This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants
Yesterday the SEA Negotiating Committee announced that we have reached an agreement with management to open a Hawaiian Flight Attendant domicile in SEA and that the agreement was ratified by the Master Executive Council (MEC). As your Local Council President and a member of the SEA Negotiating Committee, I would like to address a few important provisions of the agreement and the reason for MEC ratification.
This is an important deal with improvements and protections for Hawaiian Flight Attendants. There are no givebacks – there are only gets – including the elimination of the 787-9 One-Way Staffing Carve Out and the reduction of the ER crew-to-load provision to 85%. Two of the most important protections we secured are the right for Hawaiian Flight Attendants to return their domicile of origin beginning with the ratification of a JCBA and protection against involuntary assignment to SEA for 18 months. Without these two important protections, Flight Attendants would be at greater risk of either not being able to return to domicile of origin or being forced to move to SEA.
That brings me to the reason for MEC ratification. I believe that protections that give Flight Attendants and their families the peace of mind to know that they will remain attached to their home, whether here in the islands or Los Angeles, are extremely important. I believe protections as important as these must be secured when the opportunity presents itself. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be forced to move to SEA to in order to continue your career as a Hawaiian Airlines Flight Attendant but at the cost of leaving your family behind in Hawaiʻi. Family means everything. If we care about our fellow Flight Attendants, their well-being, and their families who support them, we should understand that securing these kinds of protections are an absolute must.
It should be noted that the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws provides that ratification of letters of agreement shall normally be by Master Executive Council vote only; however, the Master Executive Council of an airline may vote for membership ratification of a particular side letter. Here at Hawaiian, the letters of agreement that have been put out for membership ratification were either for concessions (cuts to pay and/or work rules) that affected everyone or new equipment acquisitions like the A321 and the B787-9.
Given all of these considerations (the improvements in the letter of agreement, that it provides protection that helps to keep Flight Attendants and their families connected to their domicile of origin, and the well-established practice of letter of agreement ratifications at Hawaiian), I fully support the MEC ratification of the Seattle Domicile Letter of Agreement. It is the right thing to do if one cares about our fellow Flight Attendants and their families.
In Solidarity,
Martin Gusman
President
Honolulu Council 43
