Council #19 Holiday Update

First, on behalf of your Local Council Officers and Committee members, we hope that all of our members had a chance to spend time with family and friends, and to celebrate the holiday season. While it caused some chaos, the snow in Seattle added a festive touch. This has been a very busy year, and at times both chaotic and frustrating. We look forward to the end of 2017, and a fresh start for 2018 .

There have been some major challenges with Crew Access, and with the interface with payroll. We are well aware of the anger and frustration. AFA and Inflight Management, up to and including the VP of Inflight are working on expediting resolution of these problems. We know that for many of you it does not feel like we are “doing anything”. That could not be further from the truth. We have filed grievances that were sustained, meaning that the company acknowledged that the errors and contract violations AFA brought forth that are resulting from Crew Access issues were valid and should be corrected. In many instances, the programming to do so has been delayed due to programming and other priorities. We continue to find this unacceptable.

We spend hours tracking down incorrect pay, missing trips, incorrect trip values, and other errors. We’re happy to do so. If you have an issue, please go to support.afaalaska.org, and open a ticket. The more information you can provide, including screenshots, the better. Should you have to do this? No. However, without this information, we simply cant track down your issues to get you the proper resolution. The Scheduling and Reserve Committees are compiling the top 5 problems from all bases, so that Management and AFA can resolve these ASAP.

Maternity? If you are currently pregnant, or planning to start or add to your family, you’ll be pleased to know that Danni Burk Peterson has returned to our Benefits Committee as a Maternity Specialist. There have been many fairly recent changes and improvements to our Maternity Leave policies and benefits. We’ve scheduled a maternity roundtable from 10-2 on February 8th, in the South Tower of the Sea-Tac Towers (same tower as 13 Coins). We’ll send out text alerts with address information closer to the date. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to benefitsassist@hotmail.com, with “Maternity Roundtable” in the subject line and your name.

We look forward to the New Year. Many changes are coming. Starting in 2018, Virgin America officially becomes Alaska Airlines, and their ITM’s become Alaska Flight Attendant’s. The Joint Collective Bargaining Committee continues to work on a single contract, which will bring the Council #35 members into our group. We welcome them!

Change can be challenging, and we’re sure there will be adjustments along the path to a single carrier. We hope that you feel supported, and free to reach out for assistance during the coming year.

In Solidarity,

Terry, Jake, Adam, Megan & Melinda

Council #19 November Base Update

November 2017

Council #19 LEC Meeting was held on 11/1/2017. We were pleased to see a great turnout. Lots of great questions and suggestions from the attendees. Minutes are posted on the website and have been emailed to the base mailing list.

We’d like to welcome Danni Burk Peterson back to the SEA Benefits Committee. She will bring her knowledge and familiarity with maternity leaves to the Committee, joining LEC Benefits Chairperson Kathy O’Malley and committee member Leanne Canton.

Council Rep. Melinda Jorge and Government Affairs Committee member Jay Styger attended Government Affairs training in LAX in October. ASHSC members David Lake and Timothy Christian-Brookshire attended advanced training as well.

Committee members from all bases participated in a Benefits Training in late October in Seattle. Remember, Annual Enrollment for Benefits has been extended until 11/16/2017 for changes to be effective 1/1/2018. There were some initial glitches with the website but they appear to have been resolved. If you are having difficulty or have questions, Benefits Committee members will be available in the Ready room on the following dates:

• November 8th, 3pm-8pm
• November 9th, 6am-11am
• November 11th, 7am-12pm
• November 12th, 9am-5pm
• November 13th, 7am-12pm

We are well aware that there are continuing problems with JCTE (Crew Access) and with payroll errors. Please go to support.afaalaska.org to report payroll issues, scheduling problems and reserve concerns. Not only does this provide an opportunity for AFA to track trends in order to resolve problems, but it allows us to research each individual situation and respond.

We are finding that many Flight Attendants do not know how to track their hours and pay. Our payroll system is very complex with all the different rates, depending on each situation. The following guidelines may be helpful:

Flight Crew Pay Sheets live forever, unlike Rosters which currently vaporize after 60 days. To see a print out of what you were paid for, look at the Paysheet for the month at issue. You will also find your running sick leave usage and vacation totals in the upper right-hand corner of each sheet.

Save your original line award. Keep a screenshot of every change you make to your awarded line, and in particularly any trips that operate irregularly. Do the same with reserve assignments. This is the material you’ll need to determine whether or not you were paid properly for your flying or reserve duty, and to determine leave eligibility continuing health care benefits and vacation accrual during a leave.

With the start of winter, and the attendance issues, please copy and print or bookmark the following information to assist you in determining your legalities and pay:  http://afanewsletters.org/docs/2/Irregular%20Operations.pdf.

We know that this feels like extra work and agree that it shouldn’t be necessary. It will be necessary information in order to file a ticket at support.afaalaska.org, so that we can resolve your issues as quickly as possible. Without supporting documentation, which can be easily attached to a ticket, it is much more difficult and time consuming to resolve individual issues and to track larger problems. Please know that we are working diligently to ensure that each problem is addressed and rectified as quickly as possible.

We’re growing! Our TSN number is increasing from 11 to 12 based on our increased base size. 53 new Flight Attendants from the most recent class are based in Seattle, and 58 from the next class will be in Seattle as well. Welcome to our latest additions to the Seattle base!

Inflight has just promised no Junior Assigning from 12/16-31, thanks to the increased Reserve coverage. They have also asked that you provide as much notice as possible (at least 30 days for a non emergency situation) when applying for a leave of absence.

This is the start of a hectic holiday season, and we wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

In Solidarity,

Terry, Jake, Adam, Melinda and Megan

Council #19 LEC Meeting

November 01, 2017, 1-4 pm

1:02pm Call Meeting to Order

Meeting called to order by Terry Taylor (LEC President)

Report from Terry Taylor

•  Gave grievance report

•  OS Ticketing System working well, if you have an issue file a ticket.

•  AFA Office has moved to 11th Floor of Seatac Towers South

Report from Jake Jones – Vice President

•  Working on clearing OS tickets

•  Scheduling Review Board has been established to remove scheduling issues from ADR.

•  TSN Count Starting in December will now be 12

Report from Adam Clarey – Secretary

•  Currently under budget for the year

•  Membership is up to date, and our base is continuing to grow. Dues Delinquency is down.

•  Increase in subscribers to AFA newsletter since Seniority Integration List was mailed.

1:15pm Merger, Integration and Negotiations

•  MEC President Jeff Peterson joined us for discussion related to our integration process with VX, Joint Collective Bargaining Negotiations, and Opentime Negotiations.  Completed latest Merger Negotiations last week, have another one coming up in November.  At this time will not be publishing survey results, but there were no surprises about the Alaska Flight Attendant priorities.

•  Will we vote on a Joint Agreement?  Yes, once an agreement is reached and the MEC approves it being sent to membership all AS and VX Flight Attendants will vote on the tentative agreement.

•  Do we vote on the Seniority List? No separate process outside of negotiations done by the Seniority Merger Integration Committee.

•  We can’t integrate our workgroup until management has the joint seniority list, and they won’t receive it until after we have a joint agreement.

•  Could a Virgin and Alaska Flight Attendant be working on the same plane under different pay scales prior to a joint agreement? No

2:45pm – Scheduling and Crew Access Updates

Jake Jones, Council 19 Vice President and MEC Scheduling Chair discussed Crew Access problems, issues, and scheduling concerns.  Currently 400 issues on the Flight Attendant side in Crew Access.  Management has contracted 400 hours each month from Jeppesen to fix issues, 400 hours are shared by all departments to fix issues.  Each month we select 5 issues between the Flight Attendants and Pilots for Jeppesen to fix.  2 issues are specifically Flight Attendant issues and 1 issue is a common issue.  Many pay problems associated with Crew Access.  Please file a ticket, support@afaalaska.org.  Activity Claims have increased from approximately 400 each month to over 1500.  A new payroll system is scheduled to be rolled out by Alaska on April 1st.

3:55pm Committee Reports

Inflight Service Committee Chair (ISC)- Ross DeJong gave a brief overview of the service testings happening currently.

Reports given electronically and will be posted

4:00pm Late Agenda Items

None

4:05pm Announcements

Welcome Dani Burk Peterson to Benefits Committee specializing in Maternity starting today 11/1/17

4:07pm Call for Adjournment of Meeting

Council 19 Base Meeting

Please remember that the Council 19 Base Meeting is scheduled for November 1st, 1pm-4pm at the Hampton Inn and Suites (across from the Flight Ops/Training building), 18850 28th Avenue South, SeaTac WA 98188. The meeting will be held in the Galaxy Conference Room .

AGENDA

• Merger & Joint Collective Bargaining Updates
• Crew Access Updates
• Committee Reports
• Q & A

September Update

Never Forget – the events of 9/11/2001

Every year, AFA-CWA provides an Honor Guard to attend the ceremonies honoring the sacrifices of the Flight Attendants who lost their lives on 9/11. This year, former MEC Legislative Affairs Chair Bev Bullock was nominated and selected as an Honor Guard member, in recognition of her efforts to advance our legislative agenda to Never Forget.  Council #19 is proud to join AFA-CWA in recognizing her efforts and all she has done to honor our heroes.  We congratulate her on her much deserved selection as an Honor Guard member.

Retirement Committee Vacancy

Seattle currently has a vacancy on the Retirement Committee. If this is an area of interest or experience, please submit a Resume and Letter of Interest to Terry Taylor, terry.taylor@afaalaska.org, no later than end of business day 10/1/17. This is not a terribly “time consuming” committee, with two meetings per year, one in late November or early December, and one in May. Feel free to email Terry with any questions.

Open Enrollment

Open enrollment for 2018 benefits changes and additions is scheduled to take place October 23rd-November 13th. Look for information regarding base visits for assistance with the process as we get closer to the date.

Please Welcome New Members to the Inflight Service Committee!

We would like to welcome LeAnne Canton, Jerry Sinclair, Michelle Cooper, Rita Tillou, Libby Green, Antoine Smith-Rouse and Grace Dunning to the Inflight Service Committee! Thanks for volunteering!

Cornerstone Training and Crew Access

We are aware that there were significant difficulties for many flight attendants with the Cornerstone App and with completing the recent door training module. We have heard how frustrating many found this process. The ongoing issues with Crew Access are equally concerning. We are pleased that Jake Jones is returning to the MEC Scheduling Committee Chair position to assist the Scheduling Committee with gathering information and facilitating solutions.

Summer Activity

Seattle Council Representatives Megan Brown and Melinda Jorge have completed the second session of Officer Training. They were also able to attend the annual FADAP meeting in Baltimore at the end of August. Please feel free to contact them as well as your other Local Officers with any questions or concerns.

Having Problems?

Please use the AFA Alaska Online Support Center website (http://support.afaalaska.org) to file complaints, or to contact us for resolution of scheduling concerns. With over 2,200 Flight Attendants in the Seattle base, it’s more important than ever that we report, track and monitor all issues. If it is a scheduling related problem, please attach screenshots, and explain your situation thoroughly.This will ensure that we have sufficient information to research your concern. Your scheduling or reserve issues will automatically be forwarded to the appropriate committee for resolution.

Are You Connected?

Council #19 Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/AFA-Council-19-Seattle-538630496190284/

Council 19 Text Alerts:  https://www.remind.com/join/sea19

In Solidarity,

Your Council #19 Officers

Terry Taylor, Jake Jones, Adam Clarey, Megan Brown & Melinda Jorge