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Open Time Trial

AFA wants to clear up any confusion regarding the open time trial. CBA §12.F.10. [Trial Period], states that, “Minimum trial period of twelve (12) months from the month of initial implementation (unless canceled earlier pursuant to F.9., above), which will be determined in the Contract Implementation Schedule. The trial period may be extended by mutual agreement.”

AFA and management agreed when all or most programming is updated the trial period will begin. AFA wants the trial period to commence when all contractual open time features are available and programmed.

The purpose of the trial is, “to create a better more equitable trading system that increases Flight Attendants’ flexibility in modifying their schedules and to improve predictability of staffing and limit the impact of sequence drops to OT on reserve coverage.” CBA §12.F.

In order to fulfill the purpose of the trial, the system must be completely programmed allowing the Flight Attendants and management to utilize it under real conditions. “If the trial creates a liability that cannot be supported, either the Association or the Company may decide to end the Open Time Trial prior to twelve months provided the parties have attempted to modify the Threshold Sequence Number pursuant to §12.F.8.” CBA §12.F.9.

During the trial period, AFA will survey Flight Attendants regarding their satisfaction with Open Time trading on a monthly basis per §12.F.8.d.5. The Master Executive Council (MEC) will continuously review all available information—including the survey—in order to determine if the Open Time trial is working for the Association. The voting members of the MEC (the LEC president of each base) will decide on behalf of the Association whether or not to end the Open Time trial pursuant to §12.F.9.

eMaestro is currently being reprogrammed with the correct contractual applications for the Open Time trial. Once the new code has been properly tested and approved, it will go live. Based on the latest estimates, we are anticipating the Open Time trial to officially begin in the next month or so.

If you have comments, concerns or suggestions please contact your LEC president.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

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Alaska Listens “Red Flags”

AFA would like to bring to your attention management’s use of Alaska Listens passenger comments. Inflight management has deemed negative comments “red flags” and has a procedure to address them.

 

When a red flag comes to management’s attention an Inflight manager will determine its seriousness. If the red flag is deemed to be somewhat benign or general then a base supervisor will email the Flight Attendant and copy in the other base supervisors. The Flight Attendant can contact any supervisor and have the email/Alaska Listens comment read to them over the phone or read it in person. Depending on the number of red flags for the specific Flight Attendant, the supervisor will either shred the document after the conversation or let the Flight Attendant know that s/he will now have a record of discussion (ROD) in her or his file.

 

A ROD is not considered discipline, but it can lead to discipline if the Flight Attendant acquires more red flags. Management decided that if a Flight Attendant receives three benign/general comments in a six-month period then that Flight Attendant would be referred to their performance supervisor.

 

If an Alaska Listens comment is deemed serious then the Flight Attendant will likely be referred directly to her or his performance supervisor. Depending on the severity of the allegation, the Flight Attendant could be given a ROD, an oral or written warning, and in rare cases a suspension or termination.

 

If a Flight Attendant is contacted to speak with management, s/he should ask if the conversation could lead to discipline. If the answer is “yes” or “maybe” (or any other permutation of that sentiment such as “I don’t know”), s/he should request union representation. In all cases s/he should request a union representative prior to writing any statement.

 

Questions? Contact your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers [ANC 30 | SEA 19 | PDX 39 | LAX 18 | SAN 15] or grievance reps.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt; and MEC Grievance Chairperson Jennifer Wise MacColl and Committee Member Stephanie Adams

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Holiday JA and Printed Contract Updates

December 2015 Junior Assignment

 

AFA met with Inflight management last week to debrief Junior Assignment over the holidays. AFA focused on the new contractual language and explored why JA went so senior in several bases. It was a very productive meeting, and both parties were left with homework to do with regard to the JA lists. We will have a more complete report out for you once the parties compare notes this week. Be assured AFA is working diligently to ensure contractual compliance and, if appropriate, to achieve the much-improved compensation for JA out of order pursuant to Section 9.D.1.e.

 

Printed Contract

 

The “formatted” proofs came back from the printer but were unacceptable. The printer took the 8.5” x 11” document and simply shrank it down to fit into a 5.5” x 8.5” format. This reduced the font to an unreadable size.

 

We are now in the process of reformatting the document “in house” and expect the document to be sent to the printer next week. The printer will produce another proof and send it back to AFA and management for approval. If all looks good, then it will go to press.

 

You will also be receiving a durable hardcover for the contract similar to our Flight Attendant Manual but with a thinner spine. The Company is covering the cost of printing and will be distributing the contract per CBA §27.A. [Distribution of the Agreement]. The Company is picking up the cost of producing and distributing the hardcovers as well.

 

* * *

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

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No Junior Assignment for anybody who picks up a Premium Open Time trip returning on December 24th or 25th

Temporary contractual modification approved by roll call vote

 

By majority roll call vote, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has approved a temporary contractual modification that makes anybody who picks up a Premium OT trip returning to domicile on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ineligible for Junior Assignment off of that trip. Inflight management requested this temporary contractual modification with the hope that more flight attendants will pick up from Premium Open Time if they know they will not be JA’able on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. However, this request was made without any guarantee that they would have supervisors and managers flying as well.

 

Not an easy decision…

 

This was not an easy decision to make because there are several pro’s and con’s on each side of the argument whether or not to grant the temporary contractual waiver. Under the default MEC voting procedure outlined in the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws in Article VII.D.5.b [Master Executive Councils –> Master Executive Council Meetings –> Voting], each voting member of the MEC casts one vote on any issue before the MEC. A majority determines the outcome.

 

Votes were cast as follows:

 

Yes: 19 SEA, 39 PDX

No: 15 SAN, 18 LAX, 30 ANC.

Motion failed.

 

Roll call voting record

 

Council 19 Seattle subsequently requested a roll call vote on the issue, which is in order under the provisions of Article VII.D.5.b. In a roll call, each voting member of the MEC receives one vote for each member in good standing s/he represents. A majority determines the outcome. Votes were re-cast as follows:

 

Council number, number of dues paying members (in parenthesis), name of voting member(s) (in brackets), voting record

 

15 SAN (240) [Buker]: 0 Yes / 240 No

18 LAX (454) [Morrow]: 0 Yes / 454 No

19 SEA (1882) [Jones]: 1800 Yes / 82 No

30 ANC (315) [Pinkston]: 0 Yes / 315 No

39 PDX (452) [Gwynn]: 452 Yes / 0 No

 

Yes: 2252 / No: 1091

Motion carries.

 

* * *

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your LEC president.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

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Temporary Waiver to Allow Crew Scheduling to Withhold Trips from Open Time for Assignment to Reserves at Noon

Temporary contractual waiver in order to minimize Junior Assignment

In order to minimize Junior Assignment for tomorrow, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has granted the temporary ability for Crew Scheduling to pull trips from Open Time for Christmas Eve assignment to Reserves effective immediately (approximately 12:30 PM PT at the time the waiver was granted).

 

Therefore Section 10.E.d [Open Time] should be temporarily interpreted as the following:

 

Crew Scheduling may remove sequences from OT no earlier than 2:00 12:00 PM PT for reserve assignments for the following day except as provided for in Section 7.F.1.a. [“Job Familiarization” Flights…]. Any sequence not assigned to a Reserve by 6:00 PM PT will be returned to OT. Any sequences that become available after 2:00 12:00 PM PT will be subject to the withholding provisions of 1.d., below.

 

Any other contractual citations that refer to the withholding of trips at 2:00 PM PT for assignment to Reserves should be temporarily interpreted as noon. Example of 10.E.1.c [Open Time]:

 

Crew Scheduling may withhold a sequence from OT for up to fifteen minutes (:15) when necessary to determine a Like Sequence pursuant to Section 10.R. [Reassignments] and 12.J. [Crew Scheduling Trading Errors], or a Reserve or JA assignment. This includes sequences that become available between 2:01 12:01 PM PT and 6:00 PM PT the day prior to report. If Crew Scheduling does not assign the sequence within fifteen minutes (:15) but neglects to return it to OT, a Flight Attendant may contact Crew Scheduling and request the trade/pickup on a first-come, first-served basis. If the Flight Attendant then flies the sequence, s/he will be paid one (1.0) TFP in addition to all applicable compensation.

 

Although the contractual time is 2 PM under the current contract, trips could be pulled at noon in the previous contract. Therefore, the MEC does not anticipate a significant impact compared to the benefit received by minimizing JA.

 

“Premium” Premium Open Time

 

Inflight management has agreed to start widely using “premium” Premium Open Time, so we are appreciative of the step in the right direction. Crew Scheduling has posted double time (2x or $$ in eMaestro), but AFA will continue to strongly advocate for the use of additional premiums in order to further minimize JA and protect the operation.

 

Premium pay

 

Any premiums are paid on flights flown and not on Minimum Pay Rules (MPRs) or Sit Pay. All TFP is credited at straight time towards your 480 TFP thresholds, Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP) and other similar provisions. For example, a 5.0 TFP trip at 2x premium is paid at double your trip rate but still credited at 5.0 TFP towards your thresholds. It is somewhat of a flight attendant urban legend that “the trip is worth 10.0 TFP.” It is true that the trip is worth the equivalent of 10.0 TFP at straight pay, but it’s really not paid out that way.

* * *

 

We apologize in advance if anybody is inconvenienced by this temporary departure from the norm.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

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