Negotiations News Archives

[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

*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

Dear Flight Attendants,

Your AFA Negotiating Committee just finished up a week of mediated talks with Alaska Airlines management at the National Mediation Board (NMB) in Washington, DC. We are continuing our commitment to Mediator Victoria Gray and limiting comments to very general statements on progress at the table. (Well, we’re going to do our best anyway!) Industry economist Dan Akins once again joined the AFA Negotiating Committee as a subject matter expert to assist us in crafting our comprehensive proposals and responding to management.

The week started with Tentative Agreements (TAs) reached on the following items:

• Section 14: Vacation
• Section 16: Sick Leave/On the Job Injury
• Section 32: Attendance Policy
• OT Implementation LOA (and final affirmation of Section 12 TA: Exchange of Sequences)
• Term Sheet for settlement on outstanding issues in the above three sections.

We captured some very important protections for Flight Attendants and feel that the agreements in the above sections reflect our commitment to you to make our work lives better.

BIG NEWS!

OK – we are going to slightly bend our “vow not to spill details…” The following information is really timely and goes a long way toward addressing a lot of your concerns with changes to Open Time.

We heard your concern about the drastic change in Section 12: Exchange of Sequences in regards to Open Time and most specifically to the Quartile System. There are a ton of changes in that section and with so many new interacting provisions neither party could be 100% certain that it would work as planned. Therefore, with mediator Gray’s assistance we worked with management to craft the “Open Time Implementation Letter of Agreement (LOA).” This LOA provides for the following:

• Quartile System: AFA and management can mutually agree to alter the application. AFA can cancel after six months.
• Quartile System: After 12 months, there will be an AFA membership vote on whether or not to keep the Quartile System (similar to how we voted on PBS several years back). If the result is “no,” then the system will revert to what it is today with Open Time opening at the same time for all seniorities in a domicile (but with the new trading rules).
• International Jet Bridge Trades: With at least twelve hours notification, will be approved.
• OT threshold numbers can be changed by mutual agreement. The parties spent several months resolving different interpretations of how the OT threshold number interacted with Open Time trading. The parties agreed that different OT threshold values must be tried. AFA’s interpretation of only “first day of a sequence” will count toward the threshold numbers for closing OT days will be applied. If OT liability is too great, management’s interpretation of “every day of a sequence” will apply toward the threshold will be tried. If that happens, negotiations will automatically begin on the sections specific to Open Time trading.
• Monitoring of Open Time trading satisfaction by monthly surveys conducted by AFA in partnership with management during the trial phase.
• 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.
• An AFA Scheduling Chairperson position will be created with full access to crew systems and Crew Scheduling to monitor a specified set of metrics and work with management to evaluate this new system—as an equal. This position will act as AFA’s liaison with the Company to resolve all issues related to scheduling.

Your Negotiating Committee feels that this agreement is revolutionary and will ensure that Flight Attendant needs are met. The provisions allow for an agile response if an unforeseen problem crops up and for a true monitoring of scheduling issues in partnership with management.

That was the good news…

Compensation: The Negotiating Committee worked very hard to considerably pare down our compensation proposal while preserving the most critical and reasonable elements. We are committed to bringing Alaska Flight Attendants the overall compensation package that they deserve. We presented our proposal to management’s team and were informed that while they appreciated our movement, we are still too far apart on money for them to seriously consider addressing what we have on the table. However, management did vow to thoughtfully consider our proposal in the coming weeks between now and the next session.

Management believes that when combined with the other improvements we have already achieved, accepting our compensation proposal is not a wise long-term business strategy. We find this extremely disappointing in the light of the fact that the past several years have seen us tempering our expectations and accepting below-industry increases to improve the Company’s financial position. Now that Alaska Airlines is well-positioned for the future and making significant profits, we expect recognition for our past sacrifices. Please send the message to management that, “Flight Attendants will be appropriately recognized for their contribution to this Company’s success by achieving the Contract they deserve!”

We meet again in mediation the week of October 28th and will be changing venues from Austin, TX, to Washington, DC.

In Solidarity,

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

alaskamec.org

September 6, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

Your entire Negotiation Committee along with AFA staff negotiator Paula Mastrangelo are heading to our nation’s capital next week to meet with Alaska Airlines management at the National Mediation Board offices. We anticipate our first task at hand will be to sign tentative agreements on Section 14 (Vacation), Section 16 (Sick Leave), and Section 32 (Attendance). We believe you will be pleased with the enhancements in these sections.

Once those sections are TA’d we plan to immediately dive back into the few sections remaining which are of high interest to flight attendants: Sec.3 (Scope), Sec.5 (Definitions), Sec.21 (Compensation), Sec.22 (Expenses), Sec.23 (Insurance), and Sec.29 (Profit Sharing & Retirement). We recognize you are anxiously waiting for an update on the progress of these sections. These sections will amount to hours of work between both AFA and the Company, and your patience is appreciated as our assigned federal mediator Victoria Gray has requested a limited communication policy while these sections are being proposed back and forth. Likely offers in these proposed sections will change and adjust frequently so we have been advised to limit communication during this time until more concrete information is available.

In the meantime feel confident that your Negotiating Committee has your best interest in mind as we negotiate these important economic sections. We are your voice in the negotiation room but you are the power source behind us. Now more than ever it is important we all remain strong and united.

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