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Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council

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AFA and Management Agree on a Remedy for the Delayed May & June 2022 Bid Awards

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • AFA Alaska leadership and Alaska Airlines management have reached agreement on a remedy for the delayed May & June bid awards.
  • All Flight Attendants who were active at any point during the May or June 2022 bid months will receive 4.0 TFP on their respective July 20th paychecks.
  • Thank you to the more than 4400 who participated in the “It’s Time to Make It Right!” letter writing campaign, and AFA appreciates management’s commitment to doing the right thing in these circumstances.

AFA Alaska leadership and Alaska Airlines management have reached agreement on a remedy for the delayed May & June bid awards:

All Flight Attendants who were active at any point during the May or June 2022 bid months will receive 4.0 TFP on their respective July 20th paychecks. *

* Flight Attendants must not have been on a leave of absence for the entirety of both bid months and newly hired Flight Attendants must have been eligible to bid for either bid period to be eligible for the settlement. The 4.0 TFP will have applicable taxes withheld at the regular withholding rate and less any other deductions/contributions.

Realistically, an arbitrator would not have awarded 4 TFP to all active Flight Attendants as a remedy to these contractual grievances, so we recognize that management ultimately agreed to more than we would have achieved through arbitration. This non-precedential monetary settlement compensates FAs for the inconvenience resulting from the contractual violations and demonstrates management’s willingness to accept responsibility for their actions. AFA appreciates management’s commitment to doing the right thing in these circumstances.

Thank you to the more than 4400 who participated in the “It’s Time to Make It Right!” letter writing campaign: Our collective action was an impressive show of solidarity that was invaluable in achieving this settlement!

Tell Management: It’s Time To Make it Right!

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • Our MEC will be approaching management this week to discuss a meaningful remedy to the recent bidding errors and delays.
  • We have heard loud and clear that Flight Attendants expect that any remedy will include an element of compensation in order to hold management accountable.
  • Stand in solidarity and support our MEC by sending management a letter telling them it’s time to make it right!

Now that bids have finally been awarded for June 2022, it is time to focus our attention on addressing management’s continued disregard for our collective bargaining agreement by publishing bid packets that are full of errors and failing to award bids in a contractually compliant manner.  Our Master Executive Council (MEC) has heard loud and clear from our Flight Attendants that you expect management to provide a meaningful remedy to the situation that includes compensation for their continued violation of contractual obligations.  We could not agree with you more and will be approaching management this week to make this request on behalf of all Flight Attendants.

TAKE ACTION: Stand in Solidarity and Let Management Hear Our Voices!

Our MEC needs your support to let management know just how serious we are about holding them accountable.  Take action now and send management a letter telling them that it’s time to make it right!  We’ve made it easy, just click the link below.  A template letter has already been written for you, all you need to do is enter your contact information.

Click here to send management your letter

We must show management that we are tired of their excuses and demand that they hold themselves accountable in the same way they hold Flight Attendants accountable.  Let management know that we stand together in solidarity and tell them it’s time to make it right!

The Saga Continues: June 2022 Bid Awards Delayed

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • Due to hundreds of errors identified in the June bid packet, our MEC has insisted that management conduct a systemwide rebid.
  • Management sent a communication by company email to all Flight Attendants earlier today with details on the new bidding timeline, which opened today at 9 AM PDT and will now close at 9 AM PDT on Monday, May 16.
  • It is well past time for management to take ownership of their repeated errors, actually fix the problems, and honor our contract!

June 2022 Bid awards will be delayed. 

Errors affecting over 500 positions throughout the system have been identified in the June bid packet, resulting in our MEC demanding a system-wide rebid. The errors include: flights that no longer exist, miscoded DHD Flights, inaccurate TFP, and inaccurate report times. When our AFA PBS Subcommittee discovered these errors and brought them to our MEC’s attention, the MEC called an emergency meeting and met with management to discuss our options.

After carefully considering the feedback following last month’s bidding errors, our MEC unanimously voted for a system-wide rebid to rectify these errors’ impact during bidding. Realizing the value we place on our schedules and the expectation of them being awarded accurately, we felt it necessary to correct these errors before proceeding with bid awards. A rebid will delay awards, trading, and planning for the month of June. While this may be frustrating to some, a rebid allows us all to evaluate the corrected pairings and honor seniority.   

While management continues to tell us they will do better, it is apparent we have very different definitions of “doing better.”  Our MEC made that point abundantly clear to management and explained how angry and frustrated Flight Attendants are with the many failures and the level of incompetence experienced lately. Management has no problem holding Flight Attendants responsible for the most minute concerns, yet they are unwilling to hold themselves accountable for their repeated errors and violating their contractual obligations.  Management doesn’t appear phased by the high attrition rate or rock-bottom morale – it’s almost as if they don’t CARE how their decisions impact us.  But they are now on notice and fully aware that this latest “screw up” has further eroded confidence (if there is any left) in their ability to manage this workgroup. 

Flight Attendants do not need another apology from management. Instead, management should look in the mirror and see the mess staring back at them and begin to make things right. They need to show that they’re willing to walk their talk…and “do the right thing.”

Delayed Publication of May 2022 Bid Awards

Master Executive Council (MEC)

Like all of you, the MEC is extremely frustrated by management’s unacceptable violation of Section 10.J.8 of our collective bargaining agreement through their failure to post May 2022 bid awards on time. We will file a contractual grievance on behalf of all Flight Attendants for this violation, so please note there is no need to file a ticket through the AFA Alaska Support Center. We hear you loud and clear: You want transparency and accountability from management, and you expect AFA leadership to do everything in our power to make that happen on your behalf.

Management has already acknowledged “administrative error,” but this does not go far enough. Consequently, we have communicated your expectations that management transparently communicates additional details and management’s actions in response, including how responsible parties will be held accountable and what is being done to prevent a recurrence. The MEC has also requested Labor Relations to engage with us at the earliest possible opportunity regarding an appropriate and mutually acceptable remedy for the contractual violation.

What is a potential remedy? There is no identifiable loss of pay because of the contract violation, so there is no contractual basis to seek compensation or any other alternative remedy via arbitration. The best outcome we could achieve via a favorable arbitration ruling would be for management to cease and desist (i.e., not violate the contract provision going forward). However, management has already agreed there was a contract violation and signaled to AFA there is no intent for future violations.

Although management is neither obligated to pay anything for the inconvenience, nor would an arbitrator compel management to do so, nothing prevents the parties from mutually agreeing to compensation or some other compensatory-like remedy. AFA has expressed our desire to management to settle this dispute by negotiating such a remedy, so it’s their move next.

AFA Alaska Update – September 17, 2021

In This Edition

  • Celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month
  • PBS Subcommittee Appointment
  • Why a $5 Starbucks Card is Important to Your Contractual Rights

Celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month

Human Rights Committee

September 15 marks the first day of Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month in the United States.  The celebration, which is also referred to as National Hispanic Heritage Month, began as Hispanic Heritage week when it was established by legislation that was signed into law by President Lydon Johnson in 1968.  In 1988, the single week event was expanded to a month-long period to be celebrated each year from September 15 to October 15.

September 15 is of significance as it marks the anniversary of independence of the Latin American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.  Mexico also celebrates independence on September 16, Chile on September 18, and Belize on September 21. 

Learn More About Hispanic-Latinx History

You can learn more about the accomplishments of Hispanic-Latinx Americans through some of the dedicated websites and resources below.

Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month AFA Pins Coming in 2022

The AFA Executive Board recently passed a resolution recognizing Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month and providing for the creation of a new diversity AFA pin in celebration.  You can read the complete text of the resolution by clicking here.  The new pin will be undergo the design and development process over the next year and will be made available in September 2022.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact your Local Human Rights Committee.

PBS Subcommittee Appointment

Master Executive Council (MEC)

Our Master Executive Council (MEC) conducted interviews this week for an additional PBS Subcommittee Member as previously announced in the August 6 AFA Update email.  The MEC would like to thank the candidates who demonstrated willingness to represent our Flight Attendants. After thorough consideration, the MEC has appointed SAN-based Flight Attendant Steven Patronsky to the position.

About Steve

Representing the membership and upholding contract compliance are the aspects of the work that most excites Steve about being appointed to the PBS Subcommittee. His volunteering history for AFA includes work on the Scheduling and Hotel Committees.  Steve’s recent accomplishments include completing a Master’s Program at the University of Central Florida and remodeling a 50’s era Mid-Century home in Orlando. 

About the Position

The PBS Subcommittee, part of the Scheduling Committee, works with the company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to maintain the company’s preferential bidding system and oversee the bidding and bid award processes.  The Subcommittee represents and advocates for the MEC position in matters pertaining to bidding and the preferential bidding system.  Additional information about the position and subcommittee can be found by clicking here.

Why a $5 Starbucks Card is Important to Your Contractual Rights

Grievance Committee

In early 2020, our Grievance Committee included information in an AFA Update about a settlement agreement related to management issuing $5 Starbucks cards to ANC-based Flight Attendants for meeting an attendance goal back in 2015.  You can read the original communication from March 25, 2020 by clicking here (scroll to the Grievance Committee Update article, then the Recent Settled Grievances heading).  Due to the pandemic and other administrative issues, management is just now distributing the Starbucks card as agreed upon.

So Why Is This Important?

The issue at hand isn’t so much about the amount of the Starbucks card but rather what management did wrong.  The priority of our Grievance Committee is to ensure that management complies with our collective bargaining agreement (CBA).  In this case, management violated the CBA by awarding gift cards to a particular group of Flight Attendants for having better attendance rates than others without negotiating it with AFA.  Gift cards, which have a dollar value, are considered a form of compensation which is a negotiated part of our CBA.

If our Grievance Committee had failed to address this contractual violation, regardless of how small it may seem, it could open the door to management making other attempts to change our compensation or working conditions in violation of the CBA.  This settlement agreement protects your rights and makes all Flight Attendants equal in terms of the CBA.  Although it may only be $5 to each Flight Attendant, the overall cost to management for the settlement agreement is significant and a reminder not to violate the language in our contract.

Questions?

If you have questions about the settlement agreement or reasoning behind it, please feel free to reach out to your Local Grievance Committee.

Celebrating Black History Month

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Human Rights Committee February 1st marks the first day of Black History Month in the United States.  The celebration has a long tradition that can be traced back to 1925 when Harvard trained-historian Carter G. Woodson introduced “Negro History Week”, which sought to raise awareness of the contributions made by Black individuals to society and the […]

Never Forget: Honoring Alaska Airlines Flight 261—January 31, 2000

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Master Executive Council (MEC) Twenty-three years ago today, we tragically lost Alaska Airlines Flight 261, flying between Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco, when it went down in the Pacific Ocean between Port Hueneme and Anacapa Island off the coast of Southern California. We will never forget Flight Attendants Kristin Mills, Craig Pulanco and Allison Shanks; […]

LOSA Observations Are Underway

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Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) As previously communicated, AFA and management agreed to conduct a Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) to help improve safety for Flight Attendants, other crewmembers, and passengers.  The LOSA program is jointly administered by AFA and management as outlined in the Inflight Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) Program letter of agreement. The […]

Operational Safety Debriefs

Master Executive Council (MEC) In 2019, AFA filed grievance number 36-99-2-170-19, which alleged management’s violation of section 19.A of the collective bargaining agreement. The violation was related to an incident where management conducted a debrief meeting with Flight Attendants while they were still on duty following a slide deployment incident. As there was no contractual […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – January 2023

Scheduling Committee On Tuesday, January 24, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Natalie Codd (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also […]

Response to the November 18th Inflight Town Hall Webcast

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California meal & rest breaks Management’s continued scare tactics and speculative “what-if’s” as put forward during the Inflight Town Hall webcast today regarding California meal & rest breaks are unnecessary and extremely disappointing. Although it is true there are some challenging aspects of compliance with California meal & rest break laws for commercial aviation, AFA […]

ALPA Alaska Approves Tentative Agreement for Pilot Ratification

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Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Alaska Airlines leadership recently announced they approved a tentative agreement (TA) with Alaska Airlines management for pilot ratification. Click here for the Alaska Airlines Pilots TA Quick Guide (September 2022) > At a quick glance, the TA contains impressive improvements to scope, […]

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