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Upcoming Port of Seattle Commission Race

The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to share some very interesting information with you about the upcoming Port of Seattle Commission race, in which there is one open seat up for election.  Why are we writing to the entire group about a local election? The outcome of this particular election could have fairly significant consequences for Alaska Air Group. Why?

Nine candidates are currently announced as running. One of the candidates–Ken Rogers—is a pilot for Delta Air Lines. Not only that but he also just stepped down from Delta’s board of directors.  What is even crazier is that according to publicly available funding reports, almost all of Captain Rogers’ campaign contributions have arguably come more or less directly from Delta Air Lines—via contributions from board members, executives and other Delta employees.

Alaska Air Group management is very concerned about the outcome of this election because there are several very significant Sea-Tac Airport issues that the Port Commission sets policy on that have a big impact on whether the competitive playing field is level.

Alaska is tracking the Port of Seattle race closely and believes there are two candidates who are worthy of the consideration and support of King County (Seattle) residents:

  • Herb Krohn, the Washington state legislative director for the United Transportation Union, which represents railroad and other transit workers.
  • Darrell Bryan, the recently retired president of Clipper Navigation, which operates the Victoria Clipper boats.

The top two candidates in the August 4 primary election will advance to the general election in November.  Ballots for the primary will be mailed to King County residents on July 15th.

More information can be found on Alaska’s World at http://alaskasworld.com/News/2015/07/15_port_race.asp.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt and MEC Government Affairs Chairperson Bev Bullock

AFA Alaska Logo No Tag

Your Best AFA Resource: Your Local Council

Our union is built on a strong foundation that starts in your base at your Local Council.  Within your Local Council, you directly elect the officers who serve you and represent you at all levels of AFA.  Those same officers, along with your appointed committee members and chairs, are also your best point of contact when you need AFA support.

Whether you need a question answered, information clarified, or have a pressing situation that you need help with, these AFA leaders and representatives stand ready to assist you.  Here are some tips to get help when you need it:

Have a specific question?  Start with your Local Committees.

Local Committees are made up of fellow Flight Attendants from your base that specialize in helping you with specific areas of importance.  They are an expert, a resource, and a voice in the work of their committee.  You can contact the committee chair or any member of the committee for help.

AFA Committees

Want to know more about what each committee does?  Visit http://afaalaska.org/committees and click on the committee you’d like to know more about!

Bigger issue?  Your Local Executive Council (LEC) Officers are here to help!

If you don’t know which committee to contact or you have a concern that is outside the scope of the committees, the place to go for help is one of your LEC Officers.  Your LEC Officers are fellow Flight Attendants from your base who are directly elected to represent you.  When you think, “I need help from the Union,” your next step should be to contact one of your LEC Officers!

Officer Contacts

What about the Master Executive Council (MEC)?

The MEC Officers and Committee Chairs work behind the scenes to address issues that are affecting multiple bases or all Flight Attendants.  As a coordinating group, the MEC takes direction from the LEC Officers or Local Committees.  When you need help, you should contact your directly elected LEC Officers; they will first work to resolve issues locally and then elevate things to the MEC-level for resolution as appropriate.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Local Council for assistance or clarification.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

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Council 19 Maternity Committee Changes

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

Council 19 Local Base Meeting Minutes

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 1st.

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 5th 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

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee Meeting Recap – May 2026

On Wednesday, May 20, our Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) representatives met virtually to discuss ongoing safety concerns, operational challenges, policy updates, and workplace improvements impacting Flight Attendants across the operation. Representing you at the meeting were Deb Wallstrom (ANC), David Lake (SEA), Kalin Lackey (PDX), Bradley Young (SFO), Bryce Sarmiento (LAX pmAS), […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – May 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, May 26, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met virtually to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Rebekah Olds (ANC), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), […]

Struggling With A Coworker? Consider AFA Professional Standards.

We all know flying can be demanding—long days, irregular hours, and fatigue are part of the job. It’s natural for tensions to rise. Before you head to management or vent on social media, consider Professional Standards. In this video, Ava McWilliams-Ellington, pre-merger Alaska LAX EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson, shares how Professional Standards provides a confidential, […]

Crew Meal Survey Closing Soon

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants Our Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is committed to prioritizing your nutrition during the work day through our crew meal provisions. We are eager to hear your thoughts on which elements of crew meals are most meaningful to you, as we continue to advocate for […]

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