December 12, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

We are very happy to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement (TA) with management. Naturally you all will want to know the details. However, please understand that no details will be released until after the TA has been presented to the Master Executive Council (MEC) for approval. This is AFA’s practice. When you see your Flight Attendant negotiators out on the line over the next several weeks, please be mindful of their obligation to not divulge details before the MEC has approved the TA.

Once the MEC does approve the TA, a full text document will be sent out for membership ratification. Because of the upcoming holiday, the earliest this could happen is by the end of the month. There is cleanup work that must be completed in terms of the language and the formatting that we’ll be working on immediately.

We anticipate roadshows to commence at every base starting in early January. At the roadshows, the Negotiating Committee will explain in person the details of the TA and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. We will be targeting a count date of mid-February. Remember you must be a member in good standing (your dues must be current) in order to be eligible to vote.

The Committee is pleased with the result and looks forward to presenting the details to the membership. Many thanks to AFA subject matter expert and transportation economist Dan Akins for his invaluable help. Also, National Mediation Board (NMB) mediator Victoria Gray was instrumental in assisting the parties in reaching an agreement.

In solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

Dear Flight Attendants,

Your Negotiating Committee, along with transportation economist and AFA subject matter expert Dan Akins, will meet in Seattle this coming week (Dec 10^th– 12^th) for the sixth mediation session with Alaska Airlines management. Once again the session will be facilitated by federal mediator Victoria Gray with the National Mediation Board (NMB).

During our last mediation session in San Diego, much discussion (without much progress) was focused on pay guarantees for unproductive pairings (aka “rigs”). For example, the four (4) TFP minimum per duty period is the only rig we currently have in our contract. AFA is determined to improve the pay for unproductive pairings—such as those with long sits, long layovers without appropriate credit or low-time trips which span several calendar days. Unfortunately, management has been adamantly against expanding rigs—even with a longer duty day.

Not only do rigs guarantee a certain amount of pay for time on duty, rigs are also an “incentive” for management to build efficient and productive pairings. Once rigs are programmed into the pairing optimizer program, the system will attempt to improve efficiency by minimizing those unproductive factors in our schedules. No more wasting our time sitting in airports or hotels without pay; or if any of those unproductive factors remain, then we’ll get paid appropriately! There is no question Flight Attendants don’t mind working—but we want to be paid for all the time when we’re on the clock and away from our homes.

Since our last mediation session much research, study, and consideration has been given to rig potential by both management and AFA. Many thanks to mediator Gray for her efforts in making this happen! Consequently, certain parameters and constraints were agreed upon by both parties to create a comprehensive rigs analysis. This rig study entails having the pairing optimizer build sample pairings from several months from this year.

We anticipate much of this session will be focused on evaluating the sample pairings to determine the benefits and possible disadvantages of rigs from both AFA and management’s perspective. Plus, there’s always the issue of cost and how rigs might affect the overall package. (It always comes down to the money at this stage of the game!)

We’re hoping to have a productive week and that management will give their undivided attention to negotiations. Due to last-minute uncertainty with this session as a result of the rigs study, the parties were forced to change meeting plans. We were unable to lock in the downtown Seattle arrangements not knowing if the rigs study would be completed by the scheduled date and now everything is booked. So…we’re meeting at a less desirable location for focused effort—the Labor Rooms in the Alaska Airlines Flight Operations building. Thankfully, management has thrown ample resources at the study and we’re looking on track for Tuesday.

Since we are meeting on Company property, management could easily be distracted with attempts to multi-task at their regular jobs. So we call on their team to resist all distractions! Now that we are well past two years of actual negotiations (and eighteen months past the amendable date), we’re all anxious to put this struggle behind us! We also call on management to reward us with a far past-due contract which recognizes Flight Attendants’ professional contribution to the phenomenal success of Alaska Airlines!

In solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

December 5, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

In the upcoming days some of you will be contacted by one of your local AFA officers, or a VOICE or other AFA committee member. We are conducting a brief phone survey with very specific questions to better facilitate representing you at the table during our upcoming mediation session next week. Due to the time constraints, we will be sampling Flight Attendants from all seniority levels at every base.

The results of the survey will facilitate a more focused and accurate approach as your negotiators work with offers on the table that continue to move into areas not addressed in the initial 2011 negotiations survey.

Due to the high volume of calls and limited time frame, we request that any questions to the survey takers be kept to a minimum. If you are called, please answer the questions as concisely as possible. This will allow your leadership and volunteers to contact as many Flight Attendants as possible for a fair and comprehensive poll of our Membership.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow; and

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo