Dear Flight Attendants,

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) just wrapped up its March MEC meeting this week and it is time to give you an update.

Negotiations Survey

We know everybody is anxious to hear from the leadership in regards to negotiations. The next step in the process is a survey to the membership to determine the bargaining objectives for the next round of talks. Your leadership is committed to achieving comprehensive and accurate survey results that reflect the needs of the membership. Consequently, AFA has retained the Hart Research Group (http://www.hartresearch.com/) to administer the negotiations survey. AFA and Hart have discussed employing several different methods to gather data including monitoring social media and discussion boards in addition to using a traditional phone and/or online survey.

Your current Negotiating Committee members are meeting next week to gather preparatory materials for Hart. We’re targeting the survey to be out as soon as possible after April 11^th. Why April 11^th? Council 39 Portland and Council 19 Seattle have officer elections underway with a count date of April 11^th. The leadership doesn’t want too many moving pieces in play at any given time so we’re going to wait until polls so everybody can focus on the survey.

Negotiating Committee Interviews

As a reminder, interviews for the Negotiating Committee will take place on April 17^th at the AFA MEC office in Seattle. All qualified and interested candidates (including current members of the committee) are encouraged to apply no later than April 10^th. The MEC will provide additional information in regards to qualifications, duties and compensation in a separate communication due out in the coming days.

Mediated Negotiations to Resume

Under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), we will be back in mediation when we return to the table. These talks will carry on under the purview of the National Mediation Board (NMB) and we believe Victoria Gray will continue as the federal mediator assigned to our case. The parties have set a tentative date of mid-May to resume mediated negotiations.

Upcoming Company Town Hall Meetings

The MEC has received plenty of feedback from the membership regarding the upcoming Company “Town Hall” meetings. During our MEC meeting this week the officers met with management to pass along our members’ concerns. We strongly advocated to management to reconsider the timing of the Town Hall meetings and we are optimistic that management is taking our request under serious consideration.

Consequently, the MEC is holding off on taking a strong public position on the Town Hall meetings until management has had an opportunity to respond. There has been quite a lot of email and phone discussion with management about this issue all the way up to the publication of this communication. The MEC is expecting further developments very soon so stand by for an update shortly.

In solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

Dear Flight Attendants,

You have spoken with a clear and unified vote: The Tentative Agreement (TA) was not sufficient and must be improved. An overwhelming majority of you voted to send a strong message to management that the offer did not measure up. The results from each base were nearly identical, so once again we prove that we are “Five Bases, One Voice.”

The Master Executive Council (MEC) and Negotiating Committee thank each and every one of you for your vote. Additional kudos to those who were able to make one of the 17 morning and afternoon roadshows around the system—34 sessions in all! You answered the call for a substantial turnout and your participation was commendable. Nearly 90% of you took part in determining our future! The result was unambiguous with approximately 30% “for” and 70% “against” the TA.

Voting Results by base below:

ALASKA 2014 TA Vote Count

Response Count              Voted %           Participated           Eligible      Participation %

SEA FOR 448                       28.32%                  1582                               1777                 89.03% 

AGAINST 1134                     71.68% 

ANC FOR 87                          34.66%                 251                                288                87.15%

AGAINST 164                         65.34%

PDX FOR 101                         29.62%                  341                                374                91.18%

AGAINST 240                       70.38%

LAX/SAN FOR 188              34.18%                  550                                661               90.02%

AGAINST 362                       65.82%

_______________________________________________

ALL FAs

FOR 824                                  30%

AGAINST1900                     70%

TOTAL VOTES 2724

We should not dwell on who voted “no,” and who voted “yes,” but rather we must advance unified. Now that the decision has been made, we all have a lot of hard work ahead of us. In the coming months, AFA will prepare to return to mediation under the direction of the National Mediation Board (NMB). In the near future you will be called upon to participate in activities which will demonstrate our resolve. When we go back to the table and management looks across the table, they must see all 3,200 of us sitting there in solidarity!

In the coming weeks, your AFA leadership and negotiators will take time to review the process, reassess bargaining objectives and communication strategy. We have already started that work with a MEC meeting that wrapped up yesterday. Your Local Executive Council (LEC) presidents have very much appreciated the emails and phone calls offering feedback and suggestions as we move forward through this process. The MEC will be meeting with the Negotiating Committee on March 3 to continue discussions and cement plans.

A new negotiations survey will be put out to the group in a few weeks. We are also exploring the use of professional pollsters in conjunction with the regular survey to ensure the most accurate result possible. It is critical that everybody take the time to complete the negotiations survey because this will be used as our guide for representing the objectives of the entire membership. In the meantime, we are asking Flight Attendants to not engage in discussions with management regarding individual bargaining objectives.

Through your vote you have spoken loud and clear, and AFA is committed to taking your message to the bargaining table! Together, we can show management we are “Five Bases Standing Strong!”

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

“Five Bases Standing Strong”

February 13, 2014

As of mid-day today, 2368 votes have been placed, which is 80.3% of all eligible to vote. Let’s move this into the 90’s! The vote is far too important to let someone else decide your future!

Your dues must be current in order to vote. If you believe your dues are in arrears, contact AFA Member Services at 1-800-424-2401 (Press 7). They are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm Easter Tim.

If you are current on your dues and have not received your ballot and instructions, please contact the AFA Ballot Helpline at 1-800-424-2401 (Press 1, then Ext 706).

Due to severe weather the AFA International office is closed but staff are working from home during business hours. Leave a message with the requested information and somebody will contact you in the morning.

If you have already voted and wish to change your vote, the last recorded vote is the one that counts. If you do not vote, it does not count one way or the other. All votes must be submitted by noon Pacific Time on Friday, February 14, 2014.

We anticipate results will be validated by early afternoon tomorrow and AFA will communicate the certified results as soon as possible.

Finally, our group is extremely passionate and emotions have been running very high in regards to the vote. Your Master Executive Council (MEC) and Negotiating Committee request that we all take a moment to reflect on our interactions with each other—particularly on social media. (Your leaders are certainly not excluded here.) This is a great opportunity for us all to step away from the keyboard for the evening, take a deep breath and begin focusing on moving forward with grace and kindness.

We thank you all for being so engaged and we’ll know the results soon!

In solidarity,

AFA at Alaska Airlines

Roadshow FAQ #2

General:

Q. Is it normal to clarify language in a TA after it is presented to the Membership?

A. Yes. Once the provisions are reviewed by many parties in various forums (e.g. AFA leaders, Flight Attendants on social media, roadshow participants and workplace discussions), questions inevitably come to light that may not have been anticipated by the parties in negotiations. Clarifications are sought in those instances to answer these “what if…” questions. It is a robust and healthy exercise that ultimately results in much-improved contract language.

Q. If I have already voted can I change my vote?

A. Yes, the last vote recorded will be what is counted.

Q. When do the polls close on February 14^th?

A. The polls close at 12:00pm (noon) Pacific Time on February 14^th.

Section 12 Exchange of Sequences

Q. Will FA to FA trading begin at the same time as the Quartile System?

A. Yes each individual’s FA to FA trading will open when that individual’s Quartile opens.

Section 14 Vacation

Q. Does the 960 tfp requirement for the extra week of Vacation (Longevity PTO) for those who have completed 25 years of service as an Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant include vacation and sick leave?

A. Yes, see definition of ‘Flown TFP’ in Section 5 Definitions of the TA.

Section 21 Compensation

Q. Will all the current pairings remain the same after the new Minimum Pay Rules are in place?

A. The goal of Minimum Pay Rules is to require pairings to become more efficient or pay a penalty for remaining inefficient. For example the minimum pay rules will either pay us for long sit times or cause the pairing to have lower sit times. The pairing optimizer program is designed to minimize soft time such as Minimum Pay Rules but the optimizer will not be able to completely get rid of them. It is not possible to predict with any degree of certainty which pairings will or will not be affected.

Section 32 Attendance Policy

Q. Does use of the Quarterly Point Reduction Form have a quarterly flying requirement?

A. No there isn’t a quarterly flying requirement to use the Quarterly Point Reduction Form. However the form cannot be used for any Single Continuous Occurrence (SCO) that touches one of the four paid holiday blackout dates (New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).

Q. If I call sick on-line while on a multi-day sequence, do I need to have departed (“wheels up”) after the first leg following the layover on each day or just the very first leg of my sequence?

A. Sick on-line requires that you call in sick following wheels up of the first leg of your sequence. Everything thereafter is considered a sick on-line just like in the current contract.

February 11, 2014

IMPORTANT TENTATIVE AGREEMENT VOTING INFORMATION

There is a severe weather system moving toward Washington, DC, and it is possible that the AFA International office will be closed Thursday and/or Friday. While the actual electronic voting is handled by an independent 3^rd party company, if you have questions or trouble voting and need to reach the AFA Ballot Helpline or Membership Services, the response time may be delayed. If you call either and receive voice mail, leave a message and AFA staff will be checking and responding to messages remotely.

We urge everyone to vote as soon as possible. Polls close this Friday, February 14, at noon Pacific Time. If you have already voted and wish to change your vote, the last recorded vote is the one that counts. If you do not vote, it does not count one way or the other.

Need Assistance: Contact the AFA Membership Services or the AFA Ballot Helpline, Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm Eastern Time.

Your dues must be current in order to vote. If you believe your dues are in arrears, contact AFA Member Services at 1-800-424-2401 (Press 7).

If you are current on your dues and have not received your ballot and instructions or need assistance with voting, please contact the AFA Ballot Helpline at 1-800-424-2401 (Press 1, then Ext 706).

Leave a message if the call is not answered directly.

PERCENTAGE VOTED TO DATE

As of mid-afternoon today, 2121 of eligible voters have cast their votes, or 69%. We urge everyone to exercise their right to vote. This is too important to let somebody else decide your future!

In solidarity,

AFA at Alaska Airlines