The union members are "employee-owners" and as such control 80% of the company. However, with the airline industry in dire financial straits, United management last week announced that without major salary concessions from union employees the airline will be forced to go into bankruptcy. Union employees firmly reject any salary negotiations. Bankruptcy would leave the employee stockholders with nothing of value.
The fact that the employee owners and union employees are the very same people has left industry analysts wondering about the sanity of the union members.
The essential feature of DID, according to the APAs Diagnostic and Statistics Manual, is "the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states that recurrently take control of behavior."
Usually present in people with this disorder is the inability to recall pertinent personal information to a degree that ordinary forgetfulness cannot explain. Analysis of the subjects' situational awareness in this time of economic turmoil has confirmed the diagnoses.
"These are tough times and I think the employees are going to have to make some concessions to keep this company afloat," said Mark Chamberlain, a United Airlines union mechanic and employee owner. Asked how much of a pay cut he was expecting, Chamberlain angrily replied, "I'm not taking a cut and neither is anyone in the union." Then asked what he meant by "employees are going to have to make some concessions", Chamberlain denied making any such remark. Playing the tape back to him only seemed to confuse and frighten him. Chamberlains's psychologist then ended the interview.
"These airline employees seem to, beyond question, meet all the criteria for a diagnosis of DID," admits Dr. Rabo Norman, specialist in dissociative disorders for the APA.
"It's getting pretty rough on all of us," said Brenda Donaldson, a United flight attendant in the northeast corridor. "I know one guy who actually slit his own tires for coming to work on a scheduled 'sick out' last month. He doesn't remember either being at work or slicing his tires, but he does remember stopping by the bank and depositing his paycheck and his stock dividend check."
Adding to the union members' conflict is the fact that their contract with United allows worker's compensation for any physical or mental illness. With this diagnosis being announced United stands to have 15,000 employees applying for extended medical leave within the week.
Dr. Norman says that is unlikely. He notes, "It could be their concern as owners that keeps them from taking the time off work to get the help that they so desperately need."
There is specutalation that the disorder is being caused by the frequent consumption of airline meals consisting of degenerating meat products such as the green, sheeny pot roast which recent research has shown to have psychedelic effects.
"I'm not sure we can blame this on the food," says Dr. Norman. "This situation was bound to come up no matter what. The thing with DID is that it can be a reaction, a kind of escape, to a situation that someone can't handle or rectify in their own mind. If anything, the psychedelic effects of the pot roast would help, allowing the employee-owners a substitute escape. In fact, the pot roast may be the only thing holding that company together."
