Dear Seattle Flight Attendants, 

Its with our deepest regrets that we announce that Beth Hogger and Danni Peterson have decided to retire from the Council 19 Maternity Committee. They have spent countless years helping Seattle FAs understand their rights and benefits while going out on a maternity leave. We would like to express our extreme gratitude and thanks to both of them for everything they have done for our base. You are both going to be greatly missed!

As we move forward, all maternity related issues and questions will be handled by the current benefits committee, below you will find their contact information: 

Kathy O’Malley benefitsassist@hotmail.com 425.238.8219

Laura Masserant laura.masserant@afaalaska.org 360.633.5905

I. Call Meeting to Order – Meeting was called to order at 10:10

  A. Call for late agenda items – Air Quality Study done by Deanne DeWitt (discuss at LEC update)

  B. Announcements – During the Board of Directors (BOD) there could be discussion of raising union dues to $50.00, which is in line with CWA under the merger agreement that was made when they bailed us out.

1. Laura introduce LEC President for Seattle Council 16 from Horizon, Heather Coleman from Horizon and MEC President, Lexie Graham
2. There could be an initiative to try and recruit Skywest/Go Jet and Delta (Delta a little later) Flight Attendants into AFA in the coming year.

II. BOD Agenda Items

A. Laura and Heather went through all 24 agenda items that will be up for vote at the BOD

B. From the flight attendants that were in attendance during the meeting votes were taken and Laura will vote accordingly based on member feedback. Laura will also count all emails sent to her by members by Monday, April 27th.

III. LEC Update

A. Officer Update – Discussed the implementation schedule along with pulling schedules together.

May is going to be a very busy month with many items being implemented on May 1^st.

B. Contract – printed version “hopefully” will be here by June. Right now you can download to phone go on line to the AFA website to download. It can also be put into iBook’s and it is available on the Company iPhone too.

C. Grievance Update – Tt’s been very slow and no terminations have occurred lately!

D. Budget Update – Council 19 is under budget $1100.00 and we should be under for the fiscal year $5000.00 to $7000.00 (which we will get 50% put back into our budget if we have excess        monies)

E. Committees – Erik Velez has moved from the LEC chair of Reserve to the LEC chair of Scheduling and Carole Babcock is now the new LEC chair of the Reserve Committee.

F. Defining the Scheduling Committee – The Company is planning on monthly meeting and these meetings are paid at the Company’s expense per contractual applications. SherriJohn is working hard on pairings and line construction. Please don’t hesitate to email her regarding “good” and “bad” pairings. Feedback to Jake and SherriJohn will help them to try and give us better sequences. If they can convince the company that the “optimizer lines” aren’t good they can go with what the committee feels is a better quality of life for the flight attendants…give them your feedback!

G. Membership – As of 4/7/15 we have a total of 1904 flight attendants at the Seattle base and we have a total amount due to our Seattle base of outstanding dues of $8279.00.

H. QPP – Is a hot issue and Company feels that you are the eligible if you were on a leave. The language clearly states that it goes off of your PBS bid and if you were on a leave your PBS bid award is “zero”. The MEC is waiting for the May 5^th payout date to determine the next step.

I. “Shoegate” is still a growing concern, but the company has not distributed updated language. The current policy is in effect and until it is defined FAs just need to make sure that they are adhering to what is currently in the FAM.

J. Alcohol Policy “revised” – Jeff is trying to get a meeting with Ben, Andy and Ron to discuss this sudden change and we will file a grievance because there is disparaging alcohol policies   throughout the different work group. ***Update- Company reversed its decision, for now.

K. New Hire Orientation – Adam and Linda assisted Carole with the most recent new hire class that came to Seattle base.

L. ADR – Stephanie Adams has been assisting Jennifer with ADR notes and also is working with all of the other grievance reps. Adam is also easing into doing grievance work.

M. Calling/Emailing or Texting a Union Rep – If you are reaching out to an officer/council rep please be mindful that sometimes we are not available because we, too, are flying but will get back to you a.s.a.p. If you are going to email/text or us – it is helpful to include all officers so that we are   not individually working on the same issue.

N. Government Affairs Remember that any of your union dues is used to solicit or campaign for a particular person or Bill. Flight Pac is how things are paid for. You can donate as little as $1.00   or a set amount for the year. Go to our AFA International website and you can sign up. If you need any additional information contact Bev Bullock.

TPP and Fast Tracking – TPP is a Bill that many want passed that would allow over 600 corporations to trade in secret. Also Fast Tracking also is something that we want stopped but many in Congress want to give their authority to the Executive Branch to by pass voting. They need FA’s to send handwritten letters to your congressperson. You can see a sample letter at our org website.

O. Air Quality Funding/Dr. Furlong – Council member Deanne DeWitt asks to consider a late agenda item for the BOD. This agenda item would request that AFA International continue funding in the upcoming fiscal budget for Dr. Furlong and his on-going study of air quality issues. LM is working with International on the agenda item and will prepare a late agenda item for the BOD if necessary.                       

Meeting was adjourned at 2:30 PM and was seconded by Adam Clarey

Have questions about PBS and the way your schedule is built? Steve Poynter and Rebecca Asbell from the PBS Committee as well as Kelly Yeager and Sabrina Blevins from Crew Planning will be available to answer all of your questions in the Seattle Base.

May 7th:  9:AM – 3:PM

May 8th:  5:AM – 1:PM

Please stop by and get all of your questions answered!

Introducing Council 19’s Newest Committee Chairpersons!

We would like to take this opportunity and welcome three new Committee Chairpersons to Council 19…..

Erik Velez – Council 19 LEC Scheduling Chairperson

Erik started his career with Alaska Airlines in 2004 as a CSA in LAX, later transferring to SNA as a Lead CSA. After meeting Nick, his now husband, he moved to Seattle and transferred to Crew Scheduling in 2007, where he worked for 4.5 years. While in Scheduling, he got his feet wet with union involvement and became a shop steward for the IAM Union. As an IAM shop steward he helped his fellow brothers and sisters feel fairly represented and filed grievances as needed. 

In 2011 he made the jump to the Flight Attendant position. As soon as Erik completed his probationary period he joined the Seattle Reserve Committee, later becoming the LEC Reserve Chairperson. 

Recently, Erik and his husband Nick bought a house in Fife where they live together along with their 13 year old cat Trouble and 9 year old dog Scooby. When not working, he enjoys working in the yard, baking and spending time with his family!

Eriks background in scheduling is going to make him a huge asset to the Scheduling Committee and we are excited to have him!

Dena Heath – Council 19 LEC Uniform Committee Chairperson

Dena started her career with Alaska Airlines as a Flight Attendant almost 3 years ago. 

Prior to coming to Alaska Airlines she spent 15 years in Retail Management and holds her degree in Visual Communications from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. Dena is excited to represent and be a voice for our Flight Attendant group in obtaining a uniform that fits the new brand vision while still being fashionable, functional and something we are proud to wear!

Dena lives in Kennydale with her boyfriend of 5 years and their 4 year old Australian Shepard Brody (who is so spoiled he thinks he is a person).

Carole Babcock – Council 19 LEC Reserve Chairperson

Carole has been a Flight Attendant for Alaska Airlines for 10.5 years, however has worked for Alaska for years longer in many different roles. She has been doing AFA work for almost the entire time here as a Flight Attendant with roles on the Reserve Committee as well as with Professional Standards and EAP.

Carole is very passionate about her AFA work and helping both long time and new Flight Attendants be successful in their jobs. When not at work she loves spending time with her family and loved ones.