story445.xml
Title
story445.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-04-20
911DA Story: Story
Fast asleep, my hotel phone rang. I answered it. My friend and my LEC President, Betsy Tettelbach, was on the other end. She said "turn on your TV." Grappling with the remote, I did as she said. Being her LEC Vice-President, I already knew how to follow her directions to a tee.
I couldn't believe what was being conveyed over the airwaves. An airplane had gone into one of the World Trade Center towers. My God, I hope it wasn't one of our airplanes! Please don't let it be anyone I know. My God, all the people that have just died! What a horrible thing! Much more horrible than I could have ever imagined. How could this be happening? So many thoughts running through my head all at once, so many questions. I'm not a patient person, I wanted answers.
That's when the second plane hit. The horror just got worse. I called my husband in Charlottesville, VA. He knew I wasn't flying, but it was still an event that had to be shared in some way with other people. My connection with him on the cell phone was not great. I was doing the window hug and twist. Being in this particular room in Washington DC kept my cell signal to a minimum so I had to try every way I could think of to keep the connection open. After speaking with him, conveying our disbelief and also our love, we hung up. And that's when we learned of the plane hitting the Pentagon. I had to call him back to let him know I was okay. I spoke with his supervisor who passed the word on.
I decided to go to Betsy's room and watch the TV with her. I knew I was supposed to be getting ready for a meeting, but this was too much to handle alone. Plus I didn't know if the plans were still on. We were supposed to begin Day 1 of supermediation with the company today at the National Mediation Board. Our strike deadline was coming up fast and furious on Septemeber 15th. Now one of our planes could have been flown into the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon or the ground in Pennsylvania. My God, it was a possibility! How trivial the strike deadline seemed now.
Our negotiating team sat together in Betsy's room glued to the television. We were shocked and horrified. As news came out of the flight humbers, relieved. It was not one of our airplanes. The co-workers that we are so close to did not perish in this horrible act of terrorism. But how were we going to take care of our members now? We still needed new work rules, pay rates and benefits. How would we support the mourning and at the same time rally the troops to fight for what they deserved. The situation was such an oxymoron. We felt horrible about everything and were totally deflated and defeated.
The National Mediation Board decided to extend our strike deadline for one more week. It was hoped that both sides could regroup from the events of September 11th and come to the table to get this contract ironed out.
It did happen. It's not a perfect contract, but it'll do considering all that everyone went through. We look forward to tackling the issues we had to let slip by the wayside in 2004.
I couldn't believe what was being conveyed over the airwaves. An airplane had gone into one of the World Trade Center towers. My God, I hope it wasn't one of our airplanes! Please don't let it be anyone I know. My God, all the people that have just died! What a horrible thing! Much more horrible than I could have ever imagined. How could this be happening? So many thoughts running through my head all at once, so many questions. I'm not a patient person, I wanted answers.
That's when the second plane hit. The horror just got worse. I called my husband in Charlottesville, VA. He knew I wasn't flying, but it was still an event that had to be shared in some way with other people. My connection with him on the cell phone was not great. I was doing the window hug and twist. Being in this particular room in Washington DC kept my cell signal to a minimum so I had to try every way I could think of to keep the connection open. After speaking with him, conveying our disbelief and also our love, we hung up. And that's when we learned of the plane hitting the Pentagon. I had to call him back to let him know I was okay. I spoke with his supervisor who passed the word on.
I decided to go to Betsy's room and watch the TV with her. I knew I was supposed to be getting ready for a meeting, but this was too much to handle alone. Plus I didn't know if the plans were still on. We were supposed to begin Day 1 of supermediation with the company today at the National Mediation Board. Our strike deadline was coming up fast and furious on Septemeber 15th. Now one of our planes could have been flown into the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon or the ground in Pennsylvania. My God, it was a possibility! How trivial the strike deadline seemed now.
Our negotiating team sat together in Betsy's room glued to the television. We were shocked and horrified. As news came out of the flight humbers, relieved. It was not one of our airplanes. The co-workers that we are so close to did not perish in this horrible act of terrorism. But how were we going to take care of our members now? We still needed new work rules, pay rates and benefits. How would we support the mourning and at the same time rally the troops to fight for what they deserved. The situation was such an oxymoron. We felt horrible about everything and were totally deflated and defeated.
The National Mediation Board decided to extend our strike deadline for one more week. It was hoped that both sides could regroup from the events of September 11th and come to the table to get this contract ironed out.
It did happen. It's not a perfect contract, but it'll do considering all that everyone went through. We look forward to tackling the issues we had to let slip by the wayside in 2004.
Collection
Citation
“story445.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 1, 2026, https://www.911digitalarchive.org/items/show/10986.