AFA Alaska

Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

Click here to report an issue to AFA
You are here: Home / Latest News

LEC President Quarterly Update

July 2016 – September 2016

Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

Welcome to Council 19’s LEC President 3rd quarter update. This update is designed to inform and educate the members of the work done by their elected AFA Officers and volunteer committee members. We hope you find this update to be helpful and informative.

This quarter Council 19 is updating how the local AFA committees communicate their updates to you. Starting this week each LEC committee chair will share their updates via the newsletter system and post on Council 19s page at afaalaska.org. For Facebook users, this information will also publish to the Council 19 Facebook page. To find the Council 19 Facebook page follow the link:

https://www.facebook.com/AFA-Council-19-Seattle-538630496190284/

To invite your friends, go to your own personal page, on top you will see the “search” field and type AFA Council 19 Seattle (after you have liked it). On the right side you will see “Invite People to Like this Page” and you can invite people from your friends list.

3rd Quarter Update

The dates below list various meetings, trainings, and local council work performed by one or more of the LEC Officers, Council Representatives, Grievance Chairs, and local committee members.

July 11 ADR:

  What is ADR?

            Alternate Dispute Resolution is a meeting established to review concerns with management on a variety of issues that affect Flight Attendants. The desire is to resolve the issues and alleviate filing grievances.

July 11 AFA 101

Training provided by MEC Vice President, Brian Palmer, for new committee members.

July 14 Grievance meeting

  What is a Grievance meeting?

 Grievance Committee member attends a meeting with FA and management

July 18/19 MEC meeting

  What is an MEC meeting?

The Master Executive Council (MEC) is comprised of the 3 MEC Officers, MEC President, MEC Vice President, and MEC Secretary and the 5 elected Local Executive Council Presidents (LEC) from each base. Each month the MEC meets to address concerns, discuss current topics affecting each base and the AFA committees, and review latest updates/issues from management.

July 19 Inflight Service Committee (ISC) quarterly meeting

MEC/LEC ISC Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues.

July 21 Scheduling meeting/ASHSC meeting/Grievance meeting

MEC Scheduling meeting: MEC/LEC Scheduling Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues.

Air, Safety, Health and Security Committee (ASHSC) meeting: MEC/LEC Safety, Health, and Security Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues.

July 22/23 LEC President flying

July 25 ADR

July 26 LEC P/Leadership development conference call.

LEC President is a member of the AFA International Leadership Development Committee

July 27 AFA introduction to New Hire Class

MEC President, Jeff Peterson, and MEC Reserve Chair, Jarod McNeill meet with the new hire class and introduce/explain AFA to them.

July 28 SEA Benefits committee meeting

Members of the Seattle benefits committee and LEC Officers met to discuss current topics and issues.

July 28 MEC Conference Call

Members of the MEC connect on various issues via conference calls when issues arise last minute.

Aug 3 Grievance meeting

Aug 4 Grievance meeting

Aug 8 ADR

Aug 15/16 MEC meeting/Labor Leaders

For this MEC meeting LEC Secretary, Linda Christou, attended due to LEC President’s vacation.

What is Labor Leaders?

AFA, and other AS labor groups, meet with Alaska executive management to discuss current and upcoming trends/issues/changes.

Aug 17 Grievance meeting/FA graduation

Members of the Reserve committee and LEC Officer group attend the graduation ceremony.

Aug 18 Scheduling meeting/New Hire Orientation

New Hire Graduation and Seattle Base Orientation. SEA Council Rep, Adam Clarey, and LEC Reserve Chair, Carole Babcock, (or designee) attend new hire orientation.

Sept 1 Grievance meeting

Sept 6 ADR

Sept 9 Quarterly Reserve meeting

MEC/LEC Reserve Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues

Sept 12-15 Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP) Baltimore, Maryland

LEC President, LEC Secretary, and EAP committee attend conference. 43 total Alaska employees attended, including Ron Calvin. Alaska and AFA are discussing the creation of a “return to work” program for FAs who have drug/alcohol work related issues.

Sept 19-21 AFA Leadership Conference, Orlando, Florida

LEC President and LEC Secretary attend conference. The purpose of the conference to is train officers in multiple areas: Conflict resolution, emerging technologies, and mentoring, public speaking, facilitating effective meetings, and fighting empathy.

Sept 21 AFA introduction to New Hire Class

Sept 22 ADR

Sept 26 SEA LEC Officer and LEC Chair meeting

Seattle LEC Officers and LEC Chairs meet quarterly to discuss current committee issues, trends, and concerns.

Sept 27 SEA Government Affairs base walk/Semi Annual Hotel meeting

Get out the Vote campaign led by LEC Government Affairs Chair, Kris Hall, and attended by committee members Adam Clarey and Bev Bullock along with MEC Government Affairs Chair, Krystle Berry.

Members of the AFA Hotel committee, including MEC Chair Laura Hinojosa and MEC Vice Chair/LEC Chair Jodi Snow, meet with management and API to discuss hotel issues.

Sept 28-29 MEC meeting

This packed MEC agenda included meetings with the scheduling committee and management to review/discuss vacation-bidding problems. The MEC also met with Andy Schneider and Ron Calvin to discuss current concerns.

Sept 29 Scheduling meeting

Members of the scheduling meeting worked with management to address vacation-bidding issues. The committee was very helpful addressing the problems with the system and expressing flight attendant concerns with the new program.

LEC President, Laura Masserant, travel schedule for this quarter:

In Greece July 1-14, August 1-14.

Vacation August 15-30.

In Seattle July 14-August 1, September 7 through November 10th.

As always, if you have any questions please contact any of your LEC Officers, Council Representatives or Committee Chairs.

The LEC President, Laura Masserant, does not bid a line, but attempts to fly on weekends when her schedule allows, and spends most days running the council’s day-to-day* business. The Vice President, Jake Jones, who is also the MEC Scheduling Chair, does not bid a line but does pick up flying on the weekend, on days off, when his schedule allows. He spends the majority of his time at the Flight Ops building between the AFA office and his desk upstairs with Crew Scheduling management.

Secretary/Treasurer, Linda Christou, bids a line and attends to AFA work during and between trips. Council Representative, Adam Clarey bids a full line of time and attends to AFA work during and between trips. Council Representative Stephanie Adams is currently off on no bid due to her MEC Grievance Representative position and work she attends on behalf of Council 19. When the LEC President is unavailable the Vice President and Secretary attend meetings, if necessary. Most of the work done on behalf of the LEC Officers is via emails, phone calls, and text messages.

            *Please note that each Officer, on a daily basis, can receive up to 20 emails, multiple phone calls, text messages, and visits in the AFA office from Flight Attendants with questions, comments, and concerns in addition to the meetings we attend. The LEC President can receive more than 30 emails per day from various sources.

The following message is from Heather Healy, Director of the AFA EAP Program and Manager of the Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP).  If you have questions about EAP or the FADAP Program, feel free to contact Heather at the telephone number below or reach out to your Local EAP Committee.  You can find contact information for your EAP Committee Members at http://afaalaska.org/eap.

If today, you are currently a Flight Attendant and in recovery from alcohol and/or drug abuse, please consider completing this short 9-question survey.  Your answers are completely anonymous. You can skip any questions you don’t want to answer.

Click here to access the Flight Attendant in Recovery Survey

The purpose of this survey is to collect data on the value of supporting Flight Attendants through the recovery and return to work process. Your answers could help Flight Attendants still struggling with their substance use. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Please don’t hesitate to call me with any concerns or questions.

Sincerely,

Heather Healy
Director of AFA EAP and Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program Manager
(800) 424-2406

AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to expand the provision of 8.S [Natural Disasters…] in response to Hurricane Matthew. Affected cities now include:

  • Charleston (CHS),
  • Orlando (MCO), and
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL).

The provisions of 8.S remain in effect until such time when Alaska Airlines is able to resume normal operations to the affected areas.

If you have any questions, contact one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers or Scheduling Committee members.

In solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; and MEC Scheduling Chairperson Jake Jones

Alaska Airlines management has made the decision to turn the crew out of Charleston (CHS) today in response to Hurricane Matthew. AFA and Alaska Airlines have agreed to enact the provision of 8.S [Natural Disasters…] in order to facilitate their removal. The provisions of 8.S remain in effect until such time when Alaska Airlines is able to resume normal operations to CHS.

The parties agree to communicate any further changes if Hurricane Matthew impacts additional cities.

If you have any questions, contact one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers or Scheduling Committee members.

In solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; and MEC Scheduling Chairperson Jake Jones

Council 19 Members,

Your LEC Officers would like to notify you that the Local Officer Election process for the next term of office begins January of 2017.

If you are interested in running for a local council office you can find information located in the AFA Constitution and Bylaws under Article III and Article VIII.C,  http://www.afacwa.org/constitution_bylaws.

You can also reach out to any of your LEC Officers or Council Representatives for more information:

LEC President Laura Masserant

LEC Vice President Jake Jones

LEC Secretary Linda Christou

Council Representative Stephanie Adams

Council Representative Adam Clarey

Also, if you are interested in shadowing any of the positions your LEC Officers are happy to schedule this time with you.The chart below explains the election process for Council 19~ ALA 19.

In accordance with Article VIII of the Constitution & Bylaws, all Local Councils in Election Category II must nominate and elect officers for the term beginning July 1, 2017 and ending June 31, 2020 (three year term).  Article IX of the Constitution & Bylaws and Union Voting Procedures (Section IX of the Policy Manual) shall govern nominations and elections.

Attached you will find the nomination and election schedule for Category II.  For all domestic Councils the process will commence in January and finish by late April.

All active Flight Attendants, regardless of dues standing will be mailed the voting instructions and activation code. In addition, apprentice members completing their first 4 full months of active membership on or before the count date will receive a ballot packet.   

New activation codes are issued for each nomination, election, and contract ratification ballot.

Step-by-step instructions, for both the nomination and election process, can be found on the AFA-CWA Election website www.afacwa-elections.org along with the Category II Election schedule. The AFA-CWA Election Handbook and the Commitment to Serve form can also be found on the AFA Election website.

dates

As reported a few weeks ago on afaalaska.org  (“Open Time Negotiations Survey Suspended Due to a Technical Problem”), the Open Time negotiations survey went offline because of an unforeseen glitch. Shortly thereafter the Master Executive Council (MEC) made the decision to leave the survey down in order to address membership feedback sent to leadership (“Update on Open Time Survey Suspension”). After much consideration AFA is re-posting the survey. Previously submitted surveys are on file, so it is not necessary to re-take the survey unless you wish to revise your responses.

About minimum flying and other undesirable options…

What was the feedback? Members expressed frustration with the last question in particular: “Some changes MAY be required in order to negotiate a better Open Time system. IF that becomes necessary, I would prefer to see them in the following order, with 1 being the change I would be most willing to accept and 8 being the change I would be least willing to accept.” Although there were several concerns, feedback was mostly centered on apprehensions that the survey seems to suggest a monthly minimum is a possibility.

A survey can be used as a communication tool to both membership and management in addition to being an informational tool for the Negotiating Committee and leadership. In this case, the reference to minimum flying in the survey was definitely not intended to communicate AFA’s desire to actually seek or even allow minimum flying. In fact, it was intended to do the exact opposite. Management tends to bring up minimum flying in every negotiation, so we wanted to have additional ‘ammunition’ to respond to such a proposal.

Be assured the entire MEC and the Negotiating Committee are adamantly opposed to a monthly minimum. We know changes to “the 480” were very controversial in this current contract, so we were (and are) highly confident the membership would rank any reference to minimum flying as dead last. It was unintentional and unfortunate that the survey would cause so much controversy. The survey was designed to simply determine priorities in a comprehensive list of possibilities that either the union or management might voluntarily address or be forced to address in one way or another.

The MEC and the Negotiating Committee will go so far as to say that we’re encouraging you to take (or re-take) the survey and rank “minimum flying” last on the list. We will also tell you that we fully understand you do not wish to accept any of the items on the list in that last question, and we will proceed with crafting our opening proposal accordingly. If you are opposed to answering the last question altogether, then you have the ability to completely skip it (just don’t fill in any of the bubbles). There is also a “free form” comments field at the end of the survey if you would like to provide additional feedback.

Take 2

*** Note: Previously submitted surveys are on file, so it is not necessary to re-take the survey unless you wish to revise your responses. ***

Pursuant to AFA Alaska Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.F.9.b. [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial], AFA and Alaska Airlines management will begin negotiations on a successor Open Time system due to cancellation of the Open Time Trial. AFA is surveying the membership regarding Open Time in order to guide the Negotiating Committee in writing our opening proposal for negotiating a new Open Time system.

Your candid responses are appreciated.

You must enter your Arctic number in order to take the survey. We’re asking for your Arctic number to ensure each Flight Attendant receives one vote and is not for tracking purposes. If a survey is submitted more than once with the same Arctic number, only the last response will be counted.

If you have any creative solutions or ideas regarding Open Time, please share them in the free form comments field at the end of the survey.

The Master Executive Council (MEC) knows that many of you are tired of taking surveys about Open Time, but this is a different survey than the satisfaction surveys that went out during the Open Time Trial. Now that the MEC has canceled the trial, it is extremely important that every Flight Attendant take this negotiations survey. AFA very much wants every voice to be counted regarding a new Open Time system.

>>> To take the Open Time Negotiations Survey click here. <<<

The survey will close at noon Pacific Time on Friday, October 7th.

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

In Solidarity,

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

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to a first-round vacation rebid in order to resolve a valid system-wide vacation bid protest. Why? The new Inflight website allowed Flight Attendants to bid for vacation dates outside of 2017, and the issue was discovered in the awards process.

As reported last night, the good news is that your initial bid will be retained. As a result, you will not need to do anything if you are satisfied with your initial bid. However, you may revise your bid if desired.

New 2017 vacation bidding timeline

The new timeline for the 2017 vacation bids will be as follows:

  • 1st round rebid opens: Friday, September 30, 2016 – by noon PDT
  • 1st round rebid closes: Thursday, October 6, 2016 @ 11:59 PM PDT
  • 1st round awards posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2016
  • 2nd round bidding opens: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 @ 12:01 AM PDT
  • 2nd round bidding closes: Thursday, October 20, 2016 @ 11:59 PM PDT
  • 2nd round awards posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Vacation trading is on schedule

Vacation trading for 2017 opens as originally scheduled on Friday, October 28, 2016, at the previously agreed to times for each domicile.

Instructions for Flight Attendants with illegal vacation bids outside of 2017

Flight Attendants who inadvertently submitted a first-round vacation bid containing days outside the 2017 calendar year are highly encouraged to revise their bid because those bids are illegal. If your initial vacation bid included individual bid lines with start and end dates both outside of 2017 and if you do not adjust your bid prior to the rebid closing, then management will adjust the year of each illegal bid line to 2017 for you.

Again, we strongly suggest that you correct any illegal bid lines yourself to make sure you are bidding for the intended date. Any individual vacation bid lines including 2017 year-end overlap (either January or December) will be removed (i.e. ignored/skipped) prior to the awards process if left unchanged.

Management has agreed to individually contact those affected via email to advise them of the rebid. Management will also contact Flight Attendants who initially submitted a bid completely outside of 2017 at the F/As’ respective primary contact phone number on file with the Company.

* * *

If you have any questions or concerns contact one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers.

In Solidarity,

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

AFA and Alaska Airlines management have been working hard to resolve the technical errors with the first round vacation bids. The parties have agreed to a system-wide rebid. The good news is that your initial bids will be retained, so you will not need to do anything if you are satisfied with your initial bid. However, there will be an opportunity for all Flight Attendants to revise bids if desired. The Master Executive Council (MEC) believes the improved system will have the ability to confirm multiple slots in the same month.

 

We know you may have a number of questions, but be assured that both parties will communicate more information tomorrow.

 

In Solidarity,

 

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

The 2017 vacation awards are being pulled by mutual agreement of AFA and Alaska Airlines management in order to investigate the accuracy of the awards. AFA is protesting the awards system-wide on behalf of our members. The Master Executive Council (MEC) believes a complete re-award is in order due to a multitude of technical errors. Considering the system did not receive adequate end-user testing, we are not surprised this “beta” (test) version may be malfunctioning. It is unfortunate that Flight Attendants were forced to test drive the system with their actual vacation bids.

 

Stand by for more information.

 

In Solidarity,

 

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

Council 19 is extremely excited to introduce our newest committee members. We spent the summer building up our committees in Seattle to adjust for the growth of our base. Volunteering on a committee takes a lot of time and dedication and we sincerely thank all or our newest members for the hard work and their commitment to our flight attendant group.

Benefits:

Terry Taylor – Flying since 1973 (also currently the MEC Chairperson)

LeAnne Canton – Flying since 2013

Celia Romero – Flying since 2006

(LEC Chairperson Kathy O’Malley)

If you have questions regarding maternity leave please contact Benefits Committee members Celia Romero or Laura Masserant.

ISC:

Chris King – Flying since 1998

Ross Dejong – Flying since 1991

(LEC Chairperson Linda Christou)

Hotel:

Olivia Borrows – Flying since 2011

(LEC Chairperson Jodi Snow )

ASHSC:

Marikay Paulson – Flying since 2014

Janice Sidwell – Flying since 1983

(LEC Chairpersons Susan Lee & Steven Vincent)

Scheduling:

Melinda Jorge – Flying Since 2000

(LEC Chairpersons Martin Vance & Rita Tillou)

For a complete list of your Council 19 AFA committee members:

http://afaalaska.org/sea/committees

If you are interested in joining a committee we still have open position on our Government Affairs Committee.  For information on what an AFA Committee member does or a description on our various committee please visit:

http://afaalaska.org/committees

Apps To Help You Save Money On Food

Our AFA Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee recognizes that Flight Attendants may be facing increasing challenges when it comes to accessing affordable food, whether on the road or at home. We want you to know that you are not alone. In response to these difficulties, we have compiled a list of apps to help […]

What You Need To Know About The FAA Capacity Cuts

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced plans for a 10% reduction in flight capacity across 40 markets, starting this Friday. According to news reports, these schedule reductions will begin on Friday and will gradually increase throughout the weekend until they reach the full 10% by the following week. Reports also suggest that all Alaska […]

Council 47 (LAX pmHA) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 12 PM PT today for the election of Council 47 LEC Officers, representing Hawaiian Airlines Flight Attendants based in Los Angeles. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: Joshua AokiLEC Vice President: Paul IkiokaLEC Secretary: Beth Hayes View the certified election results here >> These newly elected […]

Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Interviews—December 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants In accordance with Article VI.C of the AFA Alaska MEC Policy and Procedure Manual, the terms of office for the MEC Committee Chairpersons and other MEC-level positions align with those of the MEC Officers. Since the current term for the MEC Officers will conclude on December 31, […]

Merged MEC Committee Interviews—December 2025

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants The integration of our Master Executive Councils (MECs) is progressing steadily. Several committees have successfully merged over the past few months, and we are now planning for another committee to merge on January 1. As part of the committee merger process, our MEC will […]

Recent Posts

News By Month

News By Category

AFA News Now Air Quality Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) AS/HA Merger AS/VX Merger Benefits Committee Committees Communications Committee Contract Contract 2014 Negotiations Blog Council 15 SAN Council 18 LAX (pmAS) Council 19 SEA Council 30 ANC Council 35 SFO Council 39 PDX Council 47 LAX (pmHA) EAP/Professional Standards Committee Extension 2021 Blog Featured Government Affairs Committee Grievance Committee Hotel Committee Human Rights & Equity Committee Industry News Inflight Service Committee Inflight Training Committee JNC Blog Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Latest News Local Councils Master Executive Council (MEC) Membership Committee Membership Engagement Committee Message from the MEC President Mobilization Committee Negotiations Pairing Construction Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Press Releases Reserve Committee Retirement Committee Scheduling Committee Uniform Committee

Want To Stay In The Loop?

Stay up-to-date on AFA Alaska news and information by signing up for our email and text message updates. Click a button below to get started or update your preferences if you're already a subscriber.
Sign Up for Emails
Sign Up for Text Updates