AFA Alaska

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council

Click here to report an issue to AFA
Menu
  • Local Councils
    • Anchorage (Council 30)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Los Angeles (Council 18)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Portland (Council 39)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • San Diego (Council 15)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Seattle (Council 19)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • San Francisco (Council 35)
      • Officers
      • Committees

    • More About Local Councils >>
    Close
  • Master Executive Council
    • Officers
    • Close
  • Committees
      • Air Safety, Health, & Security (ASHSC)
        • Air Quality
      • Benefits
      • Communications
      • Employee Assistance Program & Professional Standards
      • Government Affairs
      • Grievance
      • Hotel
      • Human Rights
      • Inflight Service
      • Inflight Training
      • Membership
      • Mobilization
      • Reserve
      • Retirement
      • Scheduling
        • Pairing Construction
        • Preferential Bidding System (PBS)
      • Uniform

    • More About Committees >>
    Close
  • Contract
      • Contract Home
        • Current Contract
        • Ask Contract Questions
      • Contract Resources
        • Read Contract Q&A
        • Explanatory Videos
      • Contract Negotiations
    • Close
  • Resources
      • Issues & Campaigns
      • Newsroom
        • AFA Alaska News Now
        • Message from the MEC President
      • Event Calendar
      • Membership Services
      • New Members
      • About
      • Links
      Close
    • Negotiations
    • Contact Us
    You are here: Home / Latest News / Negotiations Update April 15-18, 2013

    Negotiations Update April 15-18, 2013

    April 19, 2013 12:30

    Negotiations Update April 15-18, 2013

    Dear Flight Attendants,

    This session was a roller coaster of a week for your AFA Negotiating Committee.  It started out on a negative note and ended with a renewed commitment to forging ahead and narrowing the gap.

    The week started off somewhat contentiously before talks had even started because management disallowed our “Show Us the Money” pin backers over the weekend.  Many of you had started to wear the pin backers when the memo came out banning them. 

    The Master Executive Council was in Seattle to meet with the Negotiating Committee and receive management’s response to our comprehensive proposal.  Management did not meet with us on Monday, saying that some on their team did not have the date reserved on their calendars.  For us, it was a wasted day and wasted resources.

    On Tuesday, a key member of management’s team was unavailable to meet.  At this point, we were doubting management’s focus and commitment to Flight Attendant  negotiations.  We contacted CEO Brad Tilden, who agreed to meet with the MEC and the Negotiating committee that same day.  The extended meeting took place at corporate HQ with Brad, COO Ben Minicucci and Vice President Labor Relations Shane Tackett and VP Inflight Services Andy Schneider.  

    A very frank discussion ensued regarding frustrations with these negotiations and relations between AFA and management. Management reaffirmed their commitment to negotiations and to good labor relations.  How to get the talks back on track was the focus of our discussion.  All agreed that the parties engaging in some “off the record” discussions might be helpful to jump-start negotiations. As a sign of good faith, the MEC resolved that the officers and the Negotiating Committee would not wear the pin backers during this session.

    Negotiations resumed on Wednesday morning. Both teams continued to exchange proposals on non-economic sections: section 3 Scope, S27 Association general, S16 Sick Leave.  We are moving closer in all those sections.

    We gave a power-point presentation to management detailing Flight Attendants’ loss of real buying power as a result of wages not keeping up with inflation.  The presentation highlighted FAs contribution to Alaska’s success and the many awards FAs have earned consistently over the years.

    Neither the AFA nor the management negotiating teams passed formal comprehensive proposals this week.  However, both sides engaged in detailed discussion about components of the proposals.  The mood at the table was much improved from the beginning of the week.  At this point in negotiations and as talks progress, the elements of comprehensive compensation proposals may rapidly and significantly change so we will not be reporting out specifics about our proposals.  However, we will keep you informed about how negotiations are going in general. 

    We’ve gotten reports of individual FAs or groups of FAs taking their own solidarity actions such as wearing colored ribbons, etc.  While we admire your spirit, we have to caution everyone against taking independent actions not sanctioned by AFA.  We do not want to see anyone disciplined over this.

    Our next session is in Seattle in less than a week and a half, starting on April 29.  Until then, please remember to wear your AFA pin as a sign that your Negotiating Committee has the support of over 3,100 Flight Attendants.

    In solidarity,

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

     

    “Five Bases, One Voice”

    www.alaskamec.org

    AFA-CWA_logo

    References:

    AFA Alaska Negotiations channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AFAALANegotiations

    Alaska Airlines Negotiations facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/alaskaairlines.negotiations

    VOICE Comment Card Report April 2013

    [Important: Going forward the Negotiating Committee will read every comment card just like today. However, we will only confidentially publish non-anonymous comment cards. That is, for a comment card to be pushed there must be some identifying information on the card such as a name or arctic number. We will continue to “scrub” the identifying information from the cards when published.]

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email

    Filed Under: Latest News, Negotiations

    Need Help?

    Have an issue or concern to report to AFA?  Click here to access the AFA Alaska online support center.

    Connect with Us on Facebook

    Connect with Us on Facebook

    Follow Us on Twitter

    Tweets by AFAAlaska

    Instagram

    The first set of observations under the Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) program begin today (January 27) and will continue through February 28. Similar to the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), participation in LOSA is entirely voluntary and identifying information such as Flight Attendant names, dates, and flight numbers are never associated with observation data. If you have any questions about the LOSA program, please don’t hesitate to contact the AFA members of the LOSA Steering Committee.
    Read details from our Negotiating Committee about Session 8 of contract negotiations, including a tentative agreement on Hotels and updates on current progress.
    AFA and management recently agreed to a defined process for when a debrief meeting with management needs to be conducted following an operational safety event. The agreement ensures protections for Flight Attendants while guaranteeing pay, duty day limitations, and AFA representation. Details can be found in the Operational Safety Debriefs Letter of Agreement (LOA).
    Our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met on Tuesday, January 24 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent Flight Attendants interests related to lineholder scheduling. The Committee also met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems that Flight Attendants are experiencing with scheduling, pairings, and bidding. Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
    The recent severe weather in Northern California that caused flooding, landslides, and mudslides has destroyed property, damaged infrastructure, and forever changed countless people’s lives. A Presidential Declaration of Disaster has been issued for California’s Merced, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz counties. Flight Attendants whose primary residences are in these counties and have been affected by the current disaster can request help from the AFA Disaster Relief Fund.
    Read details from our Negotiating Committee about Session 7 of contract negotiations, including updates on current progress and sections in discussion.

    Latest News

    • LOSA Observations Are Underway
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – January 27, 2023
    • Operational Safety Debriefs
    • Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – January 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – January 20, 2023
    • AFA Disaster Relief Fund – California Severe Storms
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – January 13, 2023
    • January 2023 MEC Meeting Recap
    • Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023
    • iPhone 13 Inflight Mobile Device Distribution

    LOSA Observations Are Underway

    January 27, 2023 Leave a Comment

    Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) As previously communicated, AFA and management agreed to conduct a Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) to help improve safety for Flight Attendants, other crewmembers, and passengers.  The LOSA program is jointly administered by AFA and management as outlined in the Inflight Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) Program letter of agreement. The […]

    Operational Safety Debriefs

    January 26, 2023 2 Comments

    Master Executive Council (MEC) In 2019, AFA filed grievance number 36-99-2-170-19, which alleged management’s violation of section 19.A of the collective bargaining agreement. The violation was related to an incident where management conducted a debrief meeting with Flight Attendants while they were still on duty following a slide deployment incident. As there was no contractual […]

    Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – January 2023

    January 25, 2023 Leave a Comment

    Scheduling Committee On Tuesday, January 24, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Natalie Codd (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also […]

    AFA Disaster Relief Fund – California Severe Storms

    January 18, 2023

    AFA International The recent severe weather in Northern California that caused flooding, landslides, and mudslides has destroyed property, damaged infrastructure, and forever changed countless people’s lives. A Presidential Declaration of Disaster has been issued for California’s Merced, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz counties. Flight Attendants whose primary residences are in these counties and have been affected by […]

    January 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

    January 13, 2023

    Master Executive Council (MEC) The January 2023 Regular MEC Meeting was held this week on Tuesday, January 10.  The meeting consisted of updates from our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee.  Our MEC also reviewed written reports submitted by other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons about their current programs of work.  No Meeting With Management […]

    Response to the November 18th Inflight Town Hall Webcast

    November 18, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    California meal & rest breaks Management’s continued scare tactics and speculative “what-if’s” as put forward during the Inflight Town Hall webcast today regarding California meal & rest breaks are unnecessary and extremely disappointing. Although it is true there are some challenging aspects of compliance with California meal & rest break laws for commercial aviation, AFA […]

    ALPA Alaska Approves Tentative Agreement for Pilot Ratification

    September 23, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Alaska Airlines leadership recently announced they approved a tentative agreement (TA) with Alaska Airlines management for pilot ratification. Click here for the Alaska Airlines Pilots TA Quick Guide (September 2022) > At a quick glance, the TA contains impressive improvements to scope, […]

    Masks Are No Longer Required in Airports or Onboard

    April 18, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    The CDC and TSA report the federal mask mandate is no longer in effect after today’s court ruling. Additionally, Alaska Airlines management just announced via multiple channels that the mask mandate is lifted effective immediately on all aircraft.

    RSS Negotiations News

    • Negotiation Session 8
    • Negotiation Session 7
    • What commuter improvements can we expect?
    • The commitment from management on industry leading pay is great news! However, pay rates are only part of the picture – are we sacrificing work rules and benefits for leading pay rates?
    • Can you clarify the pay components included in our Opening Proposal (Ground, Flight, Delay, Stranded)?
    • Negotiation Session 6
    • Negotiation Session 5
    • Can you clarify insurance premiums in the Insurance Benefits tentative agreement?
    • Why isn’t the Negotiating Committee publishing tentative agreements of each section?
    • Management has lawyers at the negotiating table – why don’t we?

    Recent Posts

    • LOSA Observations Are Underway
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – January 27, 2023
    • Operational Safety Debriefs
    • Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – January 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – January 20, 2023
    • AFA Disaster Relief Fund – California Severe Storms
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – January 13, 2023
    • January 2023 MEC Meeting Recap
    • Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023
    • iPhone 13 Inflight Mobile Device Distribution

    Local Councils

    • Anchorage
    • Los Angeles
    • Portland
    • San Diego
    • San Francisco
    • Seattle

    Master Executive Council

    • MEC

    Negotiations

    • Contract 2022 Home
    • Negotiating Committee
    • Negotiations Feedback
    • Negotiations News
    • Negotiations Process

    Contract

    • Contract Home

    Committees

    • Air Safety, Health, & Security
    • Benefits
    • Communications
    • EAP/Professional Standards
    • Government Affairs
    • Grievance
    • Hotel
    • Human Rights
    • Inflight Service
    • Mobilization
    • Reserve
    • Retirement
    • Scheduling
    • Uniform

    News By Month

    News By Category

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

    Want To Stay In The Loop?

    The best way to stay connected with up-to-date AFA Alaska news and information is through a subscription to AFA Alaska emails!  Click the button below to sign up.  Already a subscriber?  You can make changes to your email by clicking below!
    Sign Up

    Connect With AFA

    • Contact Us
    • Online Support Center
    • AFA International
    • CWA
    • AFA Alaska Social Media Guidelines
    • AFA-CWA Mutual Respect Policy

    Copyright © 2013-2023 Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO