Thu, 29 Jun 1995 17:06:16 PST8PDT
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Subject: Sanctioned terrorism at Northwest Airlines Priority:
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Dear Dateline,
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I commend you for your thorough report on the tragic terror faced by and death of Susan Tosakawiecz(?) at Northwest Airlines. If it turns out that she was murdered by someone at NWA and that her death can be partially blamed on complacency and inaction by NWA management, then her death will not be the first that can be traced partially back to the postures and inaction of NWA management; you can also add the name of my mother Mary Kathleen Big Bear Weaver Craven who committed suicide on February 23, 1985 as a result of a seven-year campaign of terror directed and conducted by some members of ALPA (Airline Pilot's Association) against my father, mother and the whole family.
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In late 1979, the NWA pilots went out on strike for 112 days. My father, a NWA pilot who retired after 33 years on NWA as a 747 captain, remained out on strike for 102 of the 112 days; he didn't believe in crossing picket lines. There were however, some pilots who crossed the line. At one union meeting at which over 400 pilots were in attendance, the leadership announced that they would go after not only "scabs"--non-striking pilots--but their families as well. They said that they would go after the "weak links" in the families and would even "produce suicides". They suggested a "mistress list" where wives of "scabs" would be called by friendly stewardesses and told their husbands were having affairs. They suggested that with enough stress, "scabs" would bust their physicals and checkrides and even they might get a suicide or two.
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My father, Homer Henry Craven Jr. stood up and protested this saying that pilots have no place conducting terrorism against anyone and especially against women and children. Immediately following that meeting my mother who had just suffered a heart attack began to receive phone calls at 3 O' Clock in the morning calling her a "scab bitch" and saying "how does it feel to fuck a scab?"--eventhough my father had not even crossed the picket line and in fact had implored some junior co-pilot's not to cross the picketline. A new "scab list" was produced with my father's name on it--top of the list--eventhough he had not crossed the picket line; his crime, to dare to speak out against corruption and terrorism.
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My father spoke with me and told me that he had to commit an act of conscience. He told me that "it is just like Germany 1933, those who remain silent about evil or cut Faustian deals with evil become part of it." He told me that he had often told me to work within the system to make change and that I had answered him that sometimes some systems are so corrupt and rotten that to step inside or remain inside them, even for good purposes, will result in someone being corrupted long before the good ends are attained. He said, "I guess you were right."
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As an act of protest against ALPA terrorism, my father crossed the picket line. He asked the Company to donate any salary or pention beneifits to Disabled American Veterans as he did not want to gain materially in any way from crossing the picketline; it was clear that he was not crossing for economic reasons but rather as a protest and he was therefore regarded as particularly dangerous by ALPA. The company wanted to fly him in to SEATAC around the picket lines from Bellevue airport- - as they had done with other non-striking pilots-- but my father refused; he called the union and told them he was crossing their picket line as an act of protest against corruption and terrorism against innocents by ALPA members.
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During that strike some of the following acts of terror were conducted by ALPA members (some photographed in the act) and known by management at NWA who did nothing to sanction or fire those members even when they were caught committing terrorist acts: 1) tires on numerous cars of non-striking pilots were repeatedly slashed; one pilot and Naval Reserve Officer photographed in the act was not dismissed by NWA management eventhough they had ample grounds for his removal and suspension of license as Federal regulations require that an Airline Transport Pilot be "of good moral character"; 2) a "Mistress List" was passed around and wives of non-striking pilots were called by women purporting to be the "mistresses" of non- striking pilots; 3) cars, boats and private aircraft were sabotaged in subtle ways so as to cause accidents and fatalities; in one case, putty was put in the pitot tube of a private aircraft with the result that the 16-year-old daughter of one of the pilots found herself in the air solo with no airspeed indication; 4) current and vital revisions to aeronautical charts were lifted out of mailboxes of non- striking pilots with the results that some crews were flying without current charts; 5) the wife of one of the non-striking pilots was driven off the road at 70 miles-an-hour in Minneapolis; 6) a pipe- bomb was placed under the car of one of the non-striking pilots; this bomb was found and played with by two small children; 7) my parents suffered firebomb attempts, a large tree chopped down to fall on the house of my parents, tires repeatedly slashed and death threats against the whole family (the tires on my car were carefully slashed on the inside wall so that they would blow at high speed).
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My father retired on January 30, 1985. My mother thought that the terror campaign would stop. Instead it eascalated and continued 8+ years after the 1979 strike was over--hatred builds phony unity. On Feb. 21, 1985 my mother told my sister to "get the silver and valuables out of the house, they are going to burn us out." "I guess that I am the weak link"--my mother had suffered another heart attack after the continued harassment. On Feb. 23, 1985 my mother committed suicide; she walked into Lake Washington and held her breath under water (the way among some Indians) and the autopsy showed no water in her lungs. Some people she met just prior to her suicide said she walked up to them (they were boarding a seaplane) and told them "my husband is a pilot, he just retired, but they will never leave us alone."
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My father called up the union and told them "well, you got your suicide". While we were at my mother's funeral, they came and poured ash into the engine of the father's car as an act of contempt that only the lowest kind of scum could do--imagine, these creatures are not just loading aircraft, they are flying them. I was forced to leave my jobs in Canada and Puerto Rico and move back to Seattle where I slept with a gun next to me as the campaign of terror continued for another five years. I would have killed any of them found at our house without a moment's hesitation and so would have my father.
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During all this time, my father repeatedly asked for help and sanctions against union members who had been identified with terror activities; NWA management did nothing to help to protect our family or the families of others who were being terrorized. My father was a personal friend of Mr. Donald Nyrop former president of NWA and my father was also a leading aerodynamicist in the United States and his aerodynamic research and innovation benefited NWA; yet even his standing did not get him any help from the management at NWA.
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I can well feel the pain of the family of the lady who was brutalized at Northwest Airlines while the management (bent on cutting deals with compliant union leadership) failed to fire or sanction those union members who were obviously protected by union leadership that had done a few favors to get a few favors.
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Again, I thank you for your report although it was very painful to watch. There are more and equally or even more dramatic stories beyond what you reported on the machinations at NWA.
Sincerley,
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Sincerley,
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James M. Craven
"Evil is no faceless stranger
living in a distant neighborhood
Evil has a wholesome, hometown face,
with merry eyes and an open smile.
Evil walks among us, wearing a mask
which looks like all our faces. "
(The Book of Counted Sorrows)
