[See also Negotiations: General [misc]]

Q:     Please explain who were the specific people at the negotiation table for both the union and company.  Did the Company have legal representation/counsel present to review and advise the Company during the negotiation process?  Did the Union have legal representation/counsel to review and advise the union during the negotiation process.  If the Union had legal counsel during negotiations to review and advise is that information made available to us as Flight attendants of who that counsel is?

A:     For the AFA JNC: MEC President Jeff Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo. AFA Director of Collective Bargaining Joe Burns also joined the JNC for some of the key sessions in which the parties discussed comprehensive economic proposals.

AFA Director of Collective Bargaining Joe Burns is also an attorney. Keep in mind that Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo, although not an attorney, is a professional negotiator and has been bargaining for AFA since the 1990s. The full resources of the AFA Collective Bargaining, Research and Legal departments were made available to the JNC throughout the process, including AFA General Counsel Ed Gilmartin. 

For the Company: Vice President of Inflight & Call Center/Guest Services Jeff Butler, Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays, Managing Director of Labor Relations Elizabeth Ryan and Manager of Labor Emily Kimmel. They were joined at various points by subject matter experts such as Managing Director of Inflight Operations Valerie Jenkins, Financial Planning & Analysis Manager Brittany Schaub, Director of Retirement Services Chrystie Dickens, Retirement Benefits Analyst Jaime Smalley, Virgin America Supervisor of Crew Pay Peter Silberstein.

Management did not have any legal representation/counsel present during any bargaining sessions. To the best of our knowledge, management did not have any legal representation/council present in their caucus room when we were not in joint session. The JNC is aware that Alaska Airlines Legal reviewed the JCBA Supplemental Reduction in Force LOA and advised management via email.

Q:     I hear many L-AS FAs voicing skepticism about this merger TA primarily due to the extension of our current contract and the lack of resolution on our current open time agreement. What is the status of our new open time agreement? Perhaps some more information as to why the JNC and the Company agreed on a 2 year extension to the current agreement.

A:    The JNC believes it is understandable L-AS FAs are frustrated about the lack of resolution regarding Open Time. Be assured that the MEC and the Negotiating Committee are equally as frustrated about the situation, and they have not forgotten about it. Open Time is a ‘meaty’ enough topic in its own right that the MEC will prepare a standalone communication to address the issue shortly. The duration of the mid-term JCBA was addressed in the JNC blog post “Negotiations: Why a Midterm JCBA? [misc]” and also in “Merger Negotiations Background” under “Bargaining Rationale.”

For ANCFAs:

Q:     Do I have to give up my ANC SIDA badge to get the $75.00 parking stipend if I am a commuter from FAI and want it for use of the elevator, but I do not park in the employee lot?

A:     Yes! As of 2/27/2018 management now agrees that you may keep the ANC SIDA badge and still be eligible for the $75 parking stipend. if you decline Company-provided parking. You may be required to confirm that you will not utilize parking in ANC.

Q:     As a commuter from SEA, ANC supervisors told me I could not give up my ANC SIDA badge, which includes parking, so I have been unable to get SEA parking. Will I be eligible to get the $75 stipend/month since I do not park in ANC?

A:     Yes! As of 2/27/2018 management now agrees that you may keep the ANC SIDA badge and still be eligible for commuter parking in another domicile/co-terminal or for the $75 parking stipend if you decline Company-provided parking altogether. You may be required to confirm that you will not utilize parking in ANC.

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

Q:     When will our L-VX family fall under the full L-AS contractual rules–with or without this TA passing?

A:     If the TA passes, the L-VX Flight Attendants will be under the full L-AS (JCBA) work rules at Full Implementation, which is currently targeted for March 2019.  If Full Implementation is delayed past March, management must build all of the L-VX pairings using the JCBA work rules. The specifics of implementation for all JCBA contract provisions can be found in the L-VX JCBA Implementation Timetable LOA TA.

If the TA does not pass, L-VX FAs will remain on the current Work Rules v.5 and pay rates as modified by the various AFA VX Letters of Agreement.

Q:     What is the reasoning the L-VX FAs not integrating with AS immediately upon a ratification of the TA?  If the answer is the Crew Access system (i.e. JCTE), explain how and why anyone in their heart believes that Crew Access can ever combine two groups together in the JCTE system given the track record of all the limitations and software issues that are involved with JCTE?

A:     In an airline merger, the groups are never combined right after the transaction.  It often takes several years to combine the groups because it is a very complex process. For some background info, United-Continental and American-US Airways are still not combined on the Flight Attendant side. One of the main reasons integration will take some time is because cross-training on the other aircraft type (Boeing <-> Airbus) must occur first. Cross training is currently estimated to take place summer through late fall 2018.

AFA advocated for L-AS work rules to be implemented at L-VX immediately following ratification, but management is insistent that the L-VX partition currently does not have the staffing to make that happen. L-VX is staffing up in order to accomplish aircraft cross training, but management is adamant that is all the Company can handle until cross training is complete. Additionally, JCTE system is not currently programmed to function for both Boeing and Airbus, and once again management says that the various L-VX systems cannot realistically be programmed with the L-AS contractual provisions in the desired timeframe.

The JNC feels your pain about JCTE. We pushed for securing monetary incentives to ensure management meets the implementation time frames, but management would not agree to such incentives. The JNC has insisted on receiving programing status reports on JCTE fixes and developments and all other software systems that will touch the integration. The JNC has also secured a place on the team to address the JCTE fixes. Improving the situation is not going to be easy or fast; however, we must partner with management in order to have influence in making the best of a terrible situation and to continue representing our members’ interests.

The pilots will be integrated in JCTE before FAs because the pilots are a smaller group.  Their Full Implementation target date is October 2018. AFA will strongly advocate for moving up our integration timeline to as soon as possible. As stated above, if Full Implementation is delayed past March 2019, management must build all of the L-VX pairings using the JCBA work rules.