Uli Derickson - TWA Strike

On May 23, 1986, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a short blurb in Kup's Column, which read:

"REMEMBER Uli Derickson, the heroic TWA hostess who helped save lives during the Beirut hijacking last summer? She's gone from cheers to jeers among her fellow workers for crossing the picket lines of the flight attendants who are on strike against the airline."

In 1985, TWA, the fifth-largest airline in the United States proved to be an attractive
target for a takeover because of their wide array of domestic and international routes.
Carl C. Icahn, a New York investor, won controlling interest in the airline in 1985, but
encountered financial troubles reporting losses of $193.1 million in 1985 (eventually that
deficit would grow to $540 million dollars). "In the first quarter of 1986 we're losing
$125 million," Icahn said.

To help offset his financial troubles, Icahn forced a 44% concessionary package onto the
flight attendants, including a 22% wage cut. His reasoning behind the wage reduction
was that the flight attendant's didn't have families to support and their jobs were merely
a source of "extra income." "We cannot exist when we are paying our flight attendants
close to $50,000 a year with perks. The average salary is $35,000 per year, and we pay
them this to work 11 days a month."

With that announcement, members of the New York-based Independent Federation of Flight Attendants threatened to strike. Icahn warned the flight attendants that he would bring in "permanent replacements," if they walked off the job. Despite the threat, between 5,700 - 6000 flight attendants went on strike at more than 30 airports around the country on March 7th, 1986 with 91 attendants crossing the picket line. On the 2nd day of the strike, 200 more crossed the picket line. "There appears to be dissension in their ranks," said TWA spokesman Dan Oldani.

Initially, the strike forced TWA to cancel half of its domestic and international flights and consolidate many others. The airline experienced heavy financial losses. True to his threat, Icahn promptly brought in 2,200 young, inexperienced recruits with only 18 days of training, and shifted 1,500 employees ranging from reservation clerks to accountants, to flight attendants.

Though Icahn agreed to lower the wage cut to 15%, the Union did
not reciprocate, and negotiations between TWA and IFFA broke
down several times when the two sides failed to agree on wage
concessions and changes in work rules sought by the airline.

With the hiring of new flight attendants, TWA resumed a full national
flight schedule and promised job security to the substitute and newly
hired attendants. Icahn sent a letter to the attendants giving them his
''personal commitment'' that they would not be replaced by any
returning strikers.

By May, TWA and IFFA had still not reached an agreement, and with TWA operating more flights than when the strike began, over 1,000 attendants gave up the strike and crossed the picket line.

With the strike dragging on, and with more flight attendants crossing the picket line, violence erupted. In-flight personnel were being both threatened with violence and assaulted, plus their property was vandalized. The perpetrators of the violence were TWA employees who supported the striking flight attendants by participating in acts of violence including fire bombings, assault, and even an attempted shooting of a flight attendant through the window of her hotel room while on a layover in Denver.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported in an article titled, "The Other Transit Strike,"
that Uli, who was flying out of New York at the time, was initially one of the 6000
striking attendants, but wasn't assigned to picket-line duty because she wanted to
avoid becoming a center of attention. Uli's husband Russell, before his retirement
as a chief pilot, represented his fellow pilots as a union leader. But because Uli was
a purser and privy to more information than some of the other flight attendants, she
became convinced that the union wasn't telling the whole truth. "There was a lot
of miscommunication from the flight attendant union to its members," said a fellow
purser. With the inside knowledge that she had, Uli decided to cross the picket line
and was immediately shunned by co-workers and friends and quickly targeted
for harassment.

Just months before, Uli had been the darling of TWA. Now she was a pariah, and because of her prior fame and notoriety, she became an easy target.

One Sunday afternoon, as she prepared to leave the airport for home, a box of roses was delivered to her. She was surprised and thrilled with the gift, especially in light of the harassment she had endured. But as she lifted the lid, she was stunned to find that all of the roses were dead. Just one more hateful act to endure. As she left the airport, striking workers surrounded her car and spit on it, adding insult to injury.

By May 17, 1986, IFFA ended its 2 1/2 month strike and made an unconditional offer to return to work. However, the return-to-work prospects were uncertain for the 6,000 employees. Apparently, the union decided to end the stoppage because TWA was hiring replacements--and some strikers had returned to work--permitting the airline to attain nearly full operation. Just before the employees voted to accept the offer, TWA announced that all but 600 of their jobs had been filled. It took three years, but IFFA eventually won reinstatement for all the flight attendants who wanted to return.

In 1989, the flight attendants who had walked off the job, sued TWA for 80 million, contending that TWA hindered their efforts to find work with other carriers during and after the 1986 strike. The law required TWA to give the striking attendants letters certifying that they had work experience and were eligible for first consideration by other airlines. The attendants' lawsuit contended that TWA refused to issue such letters.

Eventually, a Federal district judge ruled that TWA was liable for civil damages to 3,000 former flight attendants who were replaced when they went on strike in 1986.

In 1992, the airline filed for bankruptcy, but managed to continue to stay afloat. Then in early 2001, TWA was finally sold to American Airlines. By that time, Uli Derickson had jumped ship and was working for Delta Airlines.