Dear Flight Attendants,
The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) and your Negotiating Committee have reviewed all documents and provisions associated with the Tentative Agreement (TA) and the MEC has approved the TA to be sent out for a ratification vote. The MEC and the Negotiating Committee recommends that you vote “FOR” this TA.
We know you are all eager to see the entire document and we’re working diligently to finalize the full text language for your review. In the meantime, we’re including a summary of the TA. Most will skip straight to the compensation table and check out their pay rates but remember that a TA is the sum of its parts. As a courtesy to your Negotiating Committee and all the hours they have put into the TA, please consider the TA in its entirety and read the full text language once it is made available. If possible, come see the Negotiating Committee at a Roadshow (schedule included in the back of the attached TA Summary) for further dialogue and explanation.
The Negotiating Committee has secured a 10.9% increase to the top of scale (TOS) rate, with variable increases throughout the scale slightly below and significantly above 10.9%. The number of steps have been lowered from seventeen (17) to sixteen (16). There was a concerted effort to level the progression through the step rates rather than having to wait until Step 11 for the “big jump.” In order to make this happen you will see a proportionately smaller increase for those who just received the “big jump” (at Steps 11 and 12 under the current Agreement) but a proportionately larger increase for the steps leading up to Step 11.
In addition to a very healthy increase at top of scale, we are very proud to have secured an additional one dollar ($1) longevity premium for every additional five (5) years of service as an Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant starting at twenty (20) years of service (YOS). Given that we have Flight Attendants on the payroll with over forty five (45) YOS, our effective pay rate can be as high as six dollars ($1) above the TOS rate of $51.50/TFP ($51.50 + $6 = $57.50) on all TFP flown or credited exclusive of vacation or sick leave pay.
We have eliminated the profitability bonus starting in 2014 (but eligible Flight Attendants will still receive the profitability bonus from 2013 paid out on April 20, 2014); but this is in exchange for the more generous longevity premium. Even for those at 20 YOS with “only” one dollar ($1) longevity premium paid on all Worked TFP (all TFP paid exclusive of sick leave or vacation), this is a much more generous application than the profitability bonus has paid even in the best of years. And it only gets better than that for those at 25 YOS and above!
There were smaller increases made to the date of hire (DOH) rate and the six month rate, but we put more money into the one year (Step 1) rate. Because of all the hiring the Company has done in the past couple years, any changes made to the bottom steps of the scale significantly affected the overall costing of the Agreement. The Negotiating Committee made sure that newly-hired Flight Attendants only have to survive for one year before receiving a healthy increase. Check out the percentage increases (including step rates) over the life of the agreement in the following table. Keep in mind the table does not include the longevity premium for eligible Flight Attendants with 20 YOS or above, which would make those increases even larger!
Percentage Increase Over Term of Agreement Chart
There have been significant enhancements to “unproductive” sequences in the way of “minimum pay rules.” We have retained the “four (4) TFP minimum” which is now called the Duty Period Minimum and have improved the “midnight to midnight rule”–now the Extended Overnight Rule (EOR). There are also new minimum pay rules: an Average Duty Period Guarantee (ADPG) of 5 TFP per duty period across the life of the pairing, a Multi-day Sequence Minimum (MSM) of 4 TFP per calendar day and Sit Pay of 1 TFP for any scheduled or unscheduled sit of two (2) hours or more (unless Stranded Pay is more).
Retro pay will be due back to December 1, 2013 (paid on the Step rates only), and payable on the March 20th paycheck. Down-line increases to the Step rates are one and one-half percent (1.5%) annually. At the final hour, the Negotiating Committee had a decision to make: to achieve a signing bonus or put that money into the rates where it would compound over the years and pay us more money in the long run. The Negotiating Committee chose the latter, although we were able to secure some retro pay back to December.
Although this communication is largely about compensation, as mentioned early there is so much more to a TA than simply pay. However, we hope this quick overview into compensation will whet your appetite. Rest assured more information is forthcoming as soon as possible!
In solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow;
Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Tracy, Karina Cameron-Fetters, Jake Jones and AFA Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo
