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[Clarified] AFA Statement Regarding Sexual Harassment Claim by Facebook Founder’s Sister While On Alaska Airlines Flight

Yesterday (November 30, 2017), the AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) published the following statement from Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA:

For too long unacceptable sexual innuendo, harassment advances, and assault have been a silent epidemic in our society and certainly on our planes. We applaud any victim who comes forward to call out this behavior and in this case we also applaud Alaska Airlines for taking swift corrective action and working with the Flight Attendants who provided critical information on the incident in order to address it even with few tools to manage these incidents inflight.

Alaska’s response is to be commended, but let’s be clear that this is not an Alaska problem. It is an issue at the forefront of national awareness and it is a critical time for the airline industry to examine the steps necessary to take this on and lift the veil on the issue before bad behavior or a crime ensues.

Sexual harassment is far too common in the aircraft cabin and sexual assault on planes must be identified as a unique crime with specific response. AFA conducted a member survey last year and results showed the majority of Flight Attendants have no knowledge of written guidance and/or training on this specific issue available through their airline. The industry and regulators need to come together to develop policies and tools to respond to these incidents onboard. And industry leaders need to speak out clearly with a zero tolerance policy.

Unfortunately, the following sentence from AFA’s statement has been misconstrued in some local and national media outlets as referring specifically to Alaska Airlines: “AFA conducted a member survey last year and results showed the majority of Flight Attendants have no knowledge of written guidance and/or training on this specific issue available through their airline.” The onboard sexual assault survey was in fact released to all AFA members at all represented carriers and is not specific to Alaska. You can read more about the survey results on page 30 of Sara’s International President’s Report for the 45th Annual AFA-CWA Board of Directors Meeting.

The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council did not intend for any parties to infer that our union’s statement was a commentary about the adequacy of Flight Attendant training at Alaska Airlines. We are working with the AFA Communications department to correct the record in the media. AFA Alaska will partner with management in the coming weeks and months to review and improve our company’s response to reports of onboard sexual harassment and assault brought forward by passengers—and by our Flight Attendants.

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 Inflight Training Committee Interviews

Due to the recent growth within the inflight training department and the increase in other special projects assignments that are being offered by management, the MEC has elected to form an AFA Inflight Training Committee at the MEC level.  The purpose of the committee is to represent Flight Attendant interests related to initial, recurrent, and supplemental training and to represent the unique needs of the inflight instructors and those Flight Attendants on non-flying special projects assignments with management.

The committee will be comprised of one chairperson and two committee members.  Current inflight instructors and members of the special projects pool who are active and regularly assigned to inflight training/special projects duties are eligible to serve on the committee (this includes inflight instructors and ATS Flight Attendants at Virgin America). Flight Attendants who are currently on training or special project assignments who would like more information about how the committee positions including how to express interested may access the full position posting by clicking here.

For more information about the Inflight Training Committee, visit the committee page of the AFA Alaska website or refer to Article VII.I of the AFA Alaska Policy and Procedure Manual.  Additional questions may also be directed to your Local Council President.

In Solidarity,

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

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

Struggling With A Coworker? Consider AFA Professional Standards.

We all know flying can be demanding—long days, irregular hours, and fatigue are part of the job. It’s natural for tensions to rise. Before you head to management or vent on social media, consider Professional Standards. In this video, Ava McWilliams-Ellington, pre-merger Alaska LAX EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson, shares how Professional Standards provides a confidential, […]

Crew Meal Survey Closing Soon

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants Our Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is committed to prioritizing your nutrition during the work day through our crew meal provisions. We are eager to hear your thoughts on which elements of crew meals are most meaningful to you, as we continue to advocate for […]

Council 43 (HNL) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 12 PM PT today for the election of Council 43 LEC Officers, representing Hawaiian Airlines Flight Attendants based in Honolulu. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: Kela Chong IVLEC Vice President: Martin GusmanLEC Secretary: Soon Kim View the certified election results here >> These newly elected […]

Council 39 (PDX) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 11 AM PT today for the election of Council 39 LEC Officers, representing Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants based in Portland. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: Krystle Shae BerryLEC Vice President: Melodie AnderesLEC Secretary: Kevin Sharp View the certified election results here >> These newly elected […]

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