Communications Committee
- Representation within our Union starts at the domicile level with your Local Council. Local Executive Council (LEC) Officers are directly elected from among your fellow Flight Attendants who are members of the same Local Council.
- LEC Officers work to resolve concerns specific to Flight Attendants from your base with local management. Your LEC President also represents your base at the airline level as a member of the Master Executive Council (MEC).
- The LEC Presidents from all six bases together form our MEC, which works to coordinate the activities of our Union at the airline level. They make decisions on our behalf and give direction to the MEC Officers, who represent the MEC to management.
AFA is first and foremost a union organized by Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants. The structure of AFA, as laid out in the constitution and bylaws, is designed to be democratic and driven by Members. A single Member has the power to bring forward ideas to change the course of our Union, to elect the officers who directly represent us, and to serve in any elected or appointed position within our Union.
At Your Base—Your Local Council
Each Local Council is made up of the AFA Member Flight Attendants within a given domicile. In the case of a new or smaller domiciles where the number of active Members does not meet the constitutional threshold, multiple domiciles may be grouped together into one Local Council for purposes of representation. At Alaska Airlines, each base is represented by its own AFA Local Council.
At Your Base—Your Local Executive Council (LEC)
AFA Member Flight Attendants in each Local Council directly elect Local Executive Council (LEC) Officers to represent them. These Local Executive Council Officers consist of a President, Vice President, and Secretary. In some Local Councils, additional officer positions called Council Representatives may also be elected to the LEC.
The LEC Officers are responsible for representing Flight Attendants directly. They are who a Flight Attendant goes to when there is a question, when assistance is needed, or when they want to make a suggestion for change. The LEC Officers primarily work with local management and other immediate supervisors to address and resolve Flight Attendant issues that are specific to the domicile they represent.
LEC Decision Making
When a decision needs to be made at the LEC level, the LEC Officers work together to come to consensus. If consensus can’t be reached, the LEC President makes the final decision.
At Our Airline—the Master Executive Council (MEC)
The LEC Presidents from each of our Local Councils come together to form the Master Executive Council (MEC). The MEC is responsible for coordinating the activities of AFA across our entire airline and administering the collective bargaining agreement. Each LEC President serves as a voting member of the MEC, directly representing the members of the Local Council that elected them.
The voting members of the MEC (the LEC Presidents) elect three MEC Officers: a President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer. These MEC Officers administer the day-to-day business of AFA at our airline and represent the MEC in interactions with company management. They do not have a vote on the MEC with the exception of the MEC President, who votes only to break a tie.
MEC Decision Making
The MEC frequently makes decisions ranging from granting contractual exceptions, approving letters of agreement (LOAs), determining MEC priorities, and providing direction to the MEC Officers. Often times, the MEC is able to come to consensus and decisions are agreed upon by all. If there is not consensus on an issue, the voting members of the MEC (the LEC Presidents) will vote to determine the outcome. If there is a tie, the MEC President is responsible for casting the deciding vote.
Questions?
If you have questions about how our Union works at the local or airline levels, please reach out to your LEC President.
