SAN FRANCISCO --
by John Boitnott, Web Producer

For decades, United Airlines has employed thousands of Bay Area residents by keeping one of its key plane maintenance facilities at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

That may change if the airline goes through with a possible plan to outsource 4,500 workers there.

VIDEO: Newsom, Hoffa Warn United Over Closing Giant SFO Facility
SLIDESHOW: Teamsters Rally In SF To Save Thousands Of Airline Jobs

The president of the Teamsters Union, Jim Hoffa, met with San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom on the steps of City Hall to protest the plans.

Hundreds of people including Teamsters members and United Airlines mechanics attended the rally to protest the plan by the airline.

"United currently outsources 45 percent of all its maintenance work to foreign repair stations that are not held to the same standards as their U.S.-based counterparts," Teamsters officials said in a statement Wednesday.

Officials with the mechanics current union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) said that is not the case.

The Teamsters said Sen. Barack Obama had personally authored a letter of support for the workers.

"The practice of outsourcing aircraft maintenance overseas raises security concerns and pits our skilled mechanics making a middle class living against less skilled, less well protected workers abroad," Obama said in his letter addressed to the Teamster Aviation Mechanics Coalition. "I applaud your efforts to organize a strong union at United Airlines, and look forward to working with you on the critical issue of outsourcing now and in the years ahead."

"In Indianapolis, United closed down the maintenance base and thousands lost their jobs and it devastated the community," said Rich Petrovsky, an airline mechanic at the SFO facility. "Its time to stop outsourcing and mechanics at United are drawing the line. We are working with the Teamsters and we say to United enough is enough."

"The Teamsters Union will work tirelessly to make certain that the San Francisco maintenance facility remains open," Hoffa said. "United must treat you as the highly trained and valuable workforce you are and respect the hard work you and all the United mechanics nationwide do day in and day out to ensure that our families fly on safe and secure aircraft."

State Senators Leland Yee and Carol Migden, Assemblymembers Ira Ruskin and Fiona Ma and District Attorney Kamala Harris all attended the rally with Newsom and Hoffa.

"These 4,500 United Airlines mechanic jobs represent the men and women who live right here in San Francisco," Newsom said. "They send their children to our public schools, support our local economy and contribute to the fabric of our community. I would like them to remain at SFO, and I would like to see them remain organized for the benefit of their families."

The Teamsters said Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Barbara Boxer had personally authored a letter of support for the workers.

"The practice of outsourcing aircraft maintenance overseas raises security concerns and pits our skilled mechanics making a middle class living against less skilled, less well protected workers abroad," Obama said in his letter addressed to the Teamster Aviation Mechanics Coalition. "I applaud your efforts to organize a strong union at United Airlines, and look forward to working with you on the critical issue of outsourcing now and in the years ahead."

Sen. Barbara Boxer also authored a letter of support to the workers.

"I am concerned about the future of the approximately 4,000 aviation mechanics who service aircraft at the San Francisco hub of United Airlines," Boxer said in her letter. "It is essential to maintain a domestic aviation mechanic workforce that is highly skilled and provides a superior level of safety and security."

United mechanics have expressed discontent with the AMFA union because of the fear that union mechanic jobs will be outsourced by the airline.

More than 9,000 UAL mechanics will vote soon on whether to leave AMFA and take the Teamsters as their bargaining representative.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million men and women in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.