On June 20th, we held the Quarterly Reserve meeting with Crew Scheduling to discuss issues for our Reserve Flight Attendants. Click the link below to view the minutes from the meeting.
CLICK HERE to view the meeting minutes
AFA Reminders – May 30, 2019
In this edition:
- AFA Census closes on May 31
- Report adjoining hotel rooms on CrewCare
- FDA requires stronger warnings about rare but serious incidents related to sleep medications
AFA Census closes on May 31!
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA 2019 Census is a project to better understand the demographic make-up of our union, including your aspirations, needs, and preferences. We also want to know in what areas of your community you may already be engaged in making a difference for you, your family, and the place where you live. All of this will help us build power together so we can continue to advance our Flight Attendant careers.
The University of New Hampshire Survey Center (UNHSC) is conducting this very important data gathering effort. You should have received emails and possibly a phone call to encourage you to complete the Census. You may have a pre-filled email from “Sara Nelson via UNH” with the subject line “AFA Census – Response Requested.”
Our contract with UNHSC ensures your information remains confidential within AFA. It does not allow UNHSC to share any of your information with outside organizations. A summary of the final results will be shared with AFA members.
The AFA census can be accessed using the following link: https://unh.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9TguTDVCSOZJEmF.
Reminder: report adjoining hotel rooms on CrewCare
A message from your Hotel Committee
As previously published on April 9, your Hotel Committee needs your assistance in reporting instances of adjoining rooms with connecting doors assigned to crews on layovers. If you are assigned an adjoining and connecting room, even if you are able to switch rooms, please make note of the hotel, room number and date and file a CrewCare report on the situation.
CrewCare reports are automatically routed to Alaska management, API (Accommodations Plus International, the company’s hotel contractor), and your AFA Hotel Committee Members. Representatives from API and management use the data from the reports to follow up on each situation with the corresponding hotel. CrewCare can be easily accessed from the Hotel, Travel, & Station menu of the inflight website or by using the CrewCare icon on the home screen of your IMD.
Management has asked that we report these situations each and every time that they occur. The more information that we are able to provide, the more effectively each hotel can be held accountable.
FDA requires stronger warnings about rare but serious incidents related to sleep medications
A message from your Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee
Updated warnings for eszopiclon (Lunesta) zaleplon (Sonata) and zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Intermezzo, and Zolpimist).
At the end of April 2019, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that the agency’s most prominent warning will now be required on certain prescription insomnia drugs. The warning follows FDA’s review of 66 cases of serious injuries and/or deaths resulting from various complex sleep behaviors after taking these medicines. These complex sleep behaviors have included falls, burns, near-drowning, exposure to extreme cold temperatures leading to loss of limb or near death, self-injuries such as gunshot wounds, carbon monoxide poisoning, fatal motor vehicle collisions with the patient driving and suicide. The new warnings will be required for eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata) and zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Intermezzo, and Zolpimist).
“While these incidents are rare, they are serious and it’s important that patients and health care professionals are aware of the risk. These incidents can occur after the first dose of these sleep medicines or after a longer period of treatment, and can occur in patients without any history of these behaviors and even at the lowest recommended doses,” said FDA Acting Commissioner Ned Sharpless, M.D. In addition to the warning, the agency is requiring the addition of a contraindication to not use these medicines in patients who have experienced an episode of complex sleep behaviors after taking them. The warning and contraindication are intended to make the warning more prominent and reflect the risk of serious injury and death.
MEC Grievance Update – Quarter 2, 2019
The Master Executive Council (MEC) has been very hard at work ensuring disciplinary due process and contractual compliance on your behalf. The ratified Joint CBA increased our arbitration dates from the previous 10 to 13 dates yearly to argue discipline/termination cases and contractual issues. AFA typically prioritizes termination cases in order to return a Flight Attendant back to work as soon as possible, however we seek a balance between discipline and contractual cases. AFA and management mutually decide which cases to arbitrate next based on many factors. The following is a list of open contractual grievances.
Subject of Most Recent Discipline
- Sick leave abuse (there has been a noted increase in terminations due to travel audits and comments associated with posted trips)
- Drug/alcohol violations
- Social media violations (recent increase in terminations due to initiating contact with passengers based on information obtained from Block2Block)
- Lost IMD or other required items
- Theft
- Harassment
- Cell phone usage on duty
Recent and Upcoming Arbitration/Mediation
| Arbitration | April 4, 2019 | Disciplinary Grievance |
| Arbitration | April 24, 2019 | Disciplinary Grievance |
| Arbitration | May 16, 2019 | Disciplinary Grievance |
| Arbitration | June 18, 2019 | Contractual Grievance #36-99-63-17 (Withholding Sequences From Open Time) |
| Arbitration | July 17, 2019 | Disciplinary Grievance |
Recently Settled Grievances/Mediations
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-3-17-Violation §30.A.3.c. Failure to Pay for Lodging for Recurrent Training. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement Section 30.A.3.c. [Reserve/Reserve Exchange of Days, Pick-Ups and Trades], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to pay for a Flight Attendant’s lodging when she came to Seattle to attend required Recurrent Training.
Details: Management paid FA a portion of her hotel room bill.
Grievances 36-99-2-137-17, 36-99-2-205-17, 36-99-2-104-18, 36-99-2-133-18, 36-99-2-351-18 & 36-99-2-22-19 (Computer Based Training Contractual Grievances) and 36-99-2-4-19 (Missing Required Items Grievances).
Details: Management will ensure all CBT can be taken on a computer as well as IMD; make best effort to give FAs 60 days to complete; and make CBT due on the last day of the quarter as best practice, though it won’t be required to do so. If FA doesn’t complete CBT by due date or reports to work without a required item: FA will receive an email from management with AFA included, notifying of discipline and asking FA to respond with an explanation no later than 7 days from the date of the email. Management will issue all oral warnings or written warnings by 5:00pm PST on the day of deadline via email and certified mail. If the disciplinary action is a suspension or termination an in- person meeting will occur.
Grievances Filed and Awaiting a Response from Management
None
Grievances Recently Granted by Management
None
Grievances Previously Filed, Denied by Management and Currently Awaiting Arbitration Dates
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-22-14-Violation of Required Maternity Leave. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Section 15.D. and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to require Flight Attendants to begin Maternity Leave after the 28thweek of pregnancy.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-41-15- Section 34.C.3. Alternative Hotel Selection/Site Visit. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Section 34.C.3. and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to include the hotel committee in the selection of alternate hotels; and when it failed to provide site visits on alternate hotels.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-5-16- Non-Negotiated Compensation. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement Section 21 [Compensation] and Section 32 [Attendance Policy], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Railway Labor Act when it awarded, without prior consistent notice, policy and application, $5 gift cards to all Anchorage based Flight Attendants for meeting the daily attendance goal.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-1-17- Violation of §32.C.5. Assessing Short Sick Call Points to Flight Attendant on FMLA. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §32.C.5 [Attendance Policy: Short Sick Call], past practice, all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Federal Law when it assessed short sick call points (2 ½) to Flight Attendants on qualified Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) status when they called in sick within two hours of scheduled check-in.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-52-17-Violation of §§11.H.3.b & 11.H.4 JCTE Denying Unlimited Trading of Reserve Days Due to Classification as a Reserve Block Split. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §§11.H.3.b & 11.H.4 [Reserve: Reserve Exchange of Days, Pick-Ups and Trades/Reserve Day/Blocks], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) trading system denied unlimited trading of reserve days pursuant to §11.H.4 due to JCA incorrectly classifying such trade as a reserve block split pursuant to §11.H.3.b.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-54-17-Violation of §23.A.1 Flight Attendants Incurring a 3% Fee for Online Payments to COBRA Management Services. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §23.A.1 [Insurance Benefits: Flight Attendant Insurance Plans], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when for the convenience of the Company it used a third-party vendor to administer collection of healthcare premiums for Flight Attendants on leaves of absence; and the Company allowed their third-party vendor to charge the Flight Attendants a 3% fee for online payments to COBRA Management Services (CMS).
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-55-17-Violation of §21.V Winds Aloft Adjustment of Sit Pay in JCTE. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21.V [Compensation: “Scheduled” or “Actual” For Minimum Pay Rules (MPRs) and/or Sit Pay], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) trading system displayed each posted trip as a static ‘snapshot’ taken at the time of posting rather than a ‘live’ view, thus denying the Flight Attendant the ability to determine whether a trip is eligible for 1.0 TFP of Sit Pay due to an automated scheduling adjustment (e.g. by the Winds Aloft program).
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-56-17-Violation of §15.C.4 Medical Leave of Absence. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §15.C.4 [Leaves of Absence: Medical Leave of Absence], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when in December 2016 it denied [a Flight Attendant’s] medical leave of absence (MLOA) because she did not also qualify for FMLA and because the MLOA was less than 10 days in duration.
Grievance No.: 36-99-63-17 Violation of §11.C.3.c & §12.E.1.c-d Withholding Sequences From Open Time. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.C.3.c [Reserve: Classifications of Reserves/number of Extended Days (ER) and Conversion to ER/ER Conversion Contactability] & §12.E.1.c-d [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it removed pairings from Open Time and placed them on Reserve Flight Attendants’ lines for more than 15 minutes, outside of the time period 2pm-6pm, and hid the pairings from view on the Reserves’ schedules until the Reserves became available for contact or Extended Reserve (ER) conversion.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-64-17 Violation of §27.P.1.f-h Company Business Flight Pay Loss. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §27.P.1.f-h [General-Association: Company Business Flight Pay Loss (CB)/Company Meetings], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it requested Flight Attendants attend an Inflight Announcement Focus Group on or about August 7, 2017, without compensating for company meeting pay nor the five percent (5%) override and “A” pay, and without regard to contractual duty day applications; alternatively it provided non-negotiated compensation.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-159-17-Violation of §12.A & §12.E Withholding Trips from Open Time and Suspended all Trading due JCTE Issues. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.A & E [Exchange of Sequences: Unlimited Trading/Open Time], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about September 30, 2017, to October 1, 2017, for approximately 8 hours, it either withheld all trips in open time or suspended all trading due to an issue with its Jeppesen Crew Tracking system.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-116-18-Violation of §10.J.4 Bidding Timelines. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Section 10.J.4 [Scheduling: Bid Packets and Bidding Timelines], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about March 13, 2018, management re-opened its Preferential Bidding System (PBS), NavBlue, for a full bid re-award for April 2018 because it was not programmed to match the bid “duty on” preference on the new web application user interface. However, due to system limitations the re-award required the PBS to reopen which allowed access for Flight Attendants to submit new bids after the contractual bid submission deadline.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-303-18-Violation of Airbus Transition Training Letter of Agreement CBT Pay. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §30.C.4 [Training: Training Pay/Computer Based Training (CBT)], Airbus Transition Training Letter of Agreement (2.8.18), principles of just cause and due process, past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Transition Training CBT was allocated for four (4) hours, however based on initial feedback, the Association believes it likely takes longer than four (4) hours to complete, and therefore Flight Attendants will need to be paid accordingly.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-321-18-Violation of §§21, 24, 30 & 34 Hotel at Domicile for Transition Training. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21 [Compensation], §24 [General and Miscellaneous], §30 [Training] and §34 [Hotels], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when some Flight Attendants requested and were provided hotel rooms at base for Transition Training while others who requested a room were not provided one.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-361-18-Violation of §24.A Jury Duty and Trip Trading. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §24.A [General and Miscellaneous: Jury Duty], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on several occasions management argued it did not have to pay the TFP actually scheduled on Flight Attendants’ lines when they were scheduled for jury duty. These Flight Attendant subsequently traded their trip for another trip on the same days, and the trip ultimately dropped from the Flight Attendants’ schedules due to the Flight Attendant performing jury duty service.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-7-19-Violation of VX Grievance Procedure and SBA LOA Failure to Conduct a Full Investigation with Union Representation, Contractual Pay Provisions for Failing to Provide Doctor’s Notes. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of VX Grievance Procedure and System Board of Adjustment LOA, and all related sections of the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement when beginning approximately January 2019 it issued progressive discipline to Flight Attendants for failing to provide doctor’s notes without conducting an investigation, providing Union Representation or honoring related contractual pay provisions.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-30-19-Violation of §28.G.2 Ground Commuting Policy. This alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §28.G.2 [Domiciles: Commuter Policy/Ground Commuting Policy], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when during the February 2019 Pacific Northwest snowstorms, it did not allow Flight Attendants to use the ground commuter policy because the Company did not consider a snowstorm-related ground commuting failure to be unanticipated.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-40-19-Violation §25.B Failure to Provide a Safe and Healthy Workplace. This alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.B [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safe and Healthy Workplace], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to provide a safe and healthy workplace when it installed new bulkheads on the retrofitted Airbus (“Aura”) aircraft that effectively renders the aft assist handles near doors L1/R1 as unusable and unnecessarily increases the likelihood and potential severity of Flight Attendant injury during an emergency evacuation.
Grievance No.: 36-99-2-41-19-Violation of §25.D.2 Failing to Notify MEC President and ASHSC of Reconfiguration or Re-design Prior to Final Decision.This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.D.2 [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safety Information], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to notify the MEC President of a decision to reconfigure or re-design the interior of the Airbus aircraft and when it failed to discuss with the ASHSC the parties’ interests and concerns for inflight safety prior to making a final decision on the reconfiguration/re-design.
In Solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green, Brice McGee; MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams and MEC Grievance Committee Assistant Bianca Dew
Adjoining Rooms: What You Need to Know
A message from your Hotel Committee
We all know that being assigned an adjoining room with a connecting door is a common occurrence at many hotels throughout our system. But did you know that adjoining and connecting rooms are not supposed to be assigned to Flight Attendants unless the room next door is occupied by another Alaska crew member? While this isn’t specifically part of our collective bargaining agreement, Alaska includes this language in every contract between the company and our crew hotels.
Don’t Hesitate to Speak Up
If you are assigned an adjoining room with a connecting door, we encourage you to ask the front desk staff for a different room. Request to speak to the hotel manager on duty to help resolve the situation if necessary. If the hotel is full or unable to provide an alternate room, respectfully advise the hotel staff that you’ll be reporting the issue to Alaska management.
Take Action: Report Each and Every Situation
If you are assigned an adjoining and connecting room, even if you are able to switch rooms, please make note of the hotel, room number and date and file a CrewCare report on the situation. CrewCare reports are automatically routed to Alaska management, API (Accommodations Plus International, the company’s hotel contractor), and your AFA Hotel Committee Members. Representatives from API and management use the data from the reports to follow up on each situation with the corresponding hotel.
How to File a CrewCare Report
1. Log-in to the inflight website
2. Open the menu
3. Click “Hotel, Travel, & Station”
4. Click “Hotel Links”
5. Click “My Crew Care”
6. Open the menu
7. Click “Feedback”
8. Click “Provide Feedback”
2. Open the menu
3. Click “Hotel, Travel, & Station”
4. Click “Hotel Links”
5. Click “My Crew Care”
6. Open the menu
7. Click “Feedback”
8. Click “Provide Feedback”
Management has asked that we report these situations each and every time that they occur. The more information that we are able to provide, the more effectively each hotel can be held accountable.
Have Questions?
Your Local Hotel Committee can help! You can find contact information on your Local Council’s committee page or on the Hotel Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.
In Solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green, Brice McGee; MEC Hotel Committee Chairperson Laura Hinojosa and Vice Chairperson Jodi Snow
Safety Concerns with the Reconfigured Airbus “Aura” Cabins
The AFA Air, Safety, Health and Security Committee (ASHSC) has brought forward a member’s safety concerns regarding the interior aft assist handles at the L1 and R1 exit doors on the reconfigured Alaska (“Aura”) Airbus 319, 320 and 321. AFA is also reviewing the placement of seats with relation to the L2 and R2 mid-cabin exits and the potential for those seats to interfere with the expeditious activation of the exits and to impede egress in an emergency evacuation. To keep this communication shorter, we will focus on the L1 and R1 aft assist handles but be assured that AFA is working both issues.
What are the concerns?
The reconfigured Aura bulkheads that are immediately aft of L1 and R1 (separating 1AC from the forward jumpseats on aircraft left and 1DF and the forward galley on aircraft right) have been relocated farther forward than the bulkheads on Legacy Virgin America (“Red”) aircraft.
Why is this a concern?
The bulkheads are now very close to the aft assist handles, effectively rendering the handles unusable.
This is significant because many if not most Flight Attendants cannot maintain a grip on the forward assist handle while simultaneously pulling the inflation handle at the exit. In such circumstances, Flight Attendants have been trained to ‘monkey’ over to the aft assist handle in order to maintain a protected position while pulling the inflation handle. The Flight Attendant is then supposed to ‘monkey’ back over to the forward assist handle prior to commanding abled bodied persons (ABPs) to initiate the evacuation. If a Flight Attendant cannot use the aft assist handle, it is more likely the FA will be pushed out of the aircraft while pulling the inflation handle. This situation unnecessarily increases the likelihood and potential severity of Flight Attendant injury during an emergency evacuation.
What is being done?
Management’s response
Once management was alerted to the issues by AFA, it has been very responsive. On Wednesday, March 6, management and AFA conducted a joint site visit to an Aura A320 during the aircraft’s turn time in Seattle in order to better understand AFA’s concerns. Management posted the following alert on the Inflight webpage later that evening:
AFA has brought forward concerns to Inflight management that the new Aura retrofit interior on A320 and A321 aircraft have a narrow space between the bulkhead wall and the aft assist handle at the L1/R1 exits.
Although the Aura retrofit interior is FAA approved, we are currently working with Maintenance & Engineering and the vendor who installed the interior to determine improved functionality. In the next several days, management will be holding cross-divisional meetings to explore alternate options.
We want you to be safe. Our advice is if you cannot use the aft assist handle, secure yourself by any means necessary to ensure you are protected. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.
Management conducted a follow-up safety risk management (SRM) assessment on the issues earlier today (March 8, 2019). In the SRM meeting, management pledged to actively explore long-term solutions to the concerns. More meetings are scheduled next week.
AFA’s response
Besides AFA bringing the issue to management’s attention over the past week, the Master Executive Council (MEC) filed two contractual grievances yesterday:
- Grievance 36-99-2-40-19 Violation of Section 25.B Failure to Provide a Safe and Healthy Workplace alleges that management failed to provide a safe and healthy workplace when it installed new bulkheads on the retrofitted Airbus (“Aura”) aircraft that effectively renders the aft assist handles near doors L1/R1 as unusable and unnecessarily increases the likelihood and potential severity of Flight Attendant injury during an emergency evacuation.
- Grievance 36-99-2-41-19 Violation of Section 25.D.2 Failing to Notify MEC President and ASHSC of Reconfiguration or Re-design Prior to Final Decision alleges that management failed to notify the MEC President of a decision to reconfigure or re-design the interior of the Airbus aircraft and to discuss with the ASHSC the parties’ interests and concerns for inflight safety prior to making a final decision on the reconfiguration/re-design.
AFA ASHSC representatives participated in the SRM meeting earlier today, and AFA will continue to actively interface with management on these issues until long-term solutions to our concerns have been implemented.
In the meantime, AFA recommends that Flight Attendants submit a confidential Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) report in order to document their safety concerns. These confidential reports are tracked and actioned upon by the FAA, the Company and AFA.
Be assured your safety is of paramount importance to us and stay tuned for further developments!
In Solidarity
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee; MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams; MEC Air Safety Health and Security (ASHSC) Committee Chairperson Seth Heiple and ASHSC Vice Chairperson-Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Brad Young
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