03.08.2018 (AM)

 

If the TA does not ratify, why can’t the L-VX Flight Attendants just get on our work rules?

First of all, management would never just “give” the L-VX Flight Attendants the L-AS work rules. They would use it as a bargaining chip in merger negotiations with AFA. Aside from that, there are other reasons that the L-AS work rules cannot immediately apply to the L-VX Flight Attendants. Sabre (the crew tracking program for the L-VX Flight Attendants) no longer supports the software program and no changes can be made to it to accommodate the L-AS scheduling rules. So the L-AS work rules cannot be programmed into the Sabre system. As far as using the L-AS programs, they cannot be quickly migrated to JCTE because one of the programs that tracks airplane movement only tracks one aircraft type. It must be reprogrammed to accommodate the Airbus. All this will take some time.

 

If we vote this down will they (company) come back to the table?

There is no way to provide a definite answer to this question because we can start Section 6 negotiations in October 2018 on a successor CBA. L-VX will be sitting out there with no pay increases and working under their current work rules. Management has stated adamantly that they aren’t coming back to the table.

 

Why did they (VX) stop moving forward on their own contract with TWU?

The L-VX Flight Attendants voted down their TA1 reached under TWU. TWU was deciding whether or not to put out the TA again for a vote, but decided against it. A few months later, AFA gained representation rights for the Flight Attendants, and AFA was able to secure an immediate pay raise and other improvements.

 

How would the “Vacation Coordination Bank” help me bridge to LTD after 6 months of a medical leave?

If a Flight Attendant did not have paid vacation accrual due to not achieving the 480 TFP threshold the year prior, a “vacation coordination bank” would be created to essentially place “no-credit” vacation days in each month of a Flight Attendant’s medical leave so she or he could maintain medical insurance at the active employee rate until reaching Long Term Disability (LTD) coverage. At that point, the Flight Attendant would be eligible to continue medical insurance at the active employee rate until the earlier of 25 months or reaching Medicare eligibility.

 

When can I use sick leave TFP for healthcare for 62 years of age?

If a Flight Attendant retires with ten years of service, and is between 62 and 65 years of age, she or he may continue medical insurance by using accrued sick leave. 20 TFP of sick leave would substitute for the insurance premium and the Flight Attendant would be able to continue the insurance at the same coverage level (employee-only, employee-spouse, family, etc) at the time of retirement until age 65.

 

Can the company get the Integrated Seniority List (ISL) without a ratified agreement?

AFA controls when the ISL is released to management. AFA’s position is that the ISL will not be released without a ratified JCBA.

 

Why doesn’t Alaska want to be the #1 paying airline?

Alaska management’s position is that they provide good pay and benefits. They absolutely do not wish to be number 1 in pay. They are fine behind Delta, American, and Southwest. In the pilots’ arbitration, Alaska management’s position was that the pilots should be number 5 in the industry, which is where the arbitration award placed them in industry pay.

 

Seniority and a CSA: Why isn’t AS part of this red circle?

It’s just pay not seniority for L-VX FAs that are affected by the Red Circle LOA. Management rejected the JNC’s other proposals to honor pay based on AAG seniority for transfers to Inflight.

 

Why did we negotiate versus just putting VX on our current contract?

Any tentative agreement reached would have to be ratified by the L-AS and L-VX Flight Attendants. The MEC and the JNC made the strategic decision that the L-AS Flight Attendants would not support an agreement which provided no improvements for them – especially since the current CBA in place passed by a slim margin.

The results of the Negotiations Survey identified several areas that both groups identified as bargaining priorities.

 

What is the most senior at VX? Would that change our date of hire?

The date of hire of the most senior L-VX Flight Attendant is September 2006.

 

Where is the ISL posted?

The Integrated Seniority List (ISL) is not posted. The list is not given to management or made public until there is a ratified JCBA.

 

If TA is ratified and FA’s hired after it is where do they fall in?

Flight Attendants hired going forward will have their seniority dates determined by the first date of their initial training class.

 

How is seniority established on the L-VX side?

 

Flight Attendants at L-VX accrue seniority from the first date of initial training. That will continue to be the practice for Flight Attendants hired into the L-VX partition, also known as the Alaska “Airbus” partition. In the past, seniority was determined in each class by randomly-generated employee numbers. Starting with the current class, it will be determined by the last four numbers of the Peoplesoft number.

The L-AS “seniority synch-up” provision provides for L-AS Flight Attendants’ occupational seniority to be adjusted back to their first date of initial training. This is the new occupational seniority date on the Integrated Seniority List (ISL).

 

Is anyone going to get bumped out of his or her base?

No. There will be no “system rebid” as a result of the Full Implementation.

 

When will the occupational seniority sync up new dates be in effect?

The adjusted seniority occupational date will become effective at Date of Ratification if the TA is ratified. Any adjustment to a Flight Attendant’s pay step (increase to next step) will be retroactive to 1.1.18.

 

Work Rules – When would VX get our work rules?

The full L-AS Flight Attendant work rules will apply to the L-VX Flight Attendants at Full Implementation, which is targeted to happen March 2019. If the company misses that target date, then all L-VX pairings must be built using the L-AS work rules such as the 10.5 hr duty day and augmented layover rest.

 

 

Who is it that administered the work rules for VX?

L-VX Flight Attendants are governed by the L-VX Inflight Workrules, v.5 and Val Jenkins, Managing Director, Inflight, is the individual who manages the VX side right now.

03.14.2018

  

If the March 2019 date to implement is met when can trading and swapping bases start?

Trading and swapping of all bases between the combined Flight Attendant group will start the month following Full Implementation. So, if Full Implementation happens in March 2019, then awarding and swapping of bases will begin in April. There will be no base re-bid. No one Flight Attendant will be able to “bump” another out of her/his base.

 

Why aren’t the L-VX Flight Attendants on the Alaska pay scale now?

As soon as AFA won representation rights for the L-VX Flight Attendants in April of 2017, AFA went in immediately and demanded the AS payrates for the L-VX Flight Attendants. Management said no, but AFA was able to negotiate an interim pay increase of about 20%, but not full parity.

This same question was asked of Alaska CEO, Brad Tilden, and his response in an employee meeting was that management made a calculated bargaining decision and decided NOT to allow the L-VX Flight Attendants to have the AS rates in order to put pressure on AFA in merger negotiations. They wanted full pay parity to wait and be part of the merger negotiations.

If the JCBA is ratified, the L-VX Flight Attendants will have the L-AS JCBA rates retroactive to 1.1.18.

 

If the TA ratifies when will they receive our pay rates?

L-VX Flight Attendants will receive the L-AS JCBA pay rates retroactive to 1.1.18.

 

What about the work rules such as duty day?

The L-AS work rules will apply to the L-VX Flight Attendants at Full Implementation (target date, March 2019). The current L-VX crew-tracking system (Sabre) cannot be reprogrammed with different work rules – Sabre no longer supports this software program. The L-VX Flight Attendants cannot go onto the L-AS JCTE program because “visops” which tracks the aircraft movement and feeds into JCTE only recognizes one aircraft type. Until Full Implementation, both groups are partitioned into their separate crew tracking systems.

 

What if it doesn’t ratify?

Upper management is insistent that if the Tentative Agreement is not ratified, they will NOT go back and negotiate TA2. They insist that they will wait for “Section 6” full contract negotiations to start in October.

If that happens, then we will go into full contract negotiations with two Flight Attendant groups that are flying under different contract/work rule provisions and at different rates of pay. The company cannot combine the two groups without a ratified JCBA that stipulates AFA giving the company the Integrated Seniority List.

There is no way to tell with certainty how determined the company is to not go back and agree to a “TA2”. That is the $64,000 question and there is no way to realistically answer that question with any degree of certainty.

 

Duty days and could L-VX do a SEA-PHL turn on an Airbus?

The Negotiations Protocol Agreement restricts the company from opening a Flight Attendant domicile where there already is a Flight Attendant domicile (e.g. No L-VX FA domicile in SEA). Until Full Implementation, no L-AS Flight Attendant can work on an Airbus. So there could be no SEA-PHL “turn” on an Airbus. However, a SEA-PHL-SEA segment could be part of an Airbus (L-VX) multi-day pairing. In that situation, the L-VX crew would be forced to layover in SEA.

 

How many will be affected by the Red Circle Letter of Agreement?

Approximately 100 L-VX Flight Attendants would be affected by this.

 

FA’s that were fired from Alaska that now work for Virgin will they still be on the seniority list?

If a Flight Attendant is on the seniority list at L-VX and in good standing, they will have a place on the Integrated Seniority List.

 

When you retire and want to bridge insurance?

If a Flight Attendant retires from Alaska Airlines and is at least 62 years of age and not yet 65 years of age, then s/he can opt to continue the Alaska Airlines medical insurance until age 65 using 20 TFP a month of accrued sick leave in her/his bank. The level of coverage (e.g. employee-only, employee-spouse, family, etc.) in place at the time of retirement will continue.

[See “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties [VX], “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties 2 [VX], “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties 3 [VX] and “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties 4 [VX] for more info.]

Q:     I realize now that there are penalties to the Company if the groups are not integrated by March 2, 2019. Do you know if this will be enough of a penalty?  AA/US and CO/UA have also ratified joint contracts and are still flying separately. I was curious if you know the reason why AA/US and UA/CO are still flying separate and if they had any integration penalties in their joint contracts as well?

 

A:     There are several questions contained in this one post, so we will answer them separately:

 

1. There is no telling if any penalty is ever enough to prevent something.  However, it is important to remember that management desperately wants to merge all labor groups as soon as possible.  If the March 2, 2019, “target” integration date is not achieved, then the TA provides for all L-VX pairings (trips in the bid packet) to be built using the L-AS CBA rules (i.e. 10.5 hr duty day and layover rest) starting in March.  When you consider that the L-VX FA pairings are currently built using 14 hr scheduled duty day and FAR minimum rest on layovers, using the L-AS provisions would significantly impact how much flying could be accomplished. Management would have to figure out how to cover that additional flying and significant cost would accrue to the Company. Additionally, there is significant pressure on management because they have promised Wall Street, their investors and outside analysts that this merger will happen by mid 2019.  Upper management is under extreme pressure to achieve merger target dates. That pressure is more significant than any penalty we could achieve in negotiations.
2. Flight Attendant groups at United/Continental and American/ US Airways are both slated to be fully integrated in October of this year.  Those merger agreements were negotiated some time ago and yes it has been a long road to achieve that. The situation is further complicated because both carriers being “absorbed” had contracts in place and Flight Attendants are transitioning off of those provisions.
3. There were no penalties in either the AA or UAL merger agreements.
4. Technology has played a significant part in the delay.  However other complications have also contributed. UAL has separate international and domestic bases, and the entire membership had to vote on the system going forward.  Cross training is also a significant hurdle considering the multiple equipment types and the number of Flight Attendants involved. At AA, there was a dispute about when the AA Flight Attendants would be transitioned onto PBS (AOS system), and that resulted in a grievance which is now at the system board level.  The position of APFA (the union representing AA FAs) is that integration cannot go forward absent the dispute being resolved. In an unusual turn of events, management just recently filed its own grievance in protest

[See also Maternity Extension Leave [VX]]

[Note: This post has been revised with updated information. Clarifications or edits are indicated in strikeout font for deleted text and underlined font for added text. – Edited 03.15.2018 jtp]

Q:      I’m wondering what the work requirement would be to ensure time off for L-VX FAs on Maternity Extension Leave. As you know, VX used to require 504 duty hours in order to qualify for the 12 weeks baby bonding. Does AS require the same amount of work in order to take the additional 8 months leave? Or do you just have to have worked for AS for 6 months? Have flown 480 TFP? Or are all expectant moms guaranteed maternity leave regardless of how much and how long they’ve flown for VX/AS?

A:     It’s complicated. Alaska management is requiring any L-VX FA who applies for intermittent baby bonding under the California Family Right Act (CFRA) after 1/1/2018 must have achieved 1250 hours in order to be eligible. This is the Company’s interpretation of its obligation for 12 weeks of intermittent continuous baby bonding under CFRA, which is not contractual. To qualify for the contractual Maternity Leave Extension of eight months, the FA is automatically qualified upon expiration of her Maternity Leave if she applies for the Maternity Leave Extension. In order to remain covered for healthcare insurance at the active employee rates, she must have available sick leave and/or vacation in order to coordinate with the leave pursuant to §15.M; otherwise, the leave is unpaid and she would be responsible for the full cost of healthcare insurance. A L-AS FA has available sick leave after the completion of probation (although a new Washington Paid Sick Leave law allows sick leave access earlier, so that law is currently working its way through the courts) and available vacation after the first year of service as long as she has achieved the appropriate 480 thresholds. L-VX FAs will be able to immediately access Maternity Leave Extension upon ratification of the Merger Agreement, and the FA will be on an unpaid leave but remain covered by healthcare insurance at the active employee rates until Full Integration; at Full Integration, the contractual requirement to draw sick leave and/or vacation will take over in order to maintain healthcare benefits at the active employee rates and to be paid. AFA strongly suggests any L-VX FAs who are currently on or anticipating to be on any type of Maternity Leave to contact your local union leadership (vx@afaalaska.org) to discuss your options.

[See also VX “Red-Circled” Pay Rates: Intra-Company (e.g. GST) Transfers [JCBA]]

Q:     I am hoping someone can clarify this for me. If an Alaska employee is a CSA (or any other work group) and they change over to a FA—the only thing that “carries” over is their years of service related to vacation accrual. As far as FA seniority and pay, they start at the bottom. Word on the street is that at Virgin, this is not the case. As an example…let’s say there was a Virgin employee that was a CSA for six years—and at year seven she became a FA. Now it is two years later…so her company seniority is 9 years and her FA seniority is two years. It appears Virgin’s company policy is to have that person grandfathered in at her company seniority on the FA seniority list, i.e., as if she had been a FA for nine years, and year nine on the pay scale as well. Is this true? And if it is not true…can you tell me how it is being handled?

A:     A L-VX FA who was a GST (CSA) for six years and who now has been a L-VX FA for two years has eight years of Company Seniority and two years of Occupational Seniority. At L-VX, s/he accrues vacation and is also paid as an eight year Flight Attendant, but s/he bids for vacation days and her/his schedule as a two year Flight Attendant. A L-AS FA who was a CSA for six years and who  now has been a L-AS FA for two years also has eight years of Company Seniority and two years of Occupational Seniority. However, at L-AS this FA accrues accrues vacation as an eight year Flight Attendant, but s/he is paid, bids for vacation days and bids for her/his schedule as a two year Flight Attendant. As you can see, there is a difference in how the FAs are paid at L-VX vs at L-AS. Seniority applications are currently and will continue to remain the same for bidding at L-VX and L-AS. There is a provision to retain and “red circle” (i.e. ‘freeze’) the current pay step for L-VX intra-company transfers into L-VX Inflight. This is addressed in the VX Red Circle Pay Rates Letter of Agreement. The L-VX FAs and the L-AS FAs in this example bid as two year Flight Attendants; the L-VX FA would be “red circled” as a eight year FA (until her/his FA classmates catch up to Year 9), and the L-AS FA is paid as a two year FA. All L-VX intra-company transfers are currently and will continue to be treated the exact same as L-AS intra-company transfers for bidding purposes. In other words, all L-VX and L-AS FAs bid using Occupational Seniority no matter where they came from. Again, this is a pay application only.