July 8, 2013
Dear Flight Attendants,
Today is the first day of mediation in Valencia, California. Your Negotiating Committee finished a productive introductory meeting with National Mediation Board (NMB) mediator Victoria Gray this morning. We are now on a quick break while Victoria meets with management early this afternoon.
AFA is pleased to introduce transportation economist, Dan Akins, to our team. Dan joins the Negotiating Committee this week as negotiations support to help the committee evaluate the economics of various proposals and to provide the perspective of Alaska’s financial position in the industry to the discussion. Dan graduated from the London School of Economics with a concentration in Transportation Economics and he comes to us with over 20 years of industry experience. He has played a pivotal role in advising organized labor groups such as AFA and remains actively involved in supporting ongoing labor negotiations at major US carriers. As an example, Dan supported Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants during the last several rounds of their contract negotiations. Welcome, Dan!
The Negotiating Committee is very hopeful that this week will prove to be productive and looks forward to sitting down with management and Victoria very soon. We will update you as talks progress.
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”
