Negotiations News Archives

May 1, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

Your Negotiating Committee filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB) today and asked for assistance in our talks with management

After consultation with the AFA International Office and the Negotiating Committee, the Master Executive Council (MEC) decided it was in our best interest to file for mediation.  Given how far apart we are and our disagreements on fundamental items in the Tentative Agreement, we do not feel confident that it is possible for the parties to reach agreement absent the assistance of an objective mediator.

The application was sent in today.  The decision was made after receiving management’s last off the record comprehensive proposal and realizing that they had not addressed some of our essential items. Additionally, they are still deciding whether to honor the signed Section 12 TA in regards to Open Time. The time has come to add an objective and independent voice to negotiations.

More information on mediation – what it means and how it works – will be forthcoming shortly.

In solidarity,

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

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

www.alaskamec.org

References:

Alaska mediation filing: http://alaskamec.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Alaska-Mediation-Filing.pdf

Alaska Mediation Filing

http://www.afanet.org/alaska-airlines-flight-attendants-file-for-mediation.htm

For Immediate Release: May 1, 2013 Contact: Corey Caldwell, 202-434-0586

Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants File For Mediation

Washington, DC – Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), today filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB).  Today is the one-year anniversary of the contract’s amendable date.

“For the last three contracts, Flight Attendants responded to management’s plea to keep costs low while the airline created a winning strategy,” said Jeffrey Peterson, AFA president at Alaska Airlines. “We partnered with them in good faith.  As a result, we have fallen far behind our airline peers in compensation in most pay steps and pay rules.”

“Now, in part due to the Flight Attendants’ hard work, sacrifice and dedication, Alaska Airlines is hugely profitable and positioned to successfully navigate the future.  It is time for the over 3,100 Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants to participate in that success and be adequately compensated.  Management must sit down with us and negotiate a contract that reflects the award-winning Flight Attendants of this airline,” added Peterson.

Negotiations started in November 2011, and have been on-going for the past 18 months.  Talks stalled over compensation as the parties were exchanging comprehensive proposals. “Management’s failure to effectively address past employee sacrifices and essential compensation items that are at the heart of our contract demands became roadblocks to progress,” stated Peterson.

“Our Flight Attendants want a contract.  Their contributions to the success of this airline cannot be ignored,” said Peterson.

Under the NMB guidelines, either party may request mediation.

The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 67 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions.  Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.

April 30, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

The Master Executive Council (MEC) would like each and every one of our members to complete a very brief survey. We are interested in gathering information about our Flight Attendants in preparation for participation at the upcoming Alaska Air Group Annual Shareholders Meeting.

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1225933/Alaska-Airlines-AFA-Survey-Upcoming-Annual-Meeting-of-Shareholders

As the Negotiating Committee continues to negotiate for a contract that appropriately recognizes our contributions to Alaska Airlines, it is extremely important that everybody take the time to fill out this four question survey. No matter whether you are an ALK shareholder or not, please join us for informational picketing at the upcoming meeting at 1pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center at Pier 66 in downtown Seattle (2211 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98121). More information will be provided in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

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

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

www.alaskamec.org

Negotiations Update April 15-18, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

This session was a roller coaster of a week for your AFA Negotiating Committee.  It started out on a negative note and ended with a renewed commitment to forging ahead and narrowing the gap.

The week started off somewhat contentiously before talks had even started because management disallowed our “Show Us the Money” pin backers over the weekend.  Many of you had started to wear the pin backers when the memo came out banning them. 

The Master Executive Council was in Seattle to meet with the Negotiating Committee and receive management’s response to our comprehensive proposal.  Management did not meet with us on Monday, saying that some on their team did not have the date reserved on their calendars.  For us, it was a wasted day and wasted resources.

On Tuesday, a key member of management’s team was unavailable to meet.  At this point, we were doubting management’s focus and commitment to Flight Attendant  negotiations.  We contacted CEO Brad Tilden, who agreed to meet with the MEC and the Negotiating committee that same day.  The extended meeting took place at corporate HQ with Brad, COO Ben Minicucci and Vice President Labor Relations Shane Tackett and VP Inflight Services Andy Schneider.  

A very frank discussion ensued regarding frustrations with these negotiations and relations between AFA and management. Management reaffirmed their commitment to negotiations and to good labor relations.  How to get the talks back on track was the focus of our discussion.  All agreed that the parties engaging in some “off the record” discussions might be helpful to jump-start negotiations. As a sign of good faith, the MEC resolved that the officers and the Negotiating Committee would not wear the pin backers during this session.

Negotiations resumed on Wednesday morning. Both teams continued to exchange proposals on non-economic sections: section 3 Scope, S27 Association general, S16 Sick Leave.  We are moving closer in all those sections.

We gave a power-point presentation to management detailing Flight Attendants’ loss of real buying power as a result of wages not keeping up with inflation.  The presentation highlighted FAs contribution to Alaska’s success and the many awards FAs have earned consistently over the years.

Neither the AFA nor the management negotiating teams passed formal comprehensive proposals this week.  However, both sides engaged in detailed discussion about components of the proposals.  The mood at the table was much improved from the beginning of the week.  At this point in negotiations and as talks progress, the elements of comprehensive compensation proposals may rapidly and significantly change so we will not be reporting out specifics about our proposals.  However, we will keep you informed about how negotiations are going in general. 

We’ve gotten reports of individual FAs or groups of FAs taking their own solidarity actions such as wearing colored ribbons, etc.  While we admire your spirit, we have to caution everyone against taking independent actions not sanctioned by AFA.  We do not want to see anyone disciplined over this.

Our next session is in Seattle in less than a week and a half, starting on April 29.  Until then, please remember to wear your AFA pin as a sign that your Negotiating Committee has the support of over 3,100 Flight Attendants.

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”

www.alaskamec.org

References:

AFA Alaska Negotiations channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AFAALANegotiations

Alaska Airlines Negotiations facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/alaskaairlines.negotiations

VOICE Comment Card Report April 2013

[Important: Going forward the Negotiating Committee will read every comment card just like today. However, we will only confidentially publish non-anonymous comment cards. That is, for a comment card to be pushed there must be some identifying information on the card such as a name or arctic number. We will continue to “scrub” the identifying information from the cards when published.]