Dear Flight Attendants,
Your AFA leadership will take this opportunity to respond to the August 20th intranet message from Alaska Airlines Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider and Vice President of Customer Service – Airports and Cargo Jeff Butler regarding the Company’s most recent uniform testing (“New Uniform Testing”). For your information, AFA was not involved in the testing process referred to in the email. Nor were we involved in selecting toxicologist Bruce Kelman. Consequently, we would encourage you to contact Andy directly with your questions and concerns since she is your best source for clarification.
With regard to Bruce Kelman’s credentials, many of you have expressed concern that he is not a medical doctor. That is correct. He is a certified toxicologist and has a PhD in that discipline but he is not a physician. Andy’s suggestion that you contact Dr. Kelman for a second opinion has proven to be a bit troublesome for many of you as well. Since he is not a treating physician, AFA would encourage you to contact a specialist with a MD regarding your health concerns. However, if you would like to discuss the testing methods used or the conclusions reached by Dr. Kelman during this latest round of laboratory testing, then he could certainly speak to those issues.
We are providing you with an updated Uniform Reaction Database and Uniform Reaction Statistics (see the links below), which indicate approximately twenty five percent (25%) of our membership have reported an adverse reaction to the TwinHill uniform. Fortunately, we are just a few months away from a complete change over to the new Land’s End Business Outfitters (LEBO) interim uniform. In the meantime if you feel you are experiencing a reaction to the TwinHill uniform, please follow the guidelines in the attached document, “Your Uniform, Your Health” (also linked below).
In solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow
“Five Bases, One Voice”
References:
AFA Uniform Database Membership Copy 2013-08
AFA Uniform Stats Membership Copy 2013-08
Your Uniform Your Health 2013-09
