Dear Flight Attendants,

 

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) just wrapped up its March MEC meeting this week and it is time to give you an update.

 

Negotiations Survey

 

We know everybody is anxious to hear from the leadership in regards to negotiations. The next step in the process is a survey to the membership to determine the bargaining objectives for the next round of talks. Your leadership is committed to achieving comprehensive and accurate survey results that reflect the needs of the membership. Consequently, AFA has retained the Hart Research Group (http://www.hartresearch.com/) to administer the negotiations survey. AFA and Hart have discussed employing several different methods to gather data including monitoring social media and discussion boards in addition to using a traditional phone and/or online survey.

 

Your current Negotiating Committee members are meeting next week to gather preparatory materials for Hart. We’re targeting the survey to be out as soon as possible after April 11^th. Why April 11^th? Council 39 Portland and Council 19 Seattle have officer elections underway with a count date of April 11^th. The leadership doesn’t want too many moving pieces in play at any given time so we’re going to wait until polls so everybody can focus on the survey.

 

Negotiating Committee Interviews

 

As a reminder, interviews for the Negotiating Committee will take place on April 17^th at the AFA MEC office in Seattle. All qualified and interested candidates (including current members of the committee) are encouraged to apply no later than April 10^th. The MEC will provide additional information in regards to qualifications, duties and compensation in a separate communication due out in the coming days.

 

Mediated Negotiations to Resume

 

Under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), we will be back in mediation when we return to the table. These talks will carry on under the purview of the National Mediation Board (NMB) and we believe Victoria Gray will continue as the federal mediator assigned to our case. The parties have set a tentative date of mid-May to resume mediated negotiations.

 

Upcoming Company Town Hall Meetings

 

The MEC has received plenty of feedback from the membership regarding the upcoming Company “Town Hall” meetings. During our MEC meeting this week the officers met with management to pass along our members’ concerns. We strongly advocated to management to reconsider the timing of the Town Hall meetings and we are optimistic that management is taking our request under serious consideration.

 

Consequently, the MEC is holding off on taking a strong public position on the Town Hall meetings until management has had an opportunity to respond. There has been quite a lot of email and phone discussion with management about this issue all the way up to the publication of this communication. The MEC is expecting further developments very soon so stand by for an update shortly.

 

In solidarity,

 

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

 

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

You have spoken with a clear and unified vote: The Tentative Agreement (TA) was not sufficient and must be improved. An overwhelming majority of you voted to send a strong message to management that the offer did not measure up. The results from each base were nearly identical, so once again we prove that we are “Five Bases, One Voice.”

 

The Master Executive Council (MEC) and Negotiating Committee thank each and every one of you for your vote. Additional kudos to those who were able to make one of the 17 morning and afternoon roadshows around the system—34 sessions in all! You answered the call for a substantial turnout and your participation was commendable. Nearly 90% of you took part in determining our future! The result was unambiguous with approximately 30% “for” and 70% “against” the TA.

 

 

Voting Results by base below:

 

 

 

ALASKA 2014 TA Vote Count

 

 

 

 

 

Response Count              Voted %           Participated           Eligible      Participation %

 

SEA FOR 448                       28.32%                  1582                               1777                 89.03% 

 

AGAINST 1134                     71.68% 

 

 

 

ANC FOR 87                          34.66%                 251                                288                87.15%

 

AGAINST 164                         65.34%

 

 

 

PDX FOR 101                         29.62%                  341                                374                91.18%

 

AGAINST 240                       70.38%

 

 

 

LAX/SAN FOR 188              34.18%                  550                                661               90.02%

 

AGAINST 362                       65.82%

 

 

 

_______________________________________________

 

ALL FAs

 

FOR 824                                  30%

 

AGAINST1900                     70%

 

 

 

TOTAL VOTES 2724

 

 

 

We should not dwell on who voted “no,” and who voted “yes,” but rather we must advance unified. Now that the decision has been made, we all have a lot of hard work ahead of us. In the coming months, AFA will prepare to return to mediation under the direction of the National Mediation Board (NMB). In the near future you will be called upon to participate in activities which will demonstrate our resolve. When we go back to the table and management looks across the table, they must see all 3,200 of us sitting there in solidarity!

 

In the coming weeks, your AFA leadership and negotiators will take time to review the process, reassess bargaining objectives and communication strategy. We have already started that work with a MEC meeting that wrapped up yesterday. Your Local Executive Council (LEC) presidents have very much appreciated the emails and phone calls offering feedback and suggestions as we move forward through this process. The MEC will be meeting with the Negotiating Committee on March 3 to continue discussions and cement plans.

 

A new negotiations survey will be put out to the group in a few weeks. We are also exploring the use of professional pollsters in conjunction with the regular survey to ensure the most accurate result possible. It is critical that everybody take the time to complete the negotiations survey because this will be used as our guide for representing the objectives of the entire membership. In the meantime, we are asking Flight Attendants to not engage in discussions with management regarding individual bargaining objectives.

 

Through your vote you have spoken loud and clear, and AFA is committed to taking your message to the bargaining table! Together, we can show management we are “Five Bases Standing Strong!”

 

In Solidarity,

 

 

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

“Five Bases Standing Strong”