From AFA International Membership Services

Elected; Term of office July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026

LEC President:            Steven Maller
LEC Vice President:    Krystle Berry
LEC Secretary:            Bethany Badalamenti

You can see the certified results here: 

council_39_certified_election_results_2023.pdf (afacwa-elections.org)

Thank you for voting!

Steve, Krystle and Bethany

In this edition:

• End of year reminders
• AFA dues
• Scheduling and reserve FAQs
• Send a letter – Fund the NLRB

End of year reminders

December 15: Travel Open Enrollment closes

December 31: Annual compliance training – Q4 CBT due

December 31: Print or email unused Guest Passes 

AFA dues

Many Council 39 members are in arrears with their monthly AFA dues based on the most recent report from AFA’s Membership Services department. Any amount may cause a member to fall into “Bad Standing” if not paid within 90 days. Once in Bad Standing, members’ votes are not counted nor are they permitted to attend local Council meetings until they become current or make alternate payment arrangements.   

The Membership Services department has sent invoices directly to all members who are showing in arrears. Our local Membership Committee has also reached out to members who are behind in their dues. If you have questions regarding your balance, please reach out to AFA Membership Services.  

Scheduling and reserve FAQs

Am I contactable on a sit?

Yes. Lineholders and Reserve Flight Attendants must remain contactable during ground time per Section 8.Q [Contactability]. If Crew Scheduling follows all the required steps to contact you during ground time and you do not return the call as specified in Section 32.C.1 [No Show] and Section 32.C.15[Failure to Contact], you will likely be assessed attendance points.  

Can Crew Scheduling attempt contact during crew rest?

Yes. One time. If you are contacted more than once on a layover, please submit a support ticket at support.afaalaska.org  Flight Attendants are not required to be contactable on layovers but must return Crew Scheduling’s call at the start of the next duty period. Please see Section 8, Addendum 10. 

Must Crew Scheduling place uncovered flights in Open Time?

No. There is no contractual requirement to place uncovered flying in Open Time prior to being assigned to a Flight Attendant. Crew Scheduling may withhold trips for up to 15 minutes to determine an assignment. Please see Section 12.E.1.d [Open Time] for more information.

Please reach out to any Scheduling or Reserve Committee representative if you have any questions.

Send a letter – Fund the NLRB

From the AFL-CIO

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is in a funding crisis. We need a fully funded NLRB to investigate unfair labor practices and conduct union elections. Take two minutes to send a letter to your senators to demand funding for the NLRB.

All over the country, workers are organizing to win union elections and fight illegal corporate union-busting. The NLRB is supposed to back us up by enforcing labor law and worker protections. 

But the NLRB is severely underfunded and doesn’t have enough staff to do its job. 

The agency hasn’t had a budget increase since 2014, which is a 25% budget decrease when you factor in inflation. 

Without the NLRB, we can’t hold corporations accountable or build worker power through stronger unions. 

It’s that simple.

Take two minutes to write a letter and tell your senators: Fund the National Labor Relations Board. 

Local Council Meeting Reminder

Originally published October 4, 2022

November 4th, 2022

Time: 11am – 1pm 

PDX Airport, Village conference room 

Please join us for our bi-annual local Council meeting. Your LEC officers will be available to share up-to-date information pertaining to the Council and committees. We will also be joined, via conference call, by members of the Delta AFA organizing team.

Election Day is November 8th

Don’t forget to VOTE on November 8th. Next year will be critical for Flight Attendants. The FAA is up for reauthorization in 2023. We need members of Congress who will fight for our issues. We cannot sit this one out!

Voting is key to our credibility with Congress. Turning out in large numbers to vote is critically important to ensure our voice is heard. Voting — not how you vote but whether or not you exercise this constitutional right — is public record. When we’re able to say with credibility “Flight Attendants vote!” it increases our ability to move our issues.

Annual Benefits Enrollment

This year’s Annual Benefits Enrollment period is here, meaning now is the time to make changes to your 2023 benefit elections for you and your family. The deadline to enroll or make changes is November 16th, so be sure to act now before time runs out.

You can enroll at myalaskabenefits.com. REMEMBER: This is the only time you can make changes to your benefits without a qualifying life event (birth, marriage, etc.) so be sure to enroll before the November 16th deadline. 

AFA Monthly Membership Dues Obligations 

Coming out of the pandemic, and with the unprecedented number of leaves that were taken by Flight Attendants, we are seeing challenges and confusion around Union dues that are owed during that time, as well as how dues payments are owed during other leaves, such as maternity, personal injury, or long-term worker’s comp. 

If you are on a completely unpaid leave, you will still owe for the first three (3) months of that leave. Therefore, if you took a six-month COVID leave and you were not coordinating any vacation and/or sick leave to cover healthcare, life insurance, short term disability premiums, etc., then you would wind up owing $150 for those first three months. After that, you are not considered an “active” Flight Attendant and dues obligations are suspended until you return to active status.  

If you are on a leave of any kind and you coordinate sick leave and/or vacation in any given months, you are responsible for your dues for those months (“dues obligated”) because you are on payroll and considered an active Flight Attendant. Even if you don’t receive any net pay, due to insurance premiums and other voluntary deductions coming out of your gross pay, you are still dues obligated for those months. Basically, if you are benefiting from an AFA contract financially, you owe dues.

We are also seeing an increase in Flight Attendants who are not working enough TFP in each month to cover all deductions and dues. Many Flight Attendants are dropping to minimal flying and not having enough net pay (after taxes and insurance premiums, etc.) to cover their dues obligation for the month. In these cases, dues must be paid directly to International.   

How does this impact you?

We have a significant number of Flight Attendants who are currently in arrears and in bad standing. Members in bad standing will not have their votes counted in any elections, including voting on a new contract (tentative agreement.) You must be in good standing to have your vote counted. 

Please see Section 26 of the JCBA for more information regarding dues and membership standing. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to any LEC officer or the AFA International membership services department at Contact Membership Services – Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (afacwa.org)

To make an online payment to AFA, click AFA-CWA Online Dues Payment 

Stronger Together, Better Together: Join the Delta AFA Campaign 

What happens at Delta matters for all of us. Delta Air Lines has undercut our careers by billions of dollars, spoken in place of Flight Attendants on Capitol Hill and, as globalization speeds up, no contract for Flight Attendants at Delta also jeopardizes job security for all of us. Delta CEO Ed Bastian wouldn’t do his job without a contract to protect him and his interests, yet the airline he runs spends tens of millions of dollars to deny Flight Attendants the same rights.

Undercutting our worth and standing at Delta ultimately means Delta is stealing from all of us. But we can change that by supporting Delta Flight Attendants in their efforts to gain AFA representation and the means to negotiate a contract. The only way to push our careers forward is through strength in numbers and continuing to set the highest standards at every airline. 

You can do a lot to help our flying partners at Delta. Sign up to be a supporter, connect us with a Delta Flight Attendant you know, learn more about their campaign, and get tools to help organize.

Council 39 is joining the campaign. Show your support and help Delta Flight Attendants secure their Union! Sign up now >