Important Dates

April 10: AFA Scholarship Application Due
April 30: CWA Scholarship Application Due
May 10:​CA Membership Meeting

Joint California 15,18 and 35 Meeting

The next membership meeting for Council 15 SAN members will be Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 1100 via Zoom. The purpose will be to discuss the upcoming AFA-CWA Annual Board of Directors Meeting.  This meeting will be a combined council meeting and open to all Council 15 (SAN), 18 (LAX) and 35 (SFO)  members in good standing (up-to-date on dues).  Please submit any Agenda Items you would like to discuss be emailing SAN@AFAAlaska.org, Deadline to submit agenda items is 5/6/22.  To attend, please register here.

Recent Disciplines

Here’s a brief summary of our most recent cases:

Sick Leave Abuse
Your Grievance committee would like members to be aware of the steps management takes whenever an F/A calls in sick or sick family.  Every sick leave call that is recorded in a day will be looked at (investigated) by base supervisors and managers the following day.  How deep the “look” goes is dependent on the Flight Attendant’s history, or information that may be discovered through social media or conversation between management and the F/A.  Every absence is reported in a log that management keeps to track trends.  Depending on how many entries an F/A has in the log, or if the supervisor is aware of any other information will determine whether the log entry is enough or if more needs to be discovered.  Some of the Flight Attendants history may be viewed at this point:

• Leave status
• Employee travel
• Social media accounts and posts
  
• Line management: attempted drops,  comments and/or money posted on trips
  
• Previous years absences on same days

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but a sample of F/A activity that can be seen by management.  In the event that this search indicates abuse, the Flight Attendant will be asked to attend a performance meeting to answer to the pattern discovered.  If the performance supervisor confirms the suspected abuse, the F/A is discharged on first offense.  As a reminder, our contract provides Flight Attendants with the benefit of paid sick leave to care for ourselves and loved ones when ill.  It is a conditional benefit and is only to be used for the purpose of treating an illness.  Flight Attendants that use the benefit in any other way are considered to have committed timecard fraud. In the event abuse is suspected, the burden of proof is on the F/A who needs to prove to the company that they used the benefit appropriately.

Job Abandonment/Points
Sadly we are witnessing a large amount of Job Abandonment cases across the system.  Many of these cases are Flight Attendants that run out of leave options and stop contacting the company about the status of their leaves.  Additionally terminations have been occurring due to points at high levels. When you reach 12 points they will terminate employment.

Personal Conduct
Personal Conduct can include a variety of violations.  Recent ones have included violation of company directed quarantine, crewmember disputes, and layover incidents.

Commuter Violations
The most common reason for a commuter violation is dropping a deadhead and flying home from a city that is not your base, commuting to/from another base for out of base pickups, accidental listings, where the F/A lists as D8Y rather than E1Y for travel. there have been several must read bulletins and its on the commuter page when you sign up. Inappropriate use of D8y status is automatic steps of discipline, and possible removal from commuter program. make sure to refresh your knowledge on being a commuter.

CBT
Failure to complete required training by the due date is an automatic Oral Warning or progression to the next level of discipline.

Managing Attendance Points

Please ensure you are aware of your point total and the tools available to reduce or even avoid accruing points. To review your Attendance Report, log in to Crew Access and Click on the menu bar (3 horizontal lines) in the upper left-hand corner of the page.  Select Reports, Reports on Demand, then scroll to Attendance Points.

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Point Reduction Form may be used to reduce attendance points related to your own personal illness.  It may be used once per quarter and cover’s up to 10 cal­­­endar days; starting with the first day of the designated absence.  It must be submitted before the end of your first sequence upon returning to work.  [Section 32.D]  DO NOT submit more than 1 PRF per Illness. One form covers 10 days. Submitting a 2nd form for the same illness or a new illness deletes your first date and starts the PRF from the 2nd date entered and goes 10 days from that date.

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Quaretly Record Improvement– Each calendar quarter with no accrued points or chargeable occurrences, 2 points may be deducted. [Section 32.G.1] 

Bank Points–  If you have zero (0) points at the end of a calendar quarter and then achieve two (2) full calendar quarters with no chargeable occurrences, you may bank two points. Bank Points are reconciled after each quarter ends, therefore you may see accrued points and Bank Points listed on on your Attendance Report simultaneously until that process is completed.  [Section 32.G.3] 

Sick Family may be utilized to care for qualified family members, including Spouse, Registered Domestic Partner, Children, Grandchildren, Parents, Grandparents and Siblings. No points will be assessed for a Sick Family absence provided you have sufficient Sick Leave TFP available at the time of the absence.  Please see Required Bulletin 2021-0059 (08/30/2021) for a complete list of eligible family members and more information. 

Contractual Medical Leaves may be taken for your own medical conditions.  They are continuous (no intermittent option) and can be any length up to 4-years.  Contractual Medical Leaves do not have a duty hour requirement.  Medical Leaves are administered through Matrix Absence Management. [Section 15.C]

FMLA allows time off to care for eligible family members and/or your own medical conditions for up to 12 weeks (72 days) per rolling calendar year.  FMLA provides both continuous and intermittent leave options.  Per The U.S. Department of Labor, airline crew must accrue a minimum of 504 Worked hours per rolling calendar year to qualify for FMLA. FMLA is administered through Matrix Absence Management.

Sick Leave Balance Can be reviewed​by logging into Rainmaker and select Crew Pay Manager in the upper right-hand menu bar.  Select Bank Balances from the menu, then select on SickFA.  

Scholarship Opportunities

AFA Scholarship
For eligibility guidelines, information and application, please visit the AFA-CWA website.
Applications must be postmarked by April 10, and sent to the following address:

AFA Scholarship Fund

P.O. Box 56

Hartwood, VA 22471-0056

CWA Joe Beirne Scholarship
The Joe Beirne Scholarship offered by CWA is available to AFA Members and dependents. The deadline for applications is April 30.   For more information please visit the CWA website.

Membership Dues are a Condition of Employment

Please be aware remaining current on membership dues is a condition of employment. the company can start proceedings for termination for failure to pay dues, If you receive communications from AFA International regarding past due balances please take care of them ASAP or set up a promise to pay.

When researching the invoice you receive you can verify if dues were deducted by looking at that months corresponding pay check. Dues are deducted and applied in the same month, example May dues come out of May 20th check. Look back at your checks to see if you had deductions for that month.

If you are coming back from an LOA you are responsible to pay the first 3 months of an UNPAID leave as well as the month you return for a total of $200 usually. If you need to catch up on dues payments, this link will take you directly to AFA’s Membership Services website to schedule an on-line payment. Should you need to update your personal contact information (e.g., address, phone number, email, etc.), use this link

Crew Conflicts

AFA Professional Standards can help resolve peer concerns without involving Management.  Once management becomes aware of a peer concern, they may launch an investigation.   Potential witnesses and those reporting will likely be called in for meetings often causing much stress and anxiety to all involved. 

Our AFA EAP/Professional Standards Committee is available to assist you when conflicts arise with another crew member. Utilizing this resource allows us to resolve our differences/concerns without the threat of discipline / terminations or the stress of an investigation. Reach out to EAP at the following                    EAP@afaalaska.org     (866) 423-2532 Ext. 5