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Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

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Council 19 Retirement Committee Update

The method of paying the Administrative Charges for the 401(k) plan have changed, as was noted in the last Retirement Board meeting minutes last spring.  All plan participants have been notified, and a legal notice is available on the Vanguard website.  For some, although the fees were not transparent earlier, the fees will actually decrease.  The original method was a ‘sliding scale’ which was based on account balance.  The new plan is a flat $12/per participant each quarter.

Have you logged on to your Vanguard account? It’s easy to do and everyone should know how to monitor their allocations, make changes, and track their retirement accounts.

Log on to Alaskasworld/Benefits/Retirement to view the retirement website. There is helpful information located on this page that you should review.
Locate Vanguard.com to log on to your 401(k) account.
There is a new feature that allows you to increase your 401(k) allocation each year.
Are you considering retirement? Please review the information listed on the Retirement page on Alaskasworld and contact your AFA Retirement committee with any questions!

Council 19 LEC Committee Chairperson: Tim Roddy

http://afaalaska.org/sea

http://afaalaska.org/retirement

MEC Officer Interviews

MEC Officer Interviews will be held during the MEC Meeting October 24th-26th. MEC Officers serve a three year term.  We will be interviewing candidates who expressed interest in holding one of the MEC officer positions for the upcoming term of January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019.

Position Candidate(s)
MEC President Jeffrey Peterson
MEC Vice President Brian Palmer
Kelly Letourneau
MEC Secretary/Treasurer Linda Christou

The five Councils will be represented at the MEC Meeting and will each cast one vote for each position.

LEC President Laura Masserant will represent Council 19 at the October MEC Meeting.

Please email  Laura.Masserant@afaalaska.org with any comments.

The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council is passing along this important message from our International officers as a service to our members who had their primary residence impacted by Hurricane Matthew. Please note the AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Fund is open to contributions either by check or electronic payment. Information on how to make a donation is now available at www.afacwa.org.

afa-cwa-disaster-relief-fund-logo

Help from the AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Fund For Hurricane Matthew

We know that disasters can change lives forever. While we can’t stop destructive events from happening, we can, as a Union, assist our members with their recovery. AFA established the disaster relief fund after September 11th to assist our members whose lives were placed in harms way. AFA members and retirees, whose primary residence is in the counties listed below and who have suffered damage and/or dislocation, are eligible for $200.00 from the AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Fund. It is a gift made possible by the generosity of your fellow union sisters and brothers with AFA.

Florida Counties: Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia.

Georgia Counties: Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, McIntosh, and Wayne.

North Carolina Counties: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Pender, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson.

South Carolina Counties: Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, Lee, Marion, Orangeburg, Sumter and Williamsburg.

If you would like to apply for AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Funds, download the Disaster Relief Fund Application and fax it to the International AFA EAP Department at 202-434-1411 or mail it to AFA-CWA EAP Department, 501 Third Street NW, 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001-2797.   You can also e-mail this same information to lfoster@afanet.org or phone in the necessary information to 1-800-424-2406.

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to AFA members affected by Hurricane Matthew and their families during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Sara Nelson, International President

Debora Sutor, International Vice-President

Kevin Creighan, International Secretary-Treasurer

afa-cwa-application-for-disaster-relieve-fund

Information prepared by Judith Anderson, AFA Air, Safety, Health and Security Department (ASHSD)

AFA members are invited to participate in a University of Colorado health study that is intended to assess the health effects of flight attendants’ onboard exposures to second-hand smoke. AFA has reviewed the study and sees no reasons to discourage participation by AFA members. This bulletin gives you the “skinny” to review so that you can decide if you’d like to share the information with your members and invite them to participate.

The study is led by University of Colorado pulmonologist, Dr. Bill Vandivier, and is funded by a Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) grant. FAMRI was established in 2000 with $300M in funds from a large class action lawsuit against big tobacco that was settled in 1997. The organization funds research to assess the health effects of exposure to tobacco smoke.

The purpose of the study is to compare the (primarily respiratory) health of people in three groups – flight attendants who flew for any length of time before the smoking ban, flight attendants who have flown for any length of time since the smoking ban, and a “control group” of people who have not worked as flight attendants. The intent is for the control group to be made up of family/friends of the flight attendants in the study (esp. friends) because they would have similar life outside of flying. Control group members need to be 50 or older because the flight attendants who flew pre- ban are not expected to be younger than that, and you want a similar age group to control for any effects of age.

Participation involves travel to the University of Colorado clinic in Denver, where participants spend about 3.5 hours completing a series of health and exposure surveys (some of which can be completed in advance, if preferred), plus a physical, lung function, volume, and diffusion (how effectively air moves across the lung wall – measure of oxygen transfer/uptake) tests, and a nasal swab.

A few notes regarding the survey questions: First, there are some questions about potential occupational exposures to chemicals other than second-hand smoke (SHS) such as fuel fumes. That’s to control for the respiratory health impact(s) of those exposures and focus on the effects of SHS. Second, the majority of the health questions ask about respiratory health (to be expected) but some ask about depression/anxiety “in the past 7 days,” cognitive function “in the past 4 weeks,” and whether the person answering the questions is currently taking anti-depressants. AFA asked about the relevance of those mental health/cognitive questions and this was the answer: “The study looks at the long-term effect of secondhand smoke exposure on the development of lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD has many effects outside the lung, including increased cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression and use of health care resources. It also worsens cognition and quality of life. So they ask those questions to have a deeper understanding of the effects of secondhand smoke exposure beyond lung function.” Finally, all personal health information is encrypted and de-identified to ensure confidentiality. Pressed on that last point, the investigators assured AFA that the data collected will not be shared with the airlines under any circumstances.

To defray some travel costs, participants who live in Denver are paid $50, in the Denver area (but not in Denver) $100, and outside of the Denver area the choice of either $100 or a hotel room for a night. The research team has already recruited about 150 people, but they are hoping for 600 (or even more) and want to encourage people to sign up because the larger their sample size, the greater the statistical “power,” which allows them to more reliably answer their research questions.

To sign up, members can call 303-724-6067 or send an email to famri@ucdenver.edu. Any more questions, please call or email Judith Anderson – judith@AFAnet.org or 206-932-6237.

The following AFA Council 30 Anchorage Flight Attendants were elected to a Local Executive Council (LEC) term of office beginning January 1, 2017, and ending December 31, 2019. Certified Council 30 Anchorage election results are posted on www.afacwa-elections.org, or click here.

Council 30 Anchorage officers-elect

LEC President: Lisa Pinkston

LEC Vice President: Karen Farrell

LEC Secretary: Laura Rueckert

The Master Executive Council (MEC) congratulates the officers-elect and we sincerely thank all those who stepped forward to run in the election.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

National Child Indentificaiton Test Kits

The Association of Flight Attendants has joined the American Football Coaches Association to help protect our children. All items are completed and stored at home. If ever needed, you can provide this information to authorities to help reunite a missing child with your family.

Get your kit in the Seattle Inflight Service Center/Crew Room and in the Seattle Flight Ops Recurrent Training Room

Over 800,000 children are missing every year- that’s one every 40 seconds! 

Why should we fingerprint our children?

  • 450,000 children run away each year
  • 300,000 children are abducted each year by family members
  • More than 58,000 children are abducted every year by non-family members

That’s more than 800,000 children in America missing each year – one child every 40 seconds. Yet, when the National Child Identification Program began; less than two percent of parents had a copy of their child’s fingerprints to use in case of an emergency.

The National Child Identification Program is a community service initiative dedicated to changing these statistics by providing parents and guardians with a tool they can use to help protect their children. The ID Kit allows parents to collect specific information by easily recording the physical characteristics and fingerprints of their children on identification cards that are then kept at home by the parent or guardian. If ever needed, this ID Kit will give authorities vital information to assist their efforts to locate a missing child.

order-forms

For more information on this program visit www.childidprogram.com

Help protect your family ~ A gift of safety, from our AFA family to yours.

In solidarity,

Council 19 LEC Officers

Council 19 EAP Committee Update

Our MEC EAP Chairs Elizabeth Dillon and Jeanne McCleave are working on a Return to Work policy with HR, Inflight,  and AFA. The working group consists of members from management and AFA: Leslee Cabulagan (Manager Inflight Performance)  and Sara Gray (Manager of Benefits) are leading the group. Ron Calvin (Managing Director of Inflight), Melanie Buker (AFA SAN VP), Elizabeth Dillon and Jeanne McCleave (AFA MEC EAP co-Chairs) are also working hard to create the program. The group will be presenting a proposal to Ben and Brad before the end of the year.
The 6th annual FADAP conference was attended by EAP Committee members in September. There was a huge turnout, with 43 Alaska employees including Inflight Management, AFA officers, EAP’s and mentors, as well as flight attendants. If you have never been to the FADAP website, it’s a fantastic resource for anyone you may know who is struggling with substance use or dependence.
Lastly, we will be holding a Fall EAP meeting on October 25th and we would like to welcome our newest EAP Representative, Caroline Berthiume. On October 26th, Heather Healy, AFA International EAP Director, will facilitate a 2 day initial EAP class for the Inflight Managers in Seattle. 
 
Please remember that EAP is a peer led group of Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants and it is 100% confidential. We are here to help you. Please call or email us at any time.

Council 19 LEC EAP Chairperson: Lisa Haugen

http://afaalaska.org/sea

http://afaalaska.org/eap

Council 19 Virtual Local Council Meeting

 November 2, 2016 ~ 1:00-3:00 pm

You’ve asked and your LEC Officers have listened–We are pleased to announce our first virtual Local Council Meeting!  Mark your calendar for Wednesday, November 2.  We’ll be broadcasting the meeting from 1 to 3 PM, Pacific time.

Link to agenda: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NHSWZs-CiGeZigW4zMyG80bMbTNr7xndBIL_y5d6IHg/edit?usp=sharing

If you have an agenda item email your LEC Officers at sea@afaalaska.org before November 1, 2016.

System Requirements

AFA Alaska uses YouTube to stream live broadcasts such as our Local Council meeting.  In order to watch the broadcast, you’ll need to be able to view YouTube videos on your computer or mobile device.  Check to make sure that you can access YouTube on your computer or device at http://www.youtube.com.  A YouTube app is also available for iOS and Android users.

Using Live Chat During the Meeting

To interact using live chat during the meeting, you’ll need to be signed in to YouTube using a Google account on a computer. Please note that live chat is not available on mobile devices. No need to worry if you only have a mobile device, we’ll have other ways for you to ask questions and give feedback during the meeting.

If you don’t already have a Google account, you can sign up for one for free.  Instructions for creating a Google account can be found at http://support.google.com.

If you have any questions about this process let your LEC Officers know. We will be sending out additional information on how to access the virtual meeting next week.

In Solidarity,

Your LEC Officers

Council 19 Government Affairs Committee Update

Government Affairs started out the quarter with our new chair Kris Hall attending her AFA 101 committee training on July 11th. She was excited to learn about the foundations of the AFA and how the AFA has grown to become the union it is today. Loving all things history, she enjoyed learning about how and why the AFA came to be and is proud to be an active member of a union steeped in struggles and triumphs.

July 18-July 21 she attended the Next Gen CWA Conference in Detroit where she met with other AFA-CWA Next Gen activists and attended workshops collecting ideas and asking questions on how to best organize the Alaska Airlines flight attendant group. Finding the flight attendant workgroup unique in and of itself, she appreciated meeting and gathering with other AFA members from other airlines and listening and inquiring about their differences and similarities in mobilizing their workgroups.

During September and working with our MEC Chair Krystle Berry, the Seattle Government Affairs Committee participated in the National Voter Registration Day.  We canvassed the Seattle terminal updating Flight Attendants’ voter registration address as well as registering Flight Attendants to vote in the upcoming November elections.  We also had Flight PAC information and handed out bag tags to those who signed up to participate.

With the Presidential elections on the horizon  and on everyone’s minds this Fall, the Governmental Affairs Committee has been actively searching for new members and is excited to announce their newest member, Tiffany Roget. Tiffany Roget comes to us with an impressive background in government, politics and research. We very recently added her to our committee and are both excited and thrilled to see the many places she will take us with her time and dedication!

Remember that Election Day is November 8th, 2016! So many decisions that affect our workplace are made in Congress—your vote as an AFA-CWA union member matters. Your voice counts. The best way to promote aviation safety and better improve the future of our profession and the working conditions on our airplanes today is to be able to help elect Senators and House Representatives who support and defend issues that are important to flight attendants. Some of these concerns are protecting U.S. aviation jobs, making sure all flight attendants have mandated rest requirements to reduce fatigue, keeping dangerous weapons such as knives off of planes, receiving human trafficking awareness and improving air quality. Donating to FlightPAC can ensure all of this. Our union dues are never used to contribute to campaigns. All contributions to Flight PAC are voluntary donations. FlightPAC is non-partisan meaning we give to candidates who help stand and support flight attendants. If you’d like to donate to FlightPAC and help strengthen our voice in Congress, reach out to Kris for a donation card.

LEC Government Affairs Chairperson: Kris Hall

http://afaalaska.org/sea

http://afaalaska.org/governmentaffairs

 Council 19 Virtual Local Council Meeting

You’ve asked and your LEC Officers have listened–We are pleased to announce our first virtual Local Council Meeting!  Mark your calendar for Wednesday, November 2.  We’ll be broadcasting the meeting from 1 to 3 PM, Pacific time.

More information about how to submit agenda items, the finalized meeting agenda, and how to access the meeting broadcast will be available in the weeks leading up to the meeting.

System Requirements

AFA Alaska uses YouTube to stream live broadcasts such as our Local Council meeting.  In order to watch the broadcast, you’ll need to be able to view YouTube videos on your computer or mobile device.  Check to make sure that you can access YouTube on your computer or device at http://www.youtube.com.  A YouTube app is also available for iOS and Android users.

Using Live Chat During the Meeting

To interact using live chat during the meeting, you’ll need to be signed in to YouTube using a Google account on a computer (live chat is not available on mobile).  If you don’t already have a Google account, you can sign up for one for free.  Instructions for creating a Google account can be found at https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/161805?hl=en&ref_topic=3024170.  No need to worry if you only have a mobile device, we’ll have other ways for you to ask questions and give feedback during the meeting.

In Solidarity,

Your LEC Officers

AFA News in Review – September 19, 2025

In This Edition Celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month Originally posted September 15, 2025 Join us in celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, a time dedicated to honoring the vibrant cultures and significant contributions of Hispanic-Latinx Americans. Discover the history, participate in special events, and grab your commemorative Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month AFA Pin […]

Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Election Results

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the first group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee positions to be elected for the upcoming MEC Officer term. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful […]

Merged MEC Committee Chairperson Election Results

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the next group of merged MEC Committee Chairpersons. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful consideration and deliberation, the following candidates have […]

Election Notice: Alaska + Hawaiian MEC Officer Elections

The term of office for our current Alaska + Hawaiian Master Executive Council (MEC) Officers will conclude on December 31, 2025. The voting members of the MEC (LEC Presidents) will elect new MEC Officers at the November Regular MEC meeting. This communication serves as notice of the election in accordance with the MEC Policy and Procedure Manual. […]

SEA Domicile Negotiations – September 2025 Update #2

This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants Negotiations Update Our SEA Domicile Negotiating Committee met with the company on September 11 to review their response to our September 5 proposal.  We feel that it is important to acknowledge the challenges within our company as Alaska management is struggling to understand our Collective Bargaining Agreement […]

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