Negotiations News Archives

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

 

Your AFA Negotiating Committee recently tentatively agreed (TA’d) Section 16 Sick Leave/On the Job Injury. Because the information contained in management’s latest “Grab & Go” has caused so much confusion and discussion, we will share with you a detailed explanation of the newly agreed graduated accruals and sick leave banks concepts.

 

Going forward there will be two sick leave banks: a Primary Sick Leave Bank (PSLB) for “everyday” use and a Secondary Sick Leave Bank (SSLB) for illness or injury greater than fourteen (14) days. The SSLB may also be utilized for for an intermittent Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absence of shorter duration if the PSLB is exhausted. Flight Attendants will continue to accrual sick leave at a base rate of 1 TFP for every 10 TFP flown or credited between the the two banks. Flight Attendant will accrue sick leave each bid month based on a rolling twelve (12) bid month look-back as follows:

 

Accrual Rate Threshold (based on rolling 12 bid month ‘look-back’) politically	Primary Sick Leave Bank (PSLB)	Secondary Sick Leave Bank (SSLB)
Worked TFP during rolling 12 month bid look-back ≥ 480 TFP [greater than or equal to 480]	1.0 TFP accrued for every 15.0 TFP of Worked TFP and paid Vacation/PTO in current bid month	0.5 TFP accrued for every 15.0 TFP of Worked TFP and paid Vacation/PTO in current bid month
Worked TFP during rolling 12 month bid look-back between 240 TFP and 480 TFP	0.5 TFP accrued for every 15.0 TFP of Worked TFP and (credited) Vacation/PTO in current bid month	.25 TFP accrued for every 15.0 TFP of Worked TFP and (credited)Vacation/PTO in current bid month
Worked TFP during rolling 12 month bid look-back ≤ 240 TFP [less than or equal to 240]	No accrual in current bid month	No accrual in current bid month

 

Important Concepts to Understand:

 

Worked TFP = ALL credited TFP (including premiums, training etc), but excluding Sick Leave and Vacation.

 

12-Month Look-Back = The last 12 months of full employment. Any month in which a Flight Attendant coordinates sick leave with short/long term disability or worker’s compensation pay will not count toward the threshold calculation. A full twelve (12) bid month look back will extend into additional months until twelve (12) full bid months are included in the determination of the threshold. This way, FAs are not penalized for months in which they are on a leave and coordinating with sick leave. This “rolling calendar” will move with each bid month and sick leave for each bid month will accrue based on the calculation within that rolling calendar.

 

1.333 Daily Credit for Leaves Not Using Sick Leave = FAs will receive an unpaid credit of 1.333 TFP for each day on which they are on an unpaid personal, military, extended, medical, maternity, FMLA, worker’s compensation or parental leaves of absence or on a furlough (including voluntary furlough) when they are not coordinating w/ sick leave. This credit will count towards the “240/480” thresholds.

 

Increased total bank(s) accrual: From 1443 to 1700 TFP.

 

Accrual rate: Still 1:10 in total between the two banks.

 

Two Sick Leave Banks: Sick leave bank maximum accrual was increased from 1443 to a total of 1700 between the two banks. In the Primary Sick Leave Bank (PSLB) you may accrue up to 1000 TFP. In the Secondary Sick Leave Bank (SSLB) you may accrue up to 700 TFP. The rate of accrual is still 1 TFP for 10 TFP flown or credited broken into two separate banks for which the PSLB will receive 1 TFP for 15 flown or credited and the SSLB 1 for 30 (0.5 for 15).

 

Usage of the SSLB will be for approved leaves of absence (LOAs) of fourteen (14) days or greater including Medical LOA, Maternity LOA, Worker’s Comp and FMLA. A Flight Attendant who is on an approved intermittent FMLA may access the Secondary bank after their Primary bank is exhausted. Both the Primary and Secondary banks may be coordinated with Short Term Disability and Workers’ Compensation.

 

We negotiated the ability to supplement pay during illness/injury by using sick leave from between 70 – 90 TFP per month to 70 – 120 TFP per month at the Flight Attendant’s discretion.

 

Using Sick Leave to Bridge to Long Term Disability: An important concern for Flight Attendants is the ability to “bridge” to Long Term Disability (LTD) while supplementing with sick leave. Flight Attendants do this in order to maintain health insurance for two years at the active rate while on LTD. Currently Flight Attendants must draw 11.3 TFP sick leave per month in order to remain active for benefits purposes during the 180 day waiting period for LTD. That means a Flight Attendant must have 67.8 TFP in her/his bank today in order to qualify for this benefit.

 

Under the TA a Flight Attendant will be required to draw less: 0.3 TFP per day (9 TFP in a 30-day bid month or 9.3 TFP in a 31-day bid month). We also secured a commitment from management that Flight Attendants will be able to “stretch” sick leave through the 180 day period in order to secure medical insurance coverage while on LTD—even if the Flight Attendant has less than 54 TFP (180 days x 0.3 TFP per day = 54 TFP) in her bank(s).

 

“Grandfather Clause” for Purchase of Retiree Healthcare Using Sick Leave Ages 62-65: Many Flight Attendants expressed their concern over deleting a provision that allowed the continuation of medical health insurance upon separation for Flight Attendants aged 62-65 using sick leave at 20 TFP per month. The Negotiating Committee secured a letter of agreement extending the provision (a temporary “grandfather clause”). This provision will expire either on the effective date of any new agreement or the end of the current agreement’s amendable period, whichever is earlier.

 

Sick Leave Cash-Out upon Retirement: The Negotiating Committee addressed the issue of large sick leave balances upon retirement.

 

Qualifications: 1) Flight Attendant must retire directly from Alaska Airlines; 2) Minimum age of 55 years; 3) Total of 10 years vesting in 401(k) or at least 20 years total Company seniority.

 

Cash-Out: Lump sum payout of 25% of total TFP in both sick leave accounts, paid at wage rate effective at retirement. For example if you accrued 1700 hundred hours of sick leave, 25% of that total amount is equal to 425 TFP, paid at $46.48 (top rate today) would be equal to a cash amount of $19,754.00.

 

Your Negotiating Committee spent countless hours reviewing, discussing and enhancing the provisions of Section 16. We were successful in achieving:

• A 1:10 accrual, split between two banks,
• An additional 25% cash out option for accrued sick leave at retirement,
• A full twelve (12) month look back for the 480 Worked TFP accruals,
• An increase from 1443 TFP to 1700 TFP maximum sick leave between banks, and
• A letter of agreement continuing the ability to purchase “retiree healthcare” for the employee and her/his dependents, if appropriate, using 20 TFP sick leave per month from ages 62-65 for the duration of the Agreement.

Once we present a TA to the membership for ratification, Flight Attendants should read over Section 16 Sick Leave/On the Job Injury and understand the complete depth of the accruals, changes, and improvements in the context of the overall agreement.

In solidarity,

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

alaskamec.org

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

 

There has been an incredible amount of chatter about Section 14 Vacations and changes to the annual 480 TFP minimum. As a result, your Negotiating Committee feels compelled to address the chatter. Under an agreement we had with management – through the mediator – detailed information like this was not supposed to be communicated until we had a full tentative agreement (TA). At that point you would have been able to consider all provisions, including improved pay, etc., together in one package. Unfortunately, details were spelled out in the latest edition of management’s Grab & Go that left many of you wondering…”What the heck is this?!”

 

Since then, we have informed management and the mediator that AFA will no longer abide by the “communication blackout.” This cannot be a one-sided effort and it seems to us that after every session, this policy has caused big issues for us. So, NO MORE!

 

OK, on to explaining Vacation Section Changes:

 

There were several changes to the S14 Vacations. Please read through the entire communication as the new system is fairly complicated. Why is it so complex? Management is on a serious mission to reduce benefits to those who do not work “sufficiently” in their eyes to earn those benefits. The Negotiating Committee, in turn, had to protect the accruals of those who were not able to earn the benefit due to a leave of absence or other situation beyond their control. Thus the intricate provisions that had to be created.

 

While we are not in complete agreement with management’s philosophy because of the impact to our group’s scheduling flexibility, we did walk a little way down that road in an effort to beef up the economic package. The economics, of course, continue to be a work in progress. In the end, YOU will decide if the entire TA package is sufficient for ratification.

 

Now, we will to take this opportunity to share with you the tentatively agreed graduated accruals and seven (7) days of Longevity Paid Time Off (PTO) concept:

 

 

BASE VACATION ACCRUALS (no change except addition of longevity PTO):

Years of service	Days of Vacation
< 1 year	1.167 days per month employed
1 – 4	14 days
5 – 9	21 days
10 – 17	28 days
18 – 24	35 days
(new) 25+ years with 960 Worked TFP, excluding vacation and sick leave.	35 days plus additional 7 days Longevity PTO

 

Important Concepts to Understand:

 

Worked TFP = ALL credited TFP (including premiums, training, etc.), but excluding Sick Leave and Vacation.

 

Twelve (12) Month Look-Back = The last twelve (12) bid months of full paid activity. Any bid month in which a Flight Attendant coordinates sick leave with short/long term disability or worker’s compensation pay will not count toward the 480 TFP (or 240 TFP) threshold calculation. A full twelve (12) month look back will extend into additional months until twelve (12) full months are included in the determination of the threshold. That is, any bid month in which a Flight Attendant is an a leave of absence (LOA) and is coordinating sick leave will be skipped for the purposes of the 480 TFP. This way, FAs are not penalized for months in which they are on a medical or on the job injury (OJI) leave and coordinating with sick leave.

 

1.333 TFP Daily Credit on LOAs Not Using Sick Leave = FAs will receive an unpaid credit of 1.333 TFP for each day on which they are on an unpaid personal, military, extended, medical, maternity, FMLA, worker’s compensation or parental leaves of absence or on a furlough (including voluntary furlough) when they are not coordinating w/ sick leave. This credit will count towards the “480.” (This is the same application in the current contract for unpaid LOAs.)

 

Vacation Accrual Reduction 1/12 for Full Unpaid Bid Month: A Flight Attendant who does not have Worked TFP, vacation pay, or sick leave during a bid month will have her/his vacation entitlement reduced by 1/12. (Same application as today.)

 

Annual Worked TFP Impact:

Graduated Accrual for Worked TFP
0 – 239 TFP	No accrual/no pay of vacation days for subsequent year.
240 – 479 TFP	Accrue half of the vacation days above and vacation days are unpaid.
480+ TFP	Full accrual and pay for vacation days.

 

 

New Provision for those with 960+ TFP and at least 25 years seniority:

 

Longevity PTO: In addition to vacation accruals a Flight Attendant employed twenty five (25) years or longer who at her/his option has greater than or equal to 960 Worked TFP will qualify for an additional seven (7) days of longevity PTO. Although similar, PTO is not to be confused with vacation time. PTO is personal time off rewarded for productivity and working high time. 960 TFP equates to (not including vacation or sick leave credit) an average of 79.5 TFP monthly in addition to the six (6) TFP annual credit for recurrent training. Other required training TFP credit such as Flight Path or computer based training would apply to the formula.

 

Vacation and Longevity PTO shall be paid at four (4) TFP per day. The Longevity PTO will be bid with your vacation and awarded as split six (6). The maximum number of vacation/PTO periods in any month is increased from three (3) to four (4). Flight Attendants may continue to request early vacation/Longevity PTO pay.

 

Some Flight Attendants have asked why the vacation credit was not increased above four (4) TFP per day. This is particularly true in light of the Reserve guarantee based on five (5) TFP per day. (“Why should I get paid less on my vacation than a Reserve?”)

 

Here’s a little background. Our vacations are bid based on a full week (or seven days). True, one can split vacation blocks to less than seven days in “Vacation Open Time” but that is after the fact. Looking at vacation on the basis of a full week, a Flight Attendant is credited 28 TFP for seven days of vacation. In contrast, the Reserve guarantee based on a five day work week (due to 48/7 contractual legalities) is 25 TFP.

 

We also looked at other carriers and 4 TFP per day vacation credit (or 3.54 block-hours per day when comparing to all other carriers except Southwest) is a very competitive benefit. That is, 4 TFP per day is right there with the highest credit in the industry. The fact is our vacation accruals are also very competitive. Taking all this information under consideration, the Negotiating Committee made the determination to focus more of our bargaining in other areas related to compensation such as rigs, pay rates, 401(k) match, holidays, and other premiums.

 

Your Negotiating Committee spent countless hours reviewing, discussing and enhancing the provisions of Section 14. In summary, we were successful in negotiating:

• A longevity PTO provision of seven (7) days, and
• A full twelve (12) bid month look-back for the purpose of calculating the 240/480 Worked TFP thresholds so those on LOAs and coordinating sick leave are not “dinged” for doing so.

Some have asked the Negotiating Committee to “reopen” negotiations related to changes in the 480 TFP threshold (i.e. “Hard time” vs “soft time”). This is not likely to happen because the related sections have been TA’d. We can understand the confusion because several provisions have been changed after being TA’d so far. The difference is that the parties mutually agreed to reopen the TA’d sections.

Considering that making changes to minimum flying benefits was one of management’s primary objectives in these negotiations, we do not believe management will be inclined to do so this time. Your Negotiating Committee has done our best to minimize changes to the 480 TFP minimum. Just know that after months of negotiations and heavy consideration, we only agreed to the changes with the expectation that management “make up for it” in the compensation package. Consequently, Flight Attendants will need to consider the changes in Section 14 Vacations in the context of the entire TA once presented.

Thank you for your continued support! It really makes all the difference knowing that you are behind us at the table!

 

 

In solidarity,

 

 

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

negotiations@alaskamec.org

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

It has come to our attention that Alaska Airlines Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider and other members of management have been calling some Flight Attendants who have emailed regarding AFA contract negotiations. You cannot be retaliated against for putting forth your opinion and the calls to date have not implied that.

 

First of all please know that if you feel uncomfortable discussing negotiations, you have the absolute right to refuse to discuss that subject—even if you are speaking directly with Andy.

Secondly, if you do choose to discuss negotiations feel free to pass along that you expect management to do the right thing on the overall compensation and benefits package. You can tell them that your Negotiating Committee speaks for you. Do not engage in any conversation in which you are asked (and please do not volunteer!) to rank different contract provisions, e.g. “Which are more important? $X in compensation or rigs?” etc.

 

If management engages you in conversation via phone or email regarding specific negotiations objectives, it is imperative that you email negotiations@alaskamec.org with the details so that AFA can investigate.

 

Thanks for your support of the Negotiating Committee. Together we will fight for the contract we all deserve. If you have not already contacted management via email, we suggest that you add a disclaimer stating that you do not want feedback.

 

Remember: in all discussions with management, maintain a respectful tone and “My Negotiating Committee speaks for me!”

 

In solidarity,

 

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

 

“Five Bases, One Voice”

negotiations@alaskamec.org

[Note: Please read this communication in its entirety. It is lengthy, but the detail is necessary to fully explain the changes. –NC]

 

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

There are still rumors and misinformation surrounding the tentative agreement (TA) specific to Junior Assignments. It has been a while since we explained the proposed changes to JA and your Negotiating Committee will take this opportunity to review the process, the provisions and the enhancements to our current system compared to the TA.

 

What is JA?: Junior Available occurs when a Flight Attendant is required to work on an unscheduled day(s) [i.e., a day off] or when Crew Scheduling assigns additional flying after a completed sequence.

 

What is a Reassignment?: Reassignment is any assignment changes or additions occurring on days you are already scheduled to fly, although may carry into days you were scheduled to be off.

 

Chart outlining the current JA system vs. the TA’d version

 

	JA premium	Can FA trade JA assignment?	Premium follow trade?	If FA JA’d out or order?	FA not JA’d?	Premium OT to avoid JA
TODAY	1.5x pay	Not really*	N/A	1.5x	N/A	N/A
TA	2.5x pay	Yes	Yes	3.0x	2.5x	1.5x min

 

*Under the current contract, a JA trip may be posted for trade only once and you must contact Crew Scheduling to work out the trade. What that effectively means is that nobody trades a JA trip and in fact it is so inaccessible that very few Flight Attendants realize this provision even exists per 9.G of the Contract. The TA provides for unlimited trading of the pairing without restrictions.

 

Current Process TODAY:

 

Company decides in order to cover the operation they need to utilize Junior Available provisions of Section 9. Crew Scheduling (CSKD) utilizes the monthly seniority list starting with most junior qualified, available Flight Attendant in the domicile from which the sequence departs who is completely legal for the flight(s) or sequence to be assigned. CSKD will start at the bottom of the list and work up: 1) by calling the FA at the primary contact number on file with CSKD if s/he is not already on duty, or 2) if s/he is on duty, by flagging the FA to be contacted in flight via ACARS in and/or a supervisor upon arrival.

 

Due to improvements to technology (e.g. caller ID), only about 1 out of 200 Flight Attendants on the average answer their phone—usually by mistake.

 

Except for a very few, in reality Flight Attendants who are already on duty are the ones who are JA’d today – because it’s a game of “tag, you’re it.” True, there might be a delay in notification because CSKD has to go through the charade of calling those at home but they still get you nonetheless. If you are tagged for JA today, it is because CSKD has already attempted to call everybody junior to you who is legal for the assignment(s). Remember that legalities disqualify many FAs and you also cannot be JA’d if you trade away a trip off your original line on that day. (This loophole legally allows many junior Flight Attendants to become ineligible for JA with just a few clever manipulations of their schedules.)

 

A Flight Attendant cannot be contacted for JA duty more than twenty-four (24) hours before the needed scheduled sequence or reserve duty period. Flight Attendants who are JA’d are offered 1.5 times the appropriate trip rate or a day off at straight pay of her/his choice equal in number to those assigned by the JA assignment.

 

New TA’d Section 9 Junior Available procedure:

 

Company decides in order to cover the operation they need to utilize Junior Available provisions of Section 9. Prior to attempting to JA any Flight Attendant, CSKD can post the trips in OT with a minimum 1.5x premium to encourage someone to pick it up. The premium can be increased to 2.0x or even 2.5x and once the premium goes on the trip, it cannot be removed unless assigned to a Reserve or there is a cancellation. Crew Schedulers do not want to JA Flight Attendants and Premium OT is actually a cheaper option for the Company even at 2.0x pay because we raised the JA premium to 2.5x pay.

 

Crew Scheduling utilizes the monthly seniority list starting with the most junior available Flight Attendant on duty anytime the day prior—essentially the same list utilized today. For the purposes of this provision, duty is defined with specific reference to inbound working crews and any Flight Attendant on a layover or at check-in—basically anytime you are accruing time away from base (TAFB).

 

The new provision eliminates the step of calling Flight Attendants at home who do not answer their phones. This “trade-off” results in hugely increased premiums at a significant financial penalty to the Company!

 

Remember – the Company today has the ability to JA working Flight Attendants concurrently with making the calls to Flight Attendants at home. It really just depends on whether ‘your number is up’ on the seniority list of those legal for the assignment(s).

 

If a Flight Attendant is JA’d the Flight Attendant will receive a premium of 2.5 times the applicable trip rate for all flying.

 

Under the TA there is no option to elect days off when receiving a JA assignment. Why did we change this? The thought process behind this new JA provision is to minimize the number of Flight Attendants affected by JA. When a Flight Attendant chooses a day off in lieu of compensation it affects Reserve coverage on subsequent days which often causes additional JA assignments or reassignments due to operational needs. The goal is to cover the operation and get flying back to normal with the least amount of impact to the group.

 

If a Flight Attendant receives a Junior Assignment, Crew Scheduling is required to notify the FA if they will fall below the minimum of 12 days off in a bid month or if there is a 48/7 violation and the Flight Attendant may decline the Junior Assignment if either situation applies.

 

Flight Attendants will have the ability to trade Junior Assignments and the premium of 2.5 times the applicable rate will follow the sequence. A Flight Attendant may be contacted for JA duty while on a sequence no earlier than the preceding calendar day before the needed, scheduled sequence or reserve duty period.

 

The preservation of seniority is critical! We eliminated the loophole that allowed junior Flight Attendants to gain “super seniority” and avoid JA by trading away trips from their original line. Some FAs would swap trips with each other and become “untouchable” for JA for an entire month. This is course would push the JA list even higher in seniority. Well, no longer!

 

The new process, protections and provisions allow for both the Flight Attendants and the Company to manage and audit the Junior Available assignments. Transparency is integral to this provision. Consequently, management will provide a list of those JA’d so the assignments can be fact-checked.

 

With such a high premium attached to JA assignments the Negotiating Committee is extremely confident that the Company will first attempt to utilize Reserves, make reassignment adjustments to those already flying (when applicable—this very rarely happens) and offer Premium Open Time (minimum 1.5 times the applicable trip rate) prior to JA’ing.

 

As a last and final resort to cover the operation the Company will utilize the provisions of Section 9, while also protecting seniority, minimum days off and contractual rest provisions.

 

Your Negotiating Committee spent countless hours reviewing, discussing and enhancing the provisions of Section 9. We were successful in negotiating a seniority-based system of assignment, protections, waivers and compensation. We are optimistic that once we present a contract to the membership for ratification, Flight Attendants will read over Section 9 Junior Available Rules and understand the complete depth of all changes and improvements.

 

 

In solidarity,

 

 

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

 

“Five Bases, One Voice”

negotiations@alaskamec.org

[Post script from MEC President Jeffrey Peterson: Many of you have written directly to me over the last month or so asking for clarification to this section. I have been able to respond to many but I apologize that I have definitely fallen way behind on writing back to some of you individually. If you haven’t heard back from me on this issue I hope this communication will go a long ways towards answering your questions and/or addressing your concerns. The other members of the Negotiating Committee have kindly offered to assist in answering negotiations-related questions in a more timely manner. You can email negotiations@alaskamec.org and your message will be sent to all members of the AFA Alaska Negotiating Committee. -jtp]

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

Several Flight Attendants have contacted the Negotiating Committee due to misunderstandings related to management’s latest edition of “Grab & Go.” Please keep in mind that the Grab & Go posted on the Inflight webpage was revised earlier today, so we are referring to the earlier version that is still circulating out there and being discussed on the line.

 

What is the controversy all about?

 

“Highlights of Section 14 (Vacations) include the following:

graduated vacation accruals based on annual amount of TFP worked;

vacation pay based on TFP worked; one week of paid time off for

employees with 25 years or more of service who have flown more than

960 TFP in a year.”

 

Many Flight Attendants have inferred this to mean that AFA has agreed to eliminate all vacation for anybody under 25 years. This is absolutely not the case! All vacation pay is essentially the same as today: 2 full weeks at one year (and prorated if under one year), 3 weeks at 5 years, 4 weeks at 10 years and 5 weeks at 18 years. Flight Attendants with 25 years or more will receive an additional week of paid time off if they have flown 960 TFP in a year (average of 80 TFP per month hard time). No, it’s not a total recapture of the week of vacation lost with the Southwest Agreement in ’94 but it’s a step in the right direction! Finally, the “graduated accruals” concept only applies to those who fly under the 480 TFP. That means Flight Attendants who do not achieve 480 TFP will receive less days of vacation—which are already unpaid under the current agreement—and this will depend on how far below 480 TFP they fly in a year.

 

By the way, Flight Attendants who do not achieve 480 TFP will no longer have their longevity pay increases held up. Not only that, but Flight Attendants who have been held back under the current agreement due to not achieving 480 TFP in a calendar year will be advanced to their appropriate step rate under the TA. Now that wasn’t in the Grab & Go!

 

Until we’ve had an opportunity to discuss our concerns regarding the current communications strategy with management and Mediator Gray, we’re going to refrain from commenting any further on the details outlined in the various versions of management’s Grab & Go. However, in our humble opinion management continues to ride the fine line of violating the spirit of our communications agreement. We’ll make sure to pass along to Mediator Gray that our members are missing the communication from AFA and are restless for any news. This is made even more frustrating due to the fact that management is communicating so much!

 

Some Flight Attendants have asked for clarification to our “Negotiations Update September 9-12, 2013: Mediation Session #3 DCA Recap.” They want to know who “AFA” refers to in the following bullets summarizing the Open Time Implementation Letter of Agreement:

 

• Quartile System: AFA and management can mutually agree to alter the application. AFA can cancel after six months.
• AFA has the ability to cancel this program after a specified time and it will trigger automatic negotiations on the sections specific to Open Time trading.

 

“AFA” as referenced above is the Master Executive Council by vote of the Local Executive Council (LEC) presidents per Section VI.B.5.b of the AFA-CWA Constitution & By-laws. The LEC presidents each get one vote which is broken by the MEC president in case of a tie unless there is a roll-call vote. Under the C&B the LEC presidents are given power as your duly-elected representatives to advocate the will of their members. Just remember that these provisions are fail-safe measures in case the trading system proves to be overly restrictive for Flight Attendants or that there is such a broad consensus opposed to the Quartile System that we do not need to or want to wait for the year mark for a membership ratification vote. The MEC would intervene only if action is absolutely necessary. Again, it’s just in case.

 

Flight Attendants have asked what AFA’s position is on the Company’s employee survey currently underway. The MEC and the Negotiating Committee believe you should take the time to complete the survey but don’t hold back! You may respectively add to or ad lib the following sentiment (or simply copy and paste) in the free form comments section:

 

“Now that Alaska Airlines is well positioned for the future and making significant profits, we expect recognition for our past sacrifices. Flight Attendants will be appropriately recognized for their contribution to this Company’s success by achieving the Contract they deserve!”

 

Finally, many have inquired who they should contact on the management negotiating team in response to the Negotiating Committees request to “send the message to management” in our latest negotiations communication. Their team consists of Shane Tackett, Andy Schneider, Elizabeth Ryan, Mike Link and Cindy Petchnik. Since Shane and Andy are the chief spokespersons and ranking officers on their committee, we think it’s appropriate to direct all communications to those two via First Class (Shane.Tackett@alaskaair.com and Andy.Schneider@alaskaair.com). Feel free to use the same paragraph above as a framework for your thoughts. Again, you must be respectful and do not engage in conversation about your personal thoughts regarding bargaining objectives. Just remember the phrase, “My Negotiating Committee speaks for me!”

 

Our next mediation session is scheduled for October 28-30, 2013, in Washington, DC.

 

In solidarity,

 

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

 

“Five Bases, One Voice”

alaskamec.org