The entire MEC and many LEC officers will be attending the 2015 AFA-CWA BOD meeting
The entire Master Executive Council (MEC) and many of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers will be attending the 2015 AFA-CWA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting this coming week April 28th-30th. This annual meeting is where AFA conducts the business of our union at the international level. Voting members of the BOD from AFA Alaska are Council 30 ANC President Becky Strachan, Council 19 SEA President Laura Masserant, Council 39 PDX President Cathy Gwynn, Council 18 LAX President Sandra Morrow and Council 15 SAN President Stephen Couckuyt. MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, MEC Vice President Brian Palmer and MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Gesch are non-voting ex officio members.
Relevant highlights of the BOD schedule
Relevant highlights of the BOD schedule that our members may find interesting:
- Sunday 4/26 9am – 5pm – May MEC meeting
- Sunday 4/26 6:30pm – 8:30pm – Negotiations Roundtable
- Monday 4/27 8:30am-11am – Executive Board of Directors meeting (comprised of all the MEC presidents of each carrier)
- Monday 4/27 6pm – 7:45pm – Defending Collective Bargaining Rights discussion with Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV 1st district) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR 4th district & Transportation & Infrastructure Committee chairman)
- Tuesday 4/28 9am-9:30pm – BOD meeting
- Tuesday 4/28 12:30pm-1:30pm – Human Trafficking Awareness & Reporting with Airline Ambassadors President Nancy Rivard and Chris Hansen of “Dateline NBC” & “To Catch a Predator”
- Wednesday 4/29 9am-9pm – BOD meeting
- Thursday 4/30 9am-5pm – BOD meeting
Full BOD schedule
For the full BOD schedule click here.
Index of BOD agenda items
For the index of BOD agenda items click here.
Will there be a dues increase?
This is always a contentious topic whenever it comes up. Under the 2004 AFA-CWA Merger Agreement, AFA dues are “determined by the AFA Board of Directors and shall be equal to the average monthly dues of CWA members.” You can find the merger agreement at the back of the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws. AFA dues are currently $48 per month. The average monthly dues of CWA members is currently somewhere around $50 to $51 per month, so it’s looking likely that dues would have to go up simply to meet the obligations of the merger agreement.
However, US Airways and AirTran have also left the ranks of AFA due to mergers. That means the number of dues paying members in AFA has significantly decreased, which affects revenue. Consequently the AFA Board of Directors is faced with making some difficult budgetary decisions. As the voting members of the BOD, your LEC presidents are committed to the preservation of the quality of collective bargaining and representation in our union. We are also equally as committed to minimizing a dues increase.
We thank you for being engaged in the process and will represent your interests in good faith
The MEC thanks all our members for being engaged in the process. Please know that we will represent your interests in good faith at the BOD. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your LEC president.
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In solidarity,
Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt
