Gail Nicholson Collection of Local 553, Transport Workers Union of America, Files

Gail Nicholson was appointed Communications Coordinator for Transport Workers Union of America Local 553 in 1985 and served on the editorial staff of Local 553’s “Labor Speaks” newsletter c. 1977 and 1982-1984.

Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) is a United States labor union that was founded in 1934 by subway workers in New York City, then expanded to represent transit employees in other cities, primarily in the eastern U.S. TWU is a member of the AFL-CIO. TWU began representing airline employees in 1945, when it organized ground service employees at Pan American World Airways in Miami; it then expanded to represent flight attendants and airline maintenance employees as well. The American Airlines flight attendants in its membership seceded to form their own union, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, in the 1970s. TWU represents ground service employees, maintenance workers, flight attendants and other employees at a number of different airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Alaska Airlines. Local 553 was based in Miami, FL during the 1980s and is now based in New York City. HIST: Eastern Air Lines (EAL) was a major airline that operated from 1926 to 1991. The company was strained under the leadership of Frank Borman during airline deregulation in the late 1970s and in 1985 was acquired by Frank Lorenzo, who was soon embroiled in a struggle with TWU, the International Association of Machinists (IAM), and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). In particular, the unions accused him of selling off EAL’s assets to bolster other companies under the ownership of his holding company, Texas Air Corporation (TAC), while repeatedly cutting wages of workers. In 1986, TWU, IAM, and ALPA formed a coalition to represent employees of EAL and embarked on a campaign to win public support, in part by accusing EAL of negligence in its safety practices. In 1987, Lorenzo attempted to sell the EAL shuttle, which flew routes between New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Newark, to his own Texas Air Corporation, but was blocked in court by the union coalition. He eventually sold the shuttle to Donald Trump, who formed Trump Shuttle, Inc. in 1988. Following years of unsuccessful contract negotiations, IAM began a strike on March 4, 1989 which lasted until November of that year, joined by sympathy strikes from TWU and ALPA. In response, EAL declared bankruptcy days after the strike began, and several months later was sold to another of Lorenzo’s assets held by Texas Air Corporation, Continental Airlines (CAL). As the strike wore on, Lorenzo hired nonunion pilots, flight attendants, and machinists who worked for up to two-thirds less compensation to replace the striking union members. Simultaneously, many of EAL’s assets, including reservation systems, planes, routes, and gates, were liquidated, effectively downsizing operations of the airline. As such, following a return-to-work vote, the strike ended, but few jobs remained. In April 1990, Lorenzo was ousted by the bankruptcy court and former CAL president Martin Shugrue was installed to manage the company’s reorganization. By October 1990 all of the remaining TWU flight attendants had been recalled to return to work at EAL, but in January 1991 the airline closed permanently. Later that year the Trump Shuttle was sold to USAir and merged into a new corporation, Shuttle, Inc.