Letter from your LEC President

Hello LAX,

I can’t believe that it is already the end of May! It has been a very busy year for all of us. Some of you in the last couple months may have noticed I have not been as visible. I ran my campaign on complete transparency, so I need you to know what’s been going on in my life. In early January my husband had a complete knee replacement. It was not the best timing, as it coincided with our first round of TA roadshows. His surgery had been planned for months and there was no way of changing it. Kelly, Kelese, and David stepped up and made sure that LAX/SAN was represented. Although I couldn’t travel I continued to do my daily union work: phone calls, conference calls, emails, and administrative duties. All seemed good by end of January and my life was back on track attending all meetings. However, at the beginning of April my daughter, who was pregnant with twins, went into pre-labor. I once again needed to stay local as she had a high-risk pregnancy. During that time VP Kelly Johnson attended meetings and the BOD in my place. My daughter delivered our long-awaited grand children, Jacob and Jordan on April 25, but on May 12th I got a call from my daughter. She was going to the ER. Without going into all the specifics, she had three surgeries within six days, and I needed to help take care of the twins during that time she and her husband spent in the hospital. Please know that the LEC team you elected stepped in and proudly represented you. I am so grateful to them.  Through it all, Kelly kept me updated. I appreciate the support of our LAX officers, MEC and the company during this time. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt by not being able to uphold all of my commitments, but knew it was in capable hands.

Now lets get into Local Union Business.

We heard you loud and clear with the results of the TA. We have put a strong Negotiating Committee (NC) in place. We are lucky to have LAX FA Kristy Stratton on the team. We have changed our VOICE Committee to Mobilization Committee, with Stacy Ubelehor as our committee chair. She did such an awesome job during the last round of negotiations and I am happy she agreed to continue. We have already had one event on May 20, which was a great success! If you missed it no worries as there will be many opportunities for you to get involved. Do you have the new AFA RED pin??? If not reach out to any officer or Stacy. Please wear it!

There is concern on line that we will not be going back to the table until July. Your NC has met and is working on the surveys that were conducted in April. I know it is frustrating, but it would be more frustrating to be sitting at the table without the Mediator and not getting anywhere. We all saw what happened last round of Negotiations when the Company came to the table and were not prepared. We can use these next 2 months to our advantage.

There is also great concern about our flying. We are addressing those concerns with Management. We are losing some Mexico flying in August and need to replace it with better flying.

Starting on June 1, SAN will have their own local council and officers. As much as I have enjoyed representing them, it will be nice to focus all my attention on our LAX base. Please welcome President Stephen Couckuyt, VP Melanie Buker, and Sec./Treas. Brice McGee for Council 15.

This is the time to GEAR up for some exciting months ahead in achieving a great contract that we all deserve and have earned. PAY IT FORWARD to every FA that you come into contact with by asking them if they are using the AlaskaMEC.org website to get correct information. Ask them to wear their AFA pin. Always remember WE ARE THESE PEOPLE because WE ARE AFA standing strong and united. We will get an industry leading contract because of our POWER(JD). I think its going to be a RED HOT summer!

As your elected President, I want you to know I will always listen to you. I will answer your questions and bring forward your ideas to the MEC. You are an amazing group of FAs and I am humbled that I can represent you. I learn from the past and look forward to the future.

Stand Strong, be United, be kind to each other because We are FIVE BASES STANDING STRONG!

Fly Safe!

In Solidarity,

Sandra