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Negotiations Update April 30, 2014 – Second Round of Survey Email Invitations Sent

Dear Flight Attendants,

The online portion to the follow up AFA negotiations survey by Hart Research Associates will remain open through Sunday, May 4, 2014.  As a reminder, your AFA leadership is currently at the 42nd Annual AFA-CWA Board of Directors meeting in Orlando.  We are responding to all inquiries during breaks between meetings and thank you for your patience.

A second round of email invitations containing individualized links to the online survey were sent a short time ago by Hart Research Associates.  Check your spam/junk folder in case the invitation is there.

Important: Do not share your link with anybody or else others could take the survey on your behalf.  The email address used by Hart Research Associates for the invitations is FlightAttendantSurvey@hart-research.com.

If you have NOT received a survey or if you completed the phone survey AND received an email invitation, contact FlightAttendantSurvey@hart-research.com and request an email invitation. Provide your first and last name and your PeopleSoft number. 

(We are using PeopleSoft numbers as identifiers and did not provide Arctic numbers due to privacy and security concerns.  Your PeopleSoft number can be found on the Inflight webpage on the upper left hand corner.)

It is extremely important that your voice be heard. Make sure to complete the survey!

In solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow; and

Your Negotiating Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

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AFA International Officer Election Results

Dear Flight Attendants,

Your AFA leadership is continuing to represent you today and conduct the business of the union at the AFA Board of Directors Meeting in Orlando, Florida.  Yesterday, elections for the three AFA International Officer positions were conducted as part of the meeting.  Below you’ll find a press release from AFA International regarding the results of the election.  The Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to congratulate new International President Sara Nelson, International Vice President Deb Sutor, and International Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Creighan.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

 

For Immediate Release

Contact: Corey Caldwell 202-550-5520

FLIGHT ATTENDANT UNION ELECTS NEW LEADERSHIP

Orlando, FL – The highest governing body of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), the Board of Directors, today elected new officers to lead the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. The Board of Directors voted for Sara Nelson as AFA International President, Debora Sutor as International Vice President and re-elected Kevin Creighan for his third term as International Secretary-Treasurer.

President-elect Sara Nelson is an 18-year United Airlines Flight Attendant and has served as International Vice President since 2011. Nelson vowed to continue to unite Flight Attendants to fight for equality for all and build power at the negotiating table in order to advance the Flight Attendant career.

Vice President-elect Debora Sutor is a 25-year Envoy Air Flight Attendant who has extensive experience and has served on numerous AFA committees and held various leadership positions throughout her career. Committed to furthering AFA’s mission for economic and social justice for all Flight Attendants, Sutor will help maintain AFA as a strong voice for the profession.

International Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Creighan has served in that office since 2005. Creighan is uniquely qualified to best meet members needs based on his extensive experience as a United Flight Attendant, Local Council President and International Officer.

The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 68 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.

Negotiations Survey Update

Dear Flight Attendants,

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) along with many of you are extremely frustrated with the challenges we’re experiencing regarding the email survey invitations from Hart Research Associates.  The good news is, for most who have taken the survey, we have received feedback that it is comprehensive and worthwhile.  It is extremely important to the MEC that all Flight Attendants have a reasonable opportunity to take the survey.  We have been in contact with Hart Research Associates and have jointly agreed to extend the survey.  The survey will not close until the MEC is satisfied that all Flight Attendants who wish to take the survey have had the opportunity to do so.

As a reminder, your AFA leadership is currently participating in the AFA Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting in Orlando, FL.  As part of our representational duties, the BOD meetings are scheduled from 9 AM to 9:30 PM each day through Wednesday evening.  We are working through the survey challenges as quickly as possible given the time constraints and the necessary coordination with our survey vendor Hart Research Associates.

We wish we had the answers as to why some Flight Attendants have not received their survey invitation.  Emails are being sent directly by Hart Research Associates and although an address list was provided by the MEC to Hart, the AFA email system is not being used to send the invitations.  At this time, we do not know why some people have received the invitations while others have not.

If you have not received the survey invitation and have not yet provided your contact information to survey@alaskamec.org, please do so as soon as possible.  If you have already reached out to survey@alaskamec.org, please be patient as your contact information has been forwarded to Hart Research Associates and they will be following up.  We know some of you have been waiting several days for contact.

It is important that you wait to receive your own personalized invitation to the survey as it contains a link that is unique to you.  If you use the link that is associated with another Flight Attendant’s email invitation, your response will overwrite any previous responses tied to that link.

More information will be communicated as it becomes known.  Rest assured that the survey will remain open for responses until the MEC directs Hart Research Associates is directed otherwise.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

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MEC Update April 28, 2014 – New AFA-CWA Council 15, San Diego

Dear Flight Attendants,

Congratulations to all for reaching another milestone in our continued growth! Earlier yesterday during the Executive Board of Directors (XBOD) meeting in Orlando, Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson petitioned the XBOD to have the San Diego domicile represented by its own council. This resolution was brought forward on behalf of the Alaska MEC and pursuant to Article III.A of the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws (C&B). The XBOD unanimously approved the creation of Council 15 San Diego, which will be effective on June 1, 2014.

The appointed Local Council officers are:

President Stephen Couckuyt (spacak@gmail.com)

Stephen Couckuyt has been with Alaska Airlines one month shy of 19 years. He started as a Customer Service Agent (CSA) in Anchorage before joining Inflight one year later.  Stephen was Anchorage based  from 1996 to 2011, during which he helped establish the Anchorage local council (AFA-CWA Council 30).  First serving as Interim Vice President, followed by two terms as elected Vice President and one term as President. Stephen also served on the AFA-CWA International Political/Legislative Committee. In 2011, Stephen decided that after 46 years of living in Alaska that it was time for a change. He moved to Chicago, first transferring to PDX and then SEA. In September of 2013, Stephen transferred to and now resides in San Diego.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity of working with all of you in establishing a new AFA-CWA Local Council in San Diego . I am honored to be working with Melanie Buker,  Brice McGee and MEC Leadership on your behalf with the priority that your voices be heard and your concerns are addressed.“

Vice President Melanie Buker (melanie.buker@gmail.com)

Melanie started her flying career with Horizon Air in 1986, based in Boise, ID.  While at Horizon, she joined the Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP), which led her to join the AFA Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at Alaska when hiring on in 2002. She was elected as the Council 30 Anchorage president in January of 2011.

“Union and volunteer work has always been important to me; I believe that you have to be the change that you want to see. I also know that there is a time and a place for everything and I hope that if the time is right, you also take on a roll within our local council…we need you!

I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the Flight Attendants here in San Diego that I have had the pleasure of working with, we seem to be a very diverse group and I look forward to meeting you all soon. I am honored to be working with Stephen and Brice; I have a lot of respect for both of them.”

Secretary Brice McGee (brice_mcgee@hotmail.com)

Brice is originally from Helena, MT. He started his flight attendant career 8 years ago in Los Angeles, transferring to Seattle and finally San Diego. He has been a commuter from Cancun Mexico for 7 years and is currently looking for a new home in the San Diego area or possibly Dallas, TX.  He has been active in various focus groups regarding scheduling, sick leave and flexibility.

“I am honored and excited to represent our San Diego base. I look forward to working with my friends Stephen and Melanie and I think we will make a great team and support system for the San Diego base.”

 

Council 15 will be in Election Category III per Article VIII.C.3 of the C&B, with appointed officers’ terms ending June 30, 2016. Elections will be held in spring 2016 for the next term beginning July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2019.

The MEC thanks the Council 18 Los Angeles leadership for setting a solid foundation of representation for the San Diego Flight Attendants. It is upon this foundation that the new Council 15 officers will build. Welcome Council 15 President Stephen Couckuyt, Vice President Melanie Buker and Secretary Brice McGee.

In solidarity,

Your MEC–Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and in-coming Council 15 President Stephen Couckuyt

Resources

MEC 5B Logo

Negotiations Update April 27, 2014: AFA Negotiations Online Survey Open Through Tuesday

Dear Flight Attendants,

The second phase of the follow up AFA negotiations survey by Hart Research Associates is now underway and will open through Tuesday, April 29, 2014. A communication was sent out via social media on Friday but unfortunately the email system the Master Executive Council (MEC) uses has been sporadically unavailable over the past couple of days.
Important: An individual link to the online survey has been sent in an email invitation by Hart Research Associates. Do not share your link or else another Flight Attendant could take the survey on you behalf. The email address used by Hart for the invitations is FlightAttendantSurvey@hart-research.com. Check your spam/junk folder in case the invitation is there.
If you have NOT received a survey or if you completed the phone survey AND received an email invitation, contact survey@alaskamec.org.
It is extremely important that your voice be heard. Make sure to complete the survey!
As a reminder, your AFA leadership is currently at the 42nd Annual AFA-CWA Board of Directors meeting in Orlando. We are responding to all inquiries during breaks between meetings.
In solidarity,
Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow; and
Your Negotiating Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo
 MEC 5BSS Logo

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 […]

Vacation Survey Now Open

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants Your Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is working diligently to understand and improve the vacation benefits for our Flight Attendants at Alaska and Hawaiian. Your input is essential in ensuring that the vacation provisions we adopt reflect your needs and preferences. To gather your perspectives, […]

SEA Domicile Negotiations – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants Negotiations Update The SEA Domicile Negotiating Committee met this week for three days of collective bargaining with management.  The SEA NC met with management on September 3 to September 5 in Honolulu. At the negotiating table for this session were: Representing AFA and our Flight Attendants   […]

Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Interviews—October 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants In accordance with Article VI.C of the AFA Alaska MEC Policy and Procedure Manual, the terms of office for the MEC Committee Chairpersons and other MEC-level positions align with those of the MEC Officers. Since the current term for the MEC Officers will conclude on December 31, […]

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