July 10, 2015 05:00

The Continental, Continental Micronesia and United Master Executive Councils in conjunction with the United Joint Negotiating Committee have authorized their Flight Attendants to switch from white to red AFA pins in response to the lack of progress in their contract negotiations. You can check out all the details about their negotiations at ourcontract.org.

With around 20,000 Flight Attendants, it is very challenging to come up with that many red pins. The New United (CAL, CAL Micronesia, UAL) is asking for AFA Alaska to help out their efforts by recycling our red pins. If you have any extras, please leave them in one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers’ mail files the very next time you are coming through your base so we can re-gift the red pins as soon as possible.

The New United is also planning a Day of Action on July 16^th at airports throughout the combined Continental, Continental Micronesia and United system. Your colleagues at those carriers would be delighted to have any Flight Attendants from AFA Alaska attend an event at a convenient location (e.g. at a domicile or while on a layover) as a show of solidarity. You cannot wear your Flight Attendant uniform but if you still have a red t-shirt from the second round of our negotiations, you are welcome to wear the shirt to the event. You can find more information about the events here.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

July 1, 2015 20:00

The AFA pin is a symbol of unity and solidarity that is proudly worn by all AFA-member Flight Attendants across the industry. It represents the long history of the struggles and achievements made by our founders and those who have come before us. Wearing your AFA pin is a great way to show your continued support for the work being done by our Union to advocate for and advance our profession.

Switch Out Your Red Pin For A White One

During contract negotiations, the Master Executive Council (MEC) changed the official AFA pin at Alaska Airlines to a red version to symbolize our solidarity and resolve for a contract. Now that negotiations have concluded and a ratified agreement is in place, it’s time to switch back to the classic white AFA pin. If you’re still wearing a red AFA pin, the time has come to retire it from wear, as it is no longer the official AFA pin for Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants.

Where Do I Get A Pin?

If you don’t have a white AFA pin already, email your LEC Officers at the address below and let them know that you want to put on your pin!

ANC – anc@afaalaska.org | LAX – lax@afaalaska.org | PDX – pdx@afaalaska.org
SAN – san@afaalaska.org | SEA – sea@afaalaska.org

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

June 26, 2015 20:00

Along with the warm weather throughout our route network comes an increase in bugs that we see at our layover hotels. One very particular type of bug that we should all be very concerned about is the bed bug.

No matter whether you’re on a layover, overnighting for training, or on a personal vacation, it’s always a best practice to inspect your room for signs of bed bugs as soon as you get to your room. Despite their name, bed bugs do not live in bed—they only eat there. During the day they hide in cracks and crevices (the size of a credit card or less) of furniture. Adult bugs are about the size of an apple seed and are visible to the naked eye.

First Things First–Check Your Room

Pull back a sheet corner on the bed and check for signs of bugs. Look for brown/black dot stains on the mattress and possibly molted bed bug skins
Check the areas where the mattress rests on the box spring, inside any folds or under buttons or piping
Take a close look at the headboard, picture frames and nightstands for any sign of hiding bugs
Check in books or hotel literature around the bed. Bed bugs have been found on index tabs in the in-room bible.
Bed bugs can also be detected by their characteristic smell of rotting raspberries

Help, I Found Bed Bugs In My Room!

If you find bed bugs upon check in or at any time during your stay, notify the front desk staff immediately and move to another room. Report the incident on a Flight Attendant Incident Report and fill out a report on CrewCare (http://www.alaskaaircrew.com). CrewCare reports are forwarded to management and your AFA Hotel Committee Members.

More About Bed Bugs

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has some great resources and information about bed bugs available at http://www2.epa.gov/bedbugs.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt, MEC Hotel Committee Chairperson Laura Hinojosa and MEC Air Safety, Health, & Security Chairperson Seth Heiple

AFA Alaska

June 23, 2015 16:08

Click the link below to view the minutes from the June 18th Quarterly Reserve Meeting with Scheduling Management.

June 2015 Quartery RS MTG Minutes (Postable)

June 19, 2015 12:00

Management and AFA Making Progress on Disputes Related to the Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP)

Alaska Airlines management and AFA have been in discussions regarding several disputes associated with the Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP) (see also the June 12^th “Where is the Printed Contract?” and/or the “Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP) Update – April 24, 2015” for more background). After months of back and forth, the parties are now making swift progress towards resolving those disputes.

One aspect of the QPP dispute is in relation to 401(k) contributions

One aspect of the QPP dispute is in relation to 401(k) contributions. At one point management held the position that QPP was not eligible earning for 401(k). We are pleased to report that going forward management has agreed all QPP payouts will be considered eligible earnings for 401(k).

Today’s paycheck contains a make-whole contribution to 401(k) based on Q1 QPP

AFA received “notice” only this morning that the June 19^th (today’s) paycheck contains an additional make-whole contribution to 401(k) for those who received the QPP from the first quarter (Q1) (paid on May 5^th). That means any Flight Attendant who achieved the Q1 QPP of $500 received an additional pre-tax contribution to 401(k) of $35 on top of your normal 401(k) contribution on today’s paycheck. (This is assuming you are contributing 7% of your earnings to 401(k), which you all should be doing with few exceptions!) You should have also received an additional $35 Company match on top of the normal Company match. In other words, your total 401(k) contribution will be proportionately higher on this check than usual. This is a really good thing—except for the lack of notice!

Roth 401(k) tax implications

For those of you who participate in the Roth 401(k) option, additional funds were withheld for taxes on your portion of the Roth 401(k) contribution at your personal tax rate. On an additional $35 contribution, that would translate to as much as $9 or so more than your usual withholdings based on the higher income tax brackets.

Normal 401(k) contributions on QPP earnings will be paid in Q2 going forward

Beginning with the second quarter QPP payout (Q2 = April, May, June) on August 5^th, 401(k) contributions based on QPP earnings will be made normally.

* * *

AFA would have passed this information along to you sooner had we been provided sufficient notice. We will continue to update you on any developments with the QPP disputes as we resolve them.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt; and MEC Grievance chairperson Jennifer Wise MacColl

June 16, 2015 19:00

The following is a message about Bridge The Gap, an AFA campaign to help bring equal treatment by management to all Flight Attendants across the industry. Bridge the Gap is a campaign for all Flight Attendants, working to improve pay and working conditions across the entire industry. For more information, follow #BridgeTheGap on Twitter or visit http://www.afacwa.org/bridge_the_gap.

Note from your Master Executive Council (MEC): AFA Alaska supports equal pay, benefits and working conditions for Flight Attendants at our sister carrier Horizon Air—as well as for all regional Flight Attendants throughout the industry. As a point of clarification, Alaska Air Group has never declared bankruptcy nor has been required to restructure or reorganize like most other mainline carriers have in the past decade or so.

Wherever any Flight Attendant is discriminated against, it affects our entire profession. We all want higher pay, better re Bridging-the-Gap-art-v2 st and work rules, affordable health care and a reasonable retirement.

Mainline management throughout the industry, who slashed pay and benefits through bankruptcy, are now using their post-merger consolidation to pit workers against each other.

Management throughout the industry has transferred routes to regional airlines and with it Flight Attendant jobs move to a structure with 45% less pay and benefits where we serve the same passengers paying the same ticket price to travel those routes.

And, there’s so much more than wages at stake, such as fighting fatigue. We all need adequate work rules to perform as aviation’s first responders.

Discrimination only exists if we fail to act when we think it doesn’t affect us individually. We must work together in solidarity to support each other and end discrimination that will undercut our careers. Equal pay for equal work – we will all do better together.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

AFA Alaska

June 16, 2015 05:00

Note from your Master Executive Council (MEC): The AFA International office prepared this information as a resource for flight attendants. You can find a pdf version of this article here and the dues pie chart here.

The Dues Pie Chart — Where Do My Dues Go?

The Dues Pie Chart depicts where all funds at AFA are budgeted. About 80% of dues dollars are directly allocated to fund the work at each airline, e.g. Local Councils, Master Executive Councils, Negotiations, and System Board. The remaining budgets at the International Office support Government Affairs, Air Safety, EAP, and Communications Departments, each of which provides expert services that are Flight Attendant focused and provide resources for the local leaders and committees of Flight Attendants at each airline. 100% of our dues dollars are allocated to priorities that provide Flight Attendant representation.

There are four distinct areas where dues money is spent:

1. Local and Airline-specific

Each base has a Local Executive Council (LEC) with elected Officers who provide direct representation and deal with local grievances and other issues. These Local Officers will answer your phone calls and make sure member interests are represented in front of management. For example, in the event of discipline or a contract violation, Local Officers will address the issue where it happened and work to get swift resolution. Additionally, elected Master Executive Council (MEC) Officers provide representation at the corporate level. At both the LEC and MEC, there are committees that solve problems in areas such as safety, schedules, hotels, grievances, etc. These committees also enforce the contract specific to their area of expertise, produce newsletters, and participate in union meetings. The role of your LEC and MEC Officers and committee representatives at each airline is to ensure you are represented by Flight Attendants who know your job because they share it with you at your airline. AFA promotes this autonomy at each airline where your representatives, assisted by experts, negotiate with management and develop and maintain the relationship between airline management and the Union.

2. Negotiations

Bargaining for pay and working conditions is one of the core representation activities performed by the Union. We start with a membership survey, schedule meetings with management, conduct caucuses with the committee, develop contractual language, support membership engagement and information programs, and we work with AFA-CWA professional negotiators throughout the process including all direct negotiations/mediation with management. The end result is improved contractual language with higher pay, better working conditions, and improved benefits.

3. System Board (Grievances)

The first step in any grievance is to try to resolve the matter locally. Some airlines have negotiated an alternative dispute process for a faster, collaborative resolution. If that fails, then the final stage for resolution, whether disciplinary or contractual, is an appeal to a neutral arbitrator. An AFA-CWA attorney will work with our Grievance Committee to present our case to the neutral arbitrator. We defend the contracts we negotiate.

4. International Office Support

While your LEC is the face of the Union to local management and the MEC to corporate management, the International Office is the public persona and brand of the Union. Our presence and name recognition can legislate or improve federal regulations, remove obstacles from the bargaining table, better our position in negotiations and improve our experience on the job across the profession. The International Office maintains the professional staff of attorneys, negotiators, and other personnel that provide administration, accounting and membership services to members and elected leaders. We all work together to support the programs that encompass our profession.

Questions? Contact your Local Executive Council president here.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

Pie Chart – 2015 – Where Do My Dues Go

Pie Chart – 2015 – MEC LEC SPLIT.FINAL

June 15, 2015 14:43

Restaurant Discount

The ORD hotel is no longer offering crews the 50% discount off food. This was a promotion that was being offered by the hotel. The discount will revert to the contractual 20% discount with crew ID.

Airport Construction

Construction will be going on at ORD to the upper ramp. During the construction, all pick-up and drop off will be at the lower ramp, where all of the hotel shuttles pick up.

Questions?

Please contact your Local Hotel Committee

June 15, 2015 05:00

Note from your Master Executive Council (MEC): This document was prepared by the AFA International office as a resource for flight attendants and is available on the AFA Board of Directors website here as well as on the AFA Alaska website here.

Your AFA Dues 2015: Funding Our Flight Attendant Priorities

As union members, our power comes from two sources:

1) an informed, active membership speaking as one; and

2) all of us contributing dues to resource our priorities.

Member dues maintain the essential programs and services that AFA members rely on every day. Everyone hears about negotiations, contract grievances and due process with job security, but your union dues support so much more – especially since our union is the leading voice on safety, health and security in the cabin.

AFA leaders examine every budget to ensure we can maximize the value of our dues. We are AFA – the dues are simply one way that we all chip in and collectively contribute to defend and advance our careers.

The method established within our Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) ensures that the dues structure is reviewed annually. Prior to the start of each fiscal year, we take a snapshot of the dues average of all CWA members, including AFA, to determine the dues rate for the future budget year. This dues realignment, referred to as the ‘CWA dues average,’ is a part of our Merger Agreement, which was approved by a full AFA membership vote in 2003. Dues may be increased above this dues average in order to support the priorities of AFA members, but through careful review and respectful consideration AFA leaders were able to hold dues to this average dues rate.

AFA is committed to maintaining a sound financial base to support activities that benefit Flight Attendants. Our dues rates are still among the lowest in aviation. Mergers have resulted in AirTran and US Airways AFA members (approximately 20% of our membership) no longer contributing to our collective resources. Despite this resource challenge, locally elected Flight Attendant leaders who form the AFA-CWA Board of Directors successfully adopted a budget to keep that vast majority of our budgets exactly the same. The only change made to budgeting was a restructuring of the number of AFA staff, which reduced the budget maintained by our International Office.

Local, MEC, Negotiations and System Board budgets will remain the same – which maintains our democratic member-driven organization by pushing the $2 monthly dues increase to the budgets that directly fund representation at a local level. Meanwhile, AFA utilized an Early Out option to restructure our professional staff ranks. Although fewer staff remain, we were able to maintain strong AFA Departments of attorneys, professional negotiators, safety, health and security experts, AFA EAP mental health professionals, Government Affairs specialists, Membership Services/Accounting and we are in process of redesigning Communications with new, combined positions.

We were also able to maintain all of the affiliations that keep our voice strong through coordination with other aviation unions, the AFL-CIO resources and national structure as well as coordination with transport unions around the world. This maintains our standing in legislative or policy discussions in Washington, DC and around the world – critically important perhaps more than ever as globalization presents serious threats to our jobs, as well as opportunities if we continue to exercise our voice effectively through our world-wide networks. (See the 2015 International President’s Report for a review of some of this work)

Dues have held relatively steady, increasing just three times over the past 22 years. Beginning in June of this year, our dues will change to $50 per month in accordance with our Constitution and Bylaws. When you consider the voice we have through our union, and all of the work we must do to advance and defend our careers – we are putting our dues dollars to good work. Our collective action, organized through our union and funded by our collective contributions, is what really makes the difference. We are all AFA and we encourage all Flight Attendants to join and stand with us: “We are Stronger Together, Better Together.”

Dues Dollars Help Provide:

A legally binding negotiated contract.
Due process to defend our jobs and grievance procedures.
Professional negotiators and labor attorneys.
Expert safety, health, and security advocates for your protection.
A strong voice on Capitol Hill.
An award-winning AFA Employee Assistance Program.
Strength in numbers as a member of a democratic, member-driven organization
Flight Attendant focused advocacy.

We are AFA – our dues are simply one way that we all chip in and collectively contribute to defend and advance our careers.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

2015 – AFA Dues – Funding Our Flight Attendant Priorities