Dear Flight Attendants,

 

 

Ballots for the Tentative Agreement (TA) ratification vote are currently being mailed out. Polls open 1/17/2014 (Friday) and close 2/14/2014. It is extremely important for all eligible Members to vote! For your information, a non-vote does not count one way or the other. Also, you may change your vote multiple times—the final vote on record is the one which will be counted.

 

Flight Attendants who do not receive their voting instructions with the 16 digit activation code must call the AFA Ballot Helpline 1-800-424-2401, press 1 then EXT 706 (after the polls open 1/17/2014). If you have not received your voting instructions by Monday 1/20/2014 or so then please call the AFA Ballot Helpline.

Flight Attendants who have dues or membership issues please call AFA Membership Services 1-800-424-2401, press 7.

AFA Membership Services is staffed Monday through Friday 930AM EST to 5PM EST.

 

Voting Instructions: As with the LEC officer elections, Flight Attendants will receive a ballot packet containing the voting instructions including a 16-digit activation code and the voting guide. These will be mailed from the mail house in Maryland on 1/13/2014. The activation code is specific to each Member therefore new instruction or voting guides will not and cannot be mailed. If a Flight Attendant does not receive her/his ballot packet, s/he must contact the AFA Ballot Helpline. A new activation code with instructions will be emailed from the voting system directly to the Member.

 

A Flight Attendant must be an active member in good standing to be eligible to vote.

 

Active: They must not be on an unpaid leave of absence; however if they are within the 3 month window then they are eligible.

 

EX: FA is on an unpaid leave as of 1/1/2014. Their 3 month dues obligation is JAN, FEB & MAR. This person is eligible to vote without any issues.

 

EX: FA is on an unpaid LOA as of 10/1/2013. Their 3 month dues obligation is OCT, NOV, DEC 2013. This person is not eligible to vote unless they contact Membership Services and pay their dues through and including February 2014 [AFA C&B Article II C.1.b(3)].

 

Probationary Flight Attendants: Flight Attendant not off probation as of 2/14/2014 are not eligible to vote and cannot make themselves eligible to vote, nor will they receive the voting instructions. However, if a probationary Flight Attendant is off probation on or before 2/14/2014 they are eligible to vote during the entire voting period.

 

Member: A Flight Attendant must be a member to cast a vote. Non-members or agency fee payers are not eligible to vote. However, they will receive the voting instructions with a 16-digit activation code. These non-members can make themselves active by completing a membership application and paying the $60 initiation fee (due immediately). These individual must contact AFA Membership Services.

 

Good Standing: If a Flight Attendant is delinquent in paying their dues they are not eligible to cast a vote. These F/As will receive the voting instructions with an activation code, however they will not be able to cast a vote until they settle their account. These individuals must contact AFA Membership Services

 

Address Update: AFA Membership Services will be uploading the roster into the ballot system on 1/19/2014. Until then a Member may submit an address update via the AFA Membership Services change of address web page: www.afacwa.org/coa.

 

 

In solidarity,

 

 

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

 

Dear Flight Attendants,

In the past week the Negotiation Committee has been overwhelmed with the turnouts at the Road Shows! You are coming prepared and you have offered us your feedback on many sections of the TA, but most importantly the 480 accruals as they apply to Sick Leave and Vacation.

In the TA you will find that there is a 12-month “Look Back” for sick leave accruals. What does this mean?

1. Sick Leave Accrual is based on a 12-month “Look Back” and a Flight Attendant must have earned TFP (exclusive of sick leave) and credit from vacation that totals 480 in the previous 12 months.

2. Vacation Accrual is also based on a “Worked” 480 TFP in the calendar year (exclusive of sick leave and vacation).

Based on concerns that FAs have lost 2 months to properly prepare for these changes the Negotiation Committee and management collaboratively worked together to create a fair implementation schedule of the Sick Leave and Vacation accruals.

If the TA is accepted by the membership on February 14^th the following 2014 sick leave and vacation accrual formulas will apply:

Sick Leave

The 480 12-month look back for SL accrual will begin with March 2014 and will
look back on a pro-rated basis adding months as we go. Remember, sick leave accruals are based on worked TFP, Vacation, and Minimum Pay Rules.

For example:

April 1^st  “Look Back”  You are doing a look back to March 2014 and add your worked TFP, Vacation and Minimum Pay Rules and multiply by 12;

Example: In March calculated 40 TFP (worked TFP, vacation, and Minimum Pay Rules)

40×12=480. You will have your sick leave accrual for April 2014.
May 1^st “Look Back” You will look back to March 2014 and multiply calculated TFP x 6 and look back to April 2014 and multiply calculated TFP x 6 and add those totals.
Example: March calculated TFP, Sick Leave, and Minimum Pay Rules is 40 TFP

40×6= 240

April calculated TFP, Sick Leave, and Minimum Pay Rules is 40 TFP

40×6=240

240+240=480. You have reached the 480 credit for using sick leave in May.

June 1^st “Look Back” You will look back to March, April, and May and multiply calculated TFP by 4:

March calculated TFP=40   April calculated TFP=40    May calculated TFP=40

40×4=160                                 40×4=160                                40×4=160

160+160+160= 480

You have reached the 480 credit for sick leave use in June.

If the new sick leave accrual policy is not in place by June, you will continue to calculate your accruals by reducing the multiplier.

July 1, 2014 you will calculate March, April, May and June totals and multiply by 3.

August 1, 2914 you will calculate April, May, June, and July totals by 2.
We will use this pro-rated method until you have a full 12 month look back.

2015 Vacation Accrual Schedule
2015 Vacation accrual calendar year starts March 1, 2014 and runs to December 31, 2014. Assuming 40 TFP worked per month this means you need to have 400 TFP worked (including Minimum Pay Rules) in order to receive the full accrual and pay for the 2015 vacation.

2016 Vacation Accrual Schedule

Accruals earned in 2015 for use in 2016 will be the first year requiring 480 worked TFP per the Tentative Agreement.

In solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee — MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

negotiations@alaskamec.org

 

Dear Flight Attendants,

We want to update you with February Negotiation Road Show changes before bidding closes tomorrow:

The February 4^th Road Show scheduled for Portland will now be held in Anchorage.  The Portland LEC Officers will still host a Q and A session at the Sheraton Airport as scheduled.

The dates in Anchorage for the Negotiation Road Shows are now February 4^th and February 5^th at the Millennium Hotel.

Start time 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM both days.

We are also adding a date to the Seattle Road Show schedule. The added date is February 8, 2014 at the SEA TAC Hilton (Saturday).

Start time 9:00 AM to 12:30pm and 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM.

We encourage you to attend a Road Show! If you cannot attend a Road Show please reach out to your Voice Committee and or your LEC Officers if you have questions!

In solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee — MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

negotiations@alaskamec.org

Dear Flight Attendants:

We are halfway through the first week of the Negotiation Road show schedule and we are overwhelmed with the amazing turnout! We thank all of you in Seattle and Portland who have come out thus far and we look forward to Anchorage, San Diego and the Los Angeles Road Shows going forward.

With that said, we have been experiencing higher than expected levels of participation and are therefore running long on our sessions.  We want to ensure that we have adequate time to answer all your questions.  Moving forward with the Portland Road Show on January 9, 2014, we are going to alter the scheduled times of the AM and PM sessions (The January 16^th SNA Road Show will not change).

The AM sessions for the remainder of the Road Shows will now start at 9:00 AM and run to 12:30 PM. The PM Sessions will begin at 1:30 PM and run to 5:00 PM.

We appreciate your understanding and hope that the schedule changes do not hinder your ability to come visit us at the shows.

Thursday, January 9, 2014 – PDX, 9 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 5 PM, Sheraton Hotel Portland Airport

Friday, January 10, 2014 – ANC, 9 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 5 PM, Millennium Hotel

Tuesday, January 14, 2014 – SAN, 9 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 5 PM, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Little Italy

Wednesday, January 15, 2014 – LAX, 9 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 5 PM, Westin Hotel Los Angeles Airport

Thursday, January 16, 2014 – SNA (NO Change), 9 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 4 PM, Embassy Suites Santa Ana

 

In solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee — MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

negotiations@alaskamec.org

Dear Flight Attendants,

The Tentative Agreement (TA) roadshows agenda is now available on the Tentative Agreement (TA) Information page: http://alaskamec.org/ta/ .

Tentative Agreement (TA ) Roadshows Agenda: http://alaskamec.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Roadshows-Agenda-Overview.pdf

See you on the road beginning tomorrow in Seattle!

In solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee — MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

negotiations@alaskamec.org

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

 

The Tentative Agreement (TA) Summary has been updated with further clarifications and additional information.

 

 

AFA ALA TA Summary (v.2014-01-04 FA Roadshows)

 

 

It is posted on the Tentative Agreement (TA) Information page (http://alaskamec.org/ta/) and printed copies will be available at the roadshows as well. An agenda for the roadshow sessions will be finalized and posted tomorrow.

 

 

In solidarity,

 

 

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

 

Dear Flight Attendants,

 

 

The full Tentative Agreement (TA) is now available in electronic format.

 

 

Alaska-AFA Tentative Agreement (full text)

 

 

You will notice several new sections (Hotels and Charters, just to name a couple). We have made a significant effort to move contractual language out of the addendum wherever possible so that the addendum truly is for clarification and examples only. There are also several draft LOAs in the back of the document that still need to be finalized. Finally, in the “main” sections most important to Flight Attendants (e.g. Sections 8 Hours of Service, 10 Scheduling, 21 Compensation) you will see short descriptive headers before a block of language. This is to improve the “readability” of the Agreement. During final clean-up we intend to expand the use of headers into a few other areas.

 

There are several contractual citations that need to be cross checked, particularly in the addendum. If you find that a citation referring to another section or provision is incorrect, that will be fixed during final clean-up. There are several areas where language, examples or citations are marked with yellow/gray highlighting or “xxx” (in place of a contractual citation). This will mean one of three things: (1) the basic concept is there but the language needs to be revised to make it more clear, (2) the contractual citation needs cross-checked and/or updated, or (3) the example needs amended because of programming changes or requires correction to match the application of the minimum pay rules.

 

Why isn’t this done already? When we negotiate at the table, we are not always passing full text proposals back and forth. Particularly at the end, we are passing bullet point concepts rather than re-writing each affected section. This is to keep the pace of negotiations moving. Otherwise it could take hours longer for each pass than necessary.

 

Not only that, but we specifically did not address the addendum during active negotiations except to pull out the relevant contractual language. Therefore no work had been done on the addendum until initial clean-up and formatting. In order to get the full TA in your hands in a timely manner, the parties agreed to wrap the last few pieces up during clean-up. Again, this almost exclusively affects the addendum.

 

On another note, paper copies are at the printers and we expect the first batch to be delivered on Monday. A much larger batch will be delivered Tuesday and we will begin distributing them to all bases starting on Tuesday. The paper copies will be available at all Flight Attendant domiciles and we’re currently working on a distribution effort for the co-terminals. We have printed enough TAs for every Flight Attendant but not many extras. Therefore, we’re going to ask that you take only one unless you’re picking up a TA for a colleague that you know for a fact needs one.

 

See you all at the roadshows beginning Monday! Also, check out the new “Tentative Agreement (TA) Information” page: http://alaskamec.org/ta/ .

 

 

In solidarity,

 

 

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

negotiations@alaskamec.org

alaskamec.org/ta/