Negotiations News Archives

Dear Flight Attendants,

As we have said in prior communications, our federal mediator from the National Mediation Board (NMB) Victoria Gray has imposed a “limited communication” policy on both AFA’s and management’s teams. As a result, this update does not contain the same level of detail as during direct negotiations and prior to mediation.

However, we want you to know that much progress was made in our session at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in the beautiful City of Roses. Although no tentative agreements (TAs) were reached this session, we are extremely close on three sections and fully anticipate signing off on them right out of the gate during our next mediation session:

Section 14 – Vacation,

Section 16 – Sick Leave/On the Job Injury, and

Section 32 – Attendance Policy.

Mediator Gray was extremely effective in getting the parties to discuss compromises and “think outside of the box.” She facilitated full committee and small group sessions and helped us navigate some pretty thorny areas.

Our next meeting is in Washington, DC, from September 9^th through 12^th at the NMB headquarters. Until our next communication, stay informed and stay strong.

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

August 20, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

The second session of contract mediation begins Tuesday morning at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in downtown Portland, OR, and lasts through Thursday. As you may recall, at the first mediation National Mediation Board (NMB) mediator Victoria Gray recommended that going forward both parties should pull back on the frequency and detail of communications in regards to negotiations. AFA and management agreed  we would communicate our progress at the conclusion of a negotiations session and discuss the content with the other party prior to sending the communication.

After everybody received the “Mediation Begins Again!” message from Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider earlier today, your Negotiating Committee has received feedback that our members would like to hear something from the Association. Although it’s not comfortable for your AFA Negotiating Committee to be less communicative than before mediation began,  we are committed to honoring the process agreement. Just know that your Negotiating Committee is ready to go for this session and expect an update at the end of the week!

p.s. For those of you who might be considering a 30/60/90 day staffing adjustment leave, be advised that you must be a member in good standing in order to vote on a tentative agreement. Therefore, it’s important that you stay current on your dues payments. If you have questions about dues currency and payment options, you may contact the AFA-CWA Membership Services Department (http://www.afacwa.org/membership/) or one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers.

In solidarity,

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

alaskamec.org

July 12, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

First order of business is to congratulate our brothers and sisters of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) at Alaska Airlines on ratifying their Tentative Agreement.  We hope that success bodes well for our efforts at the table.
We just wrapped our first week of mediation in Valencia, CA. Victoria Gray, our National Mediation Board federal mediator, assisted both sides in defining all remaining open items and mapping a path forward. She also strongly suggested that both sides keep public communications very general and less detailed than in pre-mediation times.  She explained that mediated sessions can become very intense and negotiating positions can shift rapidly.   Having detailed positions outlined in publications can sometimes hamper the flexibility to get the deal done.   Both parties agreed to keep updates more generic.
That said, we are still committed to keeping you apprised of what’s going on at the bargaining table. With Mediator Gray’s assistance, we were able to TA three sections:  New Section:  Hotels, Section 30: Training and Section 27: Association Business.  We had significant discussion on Section 14: Vacation, Section 16: Sick Leave and Section 32: Attendance Policy.

As we reported earlier in the week, AFA has retained a very experienced travel industry economist to assist us with costing and evaluating the company’s financial modeling. Dan Akins brings over 30 years of experience and has worked with several AFA councils and other unions in negotiations. We are very happy to have Dan’s expertise and he has already been very helpful at the bargaining table.
Our next session is August 20-22 in Portland, OR.

In solidarity,

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

www.alaskamec.org

July 8, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

Today is the first day of mediation in Valencia, California. Your Negotiating Committee finished a productive introductory meeting with National Mediation Board (NMB) mediator Victoria Gray this morning. We are now on a quick break while Victoria meets with management early this afternoon.

AFA is pleased to introduce transportation economist, Dan Akins, to our team. Dan joins the Negotiating Committee this week as negotiations support to help the committee evaluate the economics of various proposals and to provide the perspective of Alaska’s financial position in the industry to the discussion. Dan graduated from the London School of Economics with a concentration in Transportation Economics and he comes to us with over 20 years of industry experience. He has played a pivotal role in advising organized labor groups such as AFA and remains actively involved in supporting ongoing labor negotiations at major US carriers. As an example, Dan supported Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants during the last several rounds of their contract negotiations. Welcome, Dan!

The Negotiating Committee is very hopeful that this week will prove to be productive and looks forward to sitting down with management and Victoria very soon. We will update you as talks progress.

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”