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Seniority Merger Deadline – November 24

This Friday, November 24, is the constitutional deadline for challenges to either the competitive bidding date or date of birth that were included on your Seniority Verification Letter (SVL). There are instructions on the SVL informing you of how to send information if you believe either date is incorrect.

If you did not receive your SVL, you may request that a duplicate be sent to you by email.  To do so, send your request to the following email address: seniority@afacwa.org.  Your request must include your Name, Employee Number, Council/Base, and your Email Address.

During January 2018, the Seniority Merger Integration Committee (SMIC) will meet in Washington DC at the AFA International Office.   At this week-long meeting, the plan is to complete the research, resolve any incorrect dates, certify each seniority list, determine the training adjustment to apply to AS seniority dates, determine the same-day tie-breaker, and finally, merge the two seniority lists into a single seniority list. Additionally, the SMIC will draft a document for the entire membership to explain the details of the process and answer questions that have been received from various members.

In Solidarity,

Your Seniority Merger Integration Committee – Sandra Morrow (AS), Rolando Teran (VX), Lynne Voigtsberger (VX) and Marie Maxwell (AS)

Seniority Merger Update – November 16, 2017

The Seniority Merger Integration Committee has been contacted by some members who were confused about the recent Pilot Arbitration, and whether our seniority integration would involve arbitration.

For both Flight Attendants and Pilots, the seniority integration process is determined by the Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) of each Union. Each C&B has a unique set of rules that governs the process for the benefit of the respective memberships.

At the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), their C&B does involve arbitration as part of their process. This addresses the needs of the members at ALPA.

At AFA-CWA, our C&B focuses on our “competitive (bidding) seniority.” We do not rely upon an outside arbitrator making decisions based upon the merged airlines. In essence, we keep our bidding seniority, and take that with us into the merger. The only permitted change is to address different training policies. In our case, since one group has competitive (bidding) seniority from the beginning of training and the other group has it from the end of training, a training adjustment may be determined.

In simplest terms, the VX Flight Attendants will see no change to their current competitive (bidding) seniority dates. The competitive (bidding) seniority dates of AS F/A’s can only be adjusted to accommodate the difference in training policies, but otherwise everyone on that list will remain in the same relative order. The work of determining a training adjustment and merging the lists will be accomplished by the Seniority Merger Integration Committee during January 2018.

Reminder: If you did not receive your Seniority Verification Letter (SVL), you may request that a duplicate be sent to you by email.  To do so, send your request to the following email address: seniority@afacwa.org.  Your request must include your Name, Employee Number, Council/Base, and your Email Address.

Note that November 24 is the deadline to notify us of any inaccuracies. Instructions are on your SVL.

In Solidarity,

Your Seniority Merger Integration Committee – Sandra Morrow (AS), Rolando Teran (VX), Lynne Voigtsberger (VX) and Marie Maxwell (AS)

Merger Negotiations Session #6 Update – November 2017

The AFA Alaska-Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) just wrapped up this week’s session of merger negotiations, our sixth so far. We met with management from Tuesday, November 7th through Thursday, November 9th in Seattle, WA. Representing management: Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays, Vice President of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America Inflight & Call Center/Guest Services Jeff Butler, Managing Director of Labor Relations-Air Elizabeth Ryan and Virgin America Manager of Labor Emily Kimmel.

This was a mixed session that saw us reaching agreement on three provisions relating to the transition, and we presented management with our proposed improvements to the Alaska Agreement. Earlier in the week, we reached agreement on the transition uniform program for VX and transitioning the VX Flight Attendants to the Alaska Sick Leave policy.

Using your survey responses, the JNC crafted a targeted list of priorities. AFA presented a strong case for why the changes were appropriate and needed. Initially, management’s team asked a lot of questions and for clarification. However, upon returning to the table after their discussions with upper management, their informal response did not leave us overly optimistic about getting a quick deal.

Management requested more time to cost out our proposals and committed to responding with a counterproposal at our next session in December. In the interim, AFA’s finance analyst and the Company’s financial planner will be in communication to ensure that we have vetted management’s costing model and agree on the numbers.

Keep in mind that merger negotiations are a different process than regular negotiations. Discussions are focusing on a limited list of Flight Attendant priorities. All the provisions in the AFA Alaska contract (scheduled pay raises, etc.) will continue in force for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants; all the provisions in the Virgin America work rules will remain in effect for pre-merger Virgin America Flight Attendants unless modified and/or superseded by the AFA Virgin America letters of agreement.

Our next merger negotiations session is scheduled for December 12th-14th.

In Solidarity,

Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

Seniority Merger Update – October 27, 2017

The seniority merger process is well underway.  By now, you should have received your Seniority Verification Letter (SVL) at your home address.

If you did not receive it, you may request that a duplicate be sent to you by email.  To do so, send your request to the following email address: seniority@afacwa.org.  Your request must include your Name, Employee Number, Council/Base, and your Email Address.

To help explain where we are in the seniority merger process, we have included a timeline of events.  Note that the next date is November 24, the due date to notify us of any inaccuracies.  That is followed in January 2018, when we will work on the credit for training days and how to resolve same-day seniority dates.

Timeline of Events

Click to enlarge

May 22, 2017 AFA named as union for VX.  Seniority Merger Integration Committee (SMIC) Reps named for both AS & VX
July 19, 2017 SMIC kickoff training at AFA HQ in DC. Request sent to AS HQ for necessary employment data for AS & VX FAs
September 29, 2017 AS HQ provided AS & VX seniority lists that included seniority dates and dates of birth
October 10, 2017 Seniority Verification Letter (SVL) mailed to all FAs home address to confirm pre-merger seniority bidding date and birthdate
November 24, 2017 Deadline to respond to SVL, if inaccuracies exist.
January 2018 SMIC works to resolve any issues with pre-merger seniority bidding date and/or birthdate
January 2018 SMIC determines adjustments for initial training days and method for integrating same day seniority dates
January 2018 SMIC merges AS & VX seniority bidding list and publishes methodology used to merge of the joint list
Future Single Collective Bargaining Agreement ratified and final seniority bidding list published

As we move through the process, we will provide additional updates.

In Solidarity,

Your Seniority Merger Integration Committee – Sandra Morrow (AS), Rolando Teran (VX), Lynne Voigtsberger (VX) and Marie Maxwell (AS)

[AS] Vacation Open Time Trading Will Now Open Tonight

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants

After working to create a technical fix for the vacation trading system, management has advised us that they will be opening vacation open time trading tonight, Thursday, October 26.  Each base will open in hourly increments as shown below.

SAN 7 PM
PDX 8 PM
ANC 9 PM Pacific (8 PM ANC local time)
LAX 10 PM
SEA 11 PM

Further Conversation with Management to Be Had

Your AFA leadership is extremely disappointed and frustrated with the IT failure surrounding the delay in the start vacation open time trading. This is yet another occurrence in a long list of IT-related issues that continue to plague various company-related systems and negatively impact Flight Attendant quality of life.  We plan to have further discussion with management regarding this situation soon and will provide an update after that conversation has taken place.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

SEA Domicile Negotiations – September 2025 Update #2

This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants Negotiations Update Our SEA Domicile Negotiating Committee met with the company on September 11 to review their response to our September 5 proposal.  We feel that it is important to acknowledge the challenges within our company as Alaska management is struggling to understand our Collective Bargaining Agreement […]

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Thursday, September 11, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Conner Gallager (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Meghan Casey (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN). Also present […]

Celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month

September 15 marks the start of Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month in the United States, a vibrant celebration dedicated to honoring the rich contributions and diverse cultures of Hispanic-Latinx Americans. Spanning a full month, this observance—also known as National Hispanic Heritage Month—has its roots in Hispanic Heritage Week, which was established by legislation signed into law by […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Monday, September 8, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met in person in Seattle to receive an update about current layover hotels and transportation providers and discuss concerns with management. Representing you at the meeting were Dori Marron (ANC), Jarod McNeill (SEA), Ila Christy (PDX), Hilary […]

We Will Never Forget – September 11, 2001

AFA Never Forget Website United Flight 175 Robert J. FangmanAmy N. JarretAmy R. KingKathryn LaBorieAlfred G. MarchandMichael C. TarrouAlicia N. TitusCaptain: Victor SaraciniFirst Officer: Michael HorrocksCustomer Service Representatives: Marianne MacFarlane and Jesus Sanchez United Flight 93 Lorraine G. BaySandra BradshawWanda A. GreenCeeCee LylesDeborah WelshCaptain: Jason DahlFirst Officer: Leroy Homer American Flight 11 Barbara AresteguiJeffrey CollmanSara […]

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