L-VX Membership Dues Reminders

As of July 2018, all L-VX members that had completed four months of service as a Flight Attendant became responsible for paying AFA membership dues. The easiest and most common way to pay membership dues is through an automatic payroll deduction. In order to authorize that deduction, you must have legibly filled out and submitted a Dues Check-Off (DCO) Form to AFA.

Medical Leaves July 2019

If you were on a medical leave through July 2018, you became responsible for paying AFA membership dues the month you returned to work.

If you went out on a medical leave during or after July 2018, you are responsible for the first three months of membership dues while you are on leave. You will also be responsible for dues if you earned or used any type of wages (vacation, CBT, sick leave coordination, etc.) during your leave.

Delinquency

AFA membership dues become delinquent 90 Days after a monthly payment is posted to your account. James Ikehara, Council 35 SFO LEC Secretary, has already received dues delinquency reports from the AFA-CWA International Office.

If you are behind on dues, it is likely you have received notices from AFA-CWA in the mail, indicating a balance is due. You may receive more than one notification as subsequent months are not paid and become delinquent. If you don’t have a valid address on file, your letter was sent to your Council 35 officers.

How can I confirm if I owe or how much I owe?

Step 1

Review your Dec 31, 2018 Paycheck, Union Dues, Year to Date Column.

If you have made all payments in 2018 you will have had $300 deducted from your paycheck. If less than $300 was deducted, the difference is due.

Step 2

Review your Mar 20, 2019 paycheck, Union Dues, Year-to-Date (YTD) column.

If you are current with your 2019 membership dues, you will have had $150 deducted
from your paycheck, YTD. If less than $150 has been deducted, the difference is due.

Step 3

Add the amounts from Step 1 & Step 2 = amount in arrears

If you have made any payments directly to AFA, subtract that amount from the amount in arrears above. This will indicate the amount you currently owe.

If you were on medical leave or had not completed four months of service as an Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant, your amounts may be different. Please reach out to James Ikehara for assistance.

If you have further questions about your account, please submit an inquiry to membership services.

How do I pay dues in arrears?

Click the link to pay online:

https://unionly.io/o/afacwa/dues

What if I do not pay?

Paying membership dues is a condition of employment which is defined in §28 of the JCBA. Delinquency will place a member in “Bad Standing” and the member will not be able to attend Union Meetings or participate in any voting activities-including officer elections and voting on TAs. After several months of attempting to collect delinquent dues, a member will be placed at “Standing 5,” which is the designation for the final stage of delinquency and AFA will request discharge for non-payment of dues.

Where can I find the DCO Form?

Click the link below to download the form. It must be filled out and mailed to the address listed at the bottom of the form:

Click to access Dues-Check-Off-Form.pdf

You will also found printed copies in the SFO file room on top of the file cabinets. You may fill it out and place it in the lock box for collection and we will mail it for you.

Additional Dues Resources

Please review the following past communications and website regarding dues:

AFA Dues for Legacy Virgin America 4/30/18

Council 35 News 5/7/18

Council 35 News 6/11/18

Dues Check Off Form Reminder 7/12/18

AFA Membership Services website

Your Council 35 Officers-

Melissa, Aladrian and James

Welcome to SFO!

On behalf of your Council 35 officers, we would like to offer a warm welcome to all new SFO base transfers!  Please keep an eye open for a welcome letter which contains resources for SFO.

Don’t Forget to Vote!

It’s election season again, and don’t forget to exercise your right to vote!  SFO will be selecting officers and a newly created Council Representative position which was voted in by members at the August 6, 2018 Membership Meeting.  All Council 35 voting instructions and guidelines can be found on the AFA Elections Page. 

Council 35 Election Dates

Ballots Mailed:                                  April 3, 2019

Polls Open:                                       April 5, 2019

Polls Close /Results:                      May 2, 2019

Term Date Start:                              July 1, 2019

Term Date End:                                June 30, 2022

Commuter Policy

With the transition of the L-VX Commuter Policy to the Commuter Policy outlined in the JCBA, Council 35 has received many questions about how to use the policy.  To list as D8Y you must be traveling to/from work and only between registered cities. That means if you pick up out of domicile you cannot use D8Y commuter status to reposition for the assignment if the city is not the registered city on file. The booking or listing can be multiple legs; however, the final destination should be your registered city. For example, to commute out of PHX which has no regular service between PHX and SFO, you can use D8Y to book travel for a commute however it would include a connection in SEA or PDX.   For more information please review the commuter policy in §28.G of the JCBA. To register as a commuter, submit a completed commuter form on Alaskasworld inflight page:

Administration>>Commuter Form

D-Pairings and Reassignments

There seems to be some confusion about which Flight Attendant gets reassigned or offered a deadhead (DHD) when there is a down-grade of aircraft or a crew complement over minimum crew is assigned to a sequence.  The JCBA defines reassignments to go in seniority order, allowing the most senior person to decide if they would like a reassignment or be offered the deadhead.  This applies to crews on the same sequence (or pairing number) and does not apply to sequences where a D-position F/A is assigned. The D-position has a separate sequence (pairing) number and whenever present, the D will be the F/A that will be removed, reassigned or may choose to DHD. Guidelines for reassignments can be found in §10.R of the JCBA.

No 480 Requirement for L-VX in 2019

As a reminder, the transition agreement outlines the 480 requirements for Legacy VX Flight Attendants.  L-VX will not be held accountable for the 480 requirements until 2020, which means that for 2019, L-VX F/As do not have to maintain 480 hours to receive the benefits associated with the program.  For more information please reference the L-VX Transition Agreement.

Flight Attendant Wish List Items 

Now that L-VX Flight Attendants are represented by AFA, we are lucky to have a professional group of Union negotiators that formally approaches management with AS Flight Attendant needs.  The contract dictates when we discuss “wish list” items, which is normally reserved for §6 negotiations (when the contract becomes amendable) or occasionally AFA and management find opportunities to resolve individual issues through side Letters of Agreements.  These Letters of Agreements have the full force of the contract and are binding.  An example of this is the upcoming Bay Area Co-Terminal Negotiations.  Per the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) the company does not have the ability to unilaterally implement a Co-terminal without negotiating AFA’s agreement. Management asked AFA to enter negotiations and we organized a group of negotiating committee members to participate in those discussions.  

To approach the company outside of agreed upon discussions with a wish list is not the current practice and will not normally be successful.  It is important strategically to allow the appointed negotiating committees to speak directly with management regarding the desires and wishes of the Flight Attendant group as a whole.  This is the art of negotiation and for many F/As at L-VX this process is new.  Rather than sending management your “wish list,” please remember to reach out to your Council 35 officers for input on future items for the bargaining table.  You may even be approached by management at certain times of negotiations and asked about your views.  If this happens, please let them know your negotiating committee speaks for you! For more information about contract negotiations, please visit the Negotiation Process on our webpage.

FAQs

How do I contact Council 35 officers?

The best way to contact Council 35 officers is via email.  Emails are easier to forward for follow up and to have a record of information.  Using your personal email account, please know that concerns received by Council 35 are held in confidence and will not be shared for follow up without the permission of the original sender.  Avoid using your alaskaair.com email to share concerns as those accounts are not private and subject to audits. To get the fastest and most thorough response, please email sfo@afalaska.org.  All officers can respond to emails sent to that address which facilitates a more efficient use of resources.  Please allow at least 24 business hours for a response to any method of contact.

In Solidarity,

Melissa Osborne

LEC President
Alaska Airlines Council 35, San Francisco

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO

melissa.osborne@afaalaska.org
415.215.1322

Aladrian Hillmon

LEC Vice President
Alaska Airlines Council 35, San Francisco

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO

aladrian.hillmon@afaalaska.org

415.991.3791

James Ikehara

LEC Secretary

Alaska Airlines Council 35, San Francisco

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO

james.ikehara@afaalaska.org
206.457.2010 ext. 7002

So Many New Rules—Help!

Now that we are no longer under the L-VX Work Rules and have integrated into the JCBA, the Council 35 Scheduling and Reserve Committees have been busy fielding questions about the many changes L-VX Flight Attendants must now be familiar with as they fly the line.  As a result, your Council 35 officers decided that a special “Scheduling Edition” of our monthly newsletter would be helpful to SFO members.  Please remember to refer back to the JCBA for the sections referenced below.

Scheduling FAQs

New Name, Same Function

L-AS refers to CSS as “crew scheduling,” or abbreviated as “CSKED.” CSS or Crew Support Services is no longer the appropriate term to use when referring to “scheduling.”

Reduced Rest—§8.K

Reduced RON rest provisions include:

•  2.5X the trip rate for the entire pairing if your rest falls below 9:30 on one of your overnights
• CSKED may contact F/As during rest (once is allowed) to adjust report time to above 9:30
• F/As that acknowledge the change before report time, the report time (and consequent duty day) will be adjusted to reflect a new rest time
  • Important note:  2.5X rate is not applicable if F/A acknowledges the change to increase rest or scheduling makes contact with you regarding the reassignment
  • Refer to §8.Q for contactability requirements when on a layover and returning CSKED’s call after the commencement of the F/A’s next duty period

Reserve Contactability—§8.Q

• Reserve F/As are required to contact CSKED as soon as possible at the beginning of the next duty period 
• Reserve F/As are to remain contactable during all duty periods

Pre-Cancellation and Reassignments—§10.S.2 & §10.S.3

If pre-cancellation occurs day prior to scheduled assignment before 2000:

• F/A may be offered an alternate assignment
  • If assignment is outside of original footprint in excess of 2 hours earlier or release later, F/A may decline and request another reassignment 
• F/A may decline and waive pay protection
• F/A may decline and request an alternate assignment 
  • If no reassignment is available F/A will be released with pay protection
  • F/A may decline reassignment and waive pay protection 
  • If footprint limitations aren’t met, F/A may decline with pay protection
• If F/A fails to acknowledge CSKED/CrewAccess notification, F/A must report at original report time
• Acknowledgment of pre-cancellations and reassignments to CSKED must be by phone

If pre-cancellation occurs between 2000-2359 the night prior to scheduled pairing: 

• F/A is pay protected
• F/A must acknowledge cancellation with CSKED by phone
• Failure to acknowledge will result in potential points assessment (refer to §32 Attendance Policy)

If pre-cancellation occurs while flying:

• F/A must acknowledge cancellation with CSKED by phone no later than release at domicile
• Failure to acknowledge will result in potential points assessment (refer to §32 Attendance Policy)

Same day as scheduled pairing:

• Considered a reassignment

Calling-In Well/Sick Leave Make-Up—§16.L&N

The new procedure for calling-in well/sick leave make-up are different than the process outlined in the L-VX Work Rules/Playbook.  Please review §16.L&N for specific details before calling-in well or making-up sick leave to understand the differences.

FAR Violations—FAM 7.200

In the event of a potential FAR violation (i.e. rest below 8 hours/ less than 24/7, etc.) be aware that it is the responsibility of the Flight Attendant to know FAR violations and to contact Crew Scheduling (CSKED) to adjust the pairing if necessary.  

Activity Claim Form

Not all pay provisions are automatically added to your monthly TFP. To see a list of the activities that require an Activity Claim Form (ACF), please visit:

Alaskasworld>> Inflight WebPage>>Administration>>Pay&Benefits>>Activity Claim Form

A drop-down menu provides a list of all the pay activities that require a separate claim.  Failure to file an ACF will result in nonpayment for the activity. Additionally, some items will be added automatically.  For more information about ACF, please visit: 

Alaskasworld>> Inflight WebPage>>Administration>>Pay&Benefits>>Activity Claim Form Instructions

Pairing Construction

To understand the AS pairing construction process, please visit the Pairing Construction 101 page on our website.  AFA is an active participant in the pairing creation process and is always seeking ways to improve desired pairings for each base’s needs.

For the month of April, AFA’s pairings were chosen which increased the amount of 4 days to 11.3% (February was 9%). Please keep an eye open for a survey from the PBS committee about preferred pairings to provide guidance to the pairing analyst when creating soft locks (most desired trips) for SFO in the future.

NavBlu/Crewaccess Base Sits

More base sits will be scheduled for March, April and May to assist with bidding and scheduling adjustments.  Dates and times will be published on the NavBlu info page.

For more scheduling information, please reach out to the SFO Scheduling (Line-holder) Committee  sfo.scheduling@afaalaska.org or the or Reserve Committee sfo.reserve@afaalaska.org:

• Virgina Fritz—Scheduling Chair, virginia.fritz@afaalaska.org
• Jaqui Bellenie—Scheduling Committee Member, jabellenie@gmail.com
• Julie Pearson—Scheduling Committee Member, jkinosian@gmail.com
• Rachel Sebastian—Reserve Chair, rachel.sebastian@afaalaska.org

In Solidarity,
Your Council 35 Officers – 

Quarterly Point Reduction Form (PRF)

Although the Stuff Happens Pass provision has fully retired with the transition to the AS F/A Attendance Policy ( §32 of the JCBA ), L-VX F/As now have the option to use the quarterly Point Reduction Form (PRF).  Flight Attendants may opt to use the PRF on an absence for themselves to eliminate the associated points.  This form can only be used once a quarter to avoid points from a sick call.

Important Note: This form must be completed prior to the end of your next flown sequence

References:
§32.C.3 – Reported Illness Using Quarterly Point Reduction
§32.C.13 – Chargeable Occurrence
§32.D – Time Limit for Quarterly Point Reduction Designation

In solidarity,

Your Council 35 Officers-
Melissa, Aladrian and James