, including former president Sam Cirri and former VP Dan Mitchell, who both failed in attempts to sit on the union chapter’s executive board.
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