Important Dates
- September 30: Last day of COVID Points Forgiveness-today!
- October 1: Vacation Round 2 opens
- October 15: Last day to submit vaccination record for $200
- October 18: Vacation Round 2 closes
- October 25: Vacation Round 2 Awards posted
- Various dates (see below): How-To Series
Hotel and Reserve Committee Opportunities
Council 35 has chair openings in the Hotel and Reserve Committees. Please review the duties and responsibilities of each position which can be found on our website. If you are interested in volunteering, please submit a letter expressing your interest to sfo@afalaska.org.
How-To Series Starts October 1st
Council 35 is happy to announce a new learning series to help Flight Attendants navigate a variety of scheduling and reserve activities. In collaboration with Inflight Base Managers Cierra Lewis and Benito Pasia-Garcia, our very own Virginia Fritz, SFO Scheduling Chair, is hosting these events along with PDX Reserve Chair, Anthony Eskander. Each event will include a short lesson about a scheduling or reserve topic followed by live Q&A. These short live events will be held throughout the month of October via Teams. Can’t make the event you want? No problem! All live events will be recorded and posted for FAs unable to attend. To view live events, past recordings or more information, visit the How-To website on Alaskasworld. Schedule and details can be found in the following links:
October 1: Personal and Management Drops
October 4: Bidding Strategies for your Seniority
October 13: Splitting and Advertising Reserve Days
October 14: Trading Reserve Days
October 15: Posting and Shifting Reserve Days and Understanding Coverage
October 15: TO and Non-TO Days and Open Time
October 26: Lineholder’s Picking up Reserve Days
October 28: Precancellations
COVID MOU Sunsets
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) negotiated to remove points for COVID related absences will sunset today, September 30. AFA requested that management extend the MOU however the suggestion was not accepted and management will discontinue the COVID points forgiveness program as planned. Please be sure to submit for COVID related absences according the guidelines in the MOU. Flight Attendants returning from leave on October 1 have 14 days to submit documentation. Additionally, any FA that has a continuous absence that begins in September but carries over into October will also be considered for point forgiveness if reported in a timely manner. Please review the COVID Points Forgiveness MOU for more information. Reminder to CA based Flight Attendants: Please review the State Laws Part 3 communication for information on CA COVID laws.
Call to Action: Possible Government Shutdown
Transportation is one of the many industries that will be affected by a government shutdown. Join other AFA members and let your state’s representatives know that avoiding the shutdown is important to Flight Attendants. For more information and how this impacts our jobs, please read No More Shutdowns and take part in this important mobilization effort.
Save the Date: California Local Council Membership Meeting
The next membership meeting for Council 35 members will be Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 1100 via Zoom. The purpose will be to discuss news and events happening in California bases at Alaska. This meeting will be a combined council meeting and open to all Council 35 (SFO), 18 (LAX) and 15 (SAN) members in good standing (up-to-date on dues). Agenda, time and registration details will be sent in a separate communication.
AFA Membership Dues – Update
by LEC Secretary and Membership Chair, James Ikehara
Approximately 300 Council 35 members are in arrears with their monthly AFA dues based on the September 2021 report from AFA International’s Membership Services department. Although the amount of months in arrears vary widely, a member that is only one month late ($50) can fall into a “Bad Standing” status if the amount owed is more than 90 days delinquent; there are approximately 102 members that fall into this category. A delinquency may have been caused by the following
- A type of leave of absence you incurred in the past and were not coordinating enough sick leave or vacation to cover your dues
- You flew low TFP’s in any given month and there was not enough money for an auto-deduction
- When you are on any type of leave and you are completely off payroll (not coordinating any sick leave or vacation time) you are obligated to pay the first 3 months during your leave according to the AFA-CWA, Constitution & Bylaws. Once the 3 months have been fulfilled you have met your obligation and you do not owe union dues until you return to work.
If your delinquency is not corrected, the following is the progression of steps taken for non-payment based on AFA International’s bylaws:
- Standing 2 (S2) – this letter indicates you are now in bad standing and this is the first stage of the AFA-CWA delinquency process. A flight attendant goes into S2 when you have ONE or more dues billings that are over 90 days old and remain unpaid.
- Standing 3 (S3) – this letter indicates that the FA remains delinquent after receiving the initial “Bad Standing” warning letter. You now receive your S-3 letter via certified mail return receipt (if AFA International has an incorrect address on file, the LEC President or Secretary will put it into your co-mail file at work and it is treated as if it was sent via certified mail). Nonpayment could result in discharge per our FA Collective Bargaining Agreement, Section 26 C & D.
- Standing 4 (S4) – this is a pending status which means your International Membership Services department is researching your account for you.
- Standing 5 (S5) – this is your final warning and this becomes very serious. After receiving your S-2 and S-3 letters for nonpayment, our International AFA office in Washington, D.C. sends a letter to Alaska Airlines requesting discharge for nonpayment and a copy of this letter is also sent to your LEC President.
If you have received a text or email from me, or a letter from AFA International’s Membership Services department about your dues, it is important you contact AFA-CWA Membership Services by calling them directly at 844-232-2228, extension 3 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Eastern), or by submitting an online inquiry via this link to verify the amount owed on your account. If you were on any type of leave, ensure you note the dates of your leave in the comments section and they will investigate and make the necessary changes. Debit and credit card payments can be made via this link.
If you need to complete a Dues Check Off (DCO) form to ensure your dues are automatically deducted from your account, you can access the form here. After printing and signing the DCO, mail it to the Washington, D.C. address at the bottom of the form. Please note the following: the paycheck you receive on the 20th of each month (Advice Date) pays you for all of your flying for the previous month. However, the AFA dues that are payroll deducted from this check pays for the month it was deducted (i.e., the $50 deduction for October 20th will be for October dues, not for the previous month). For those returning to work from one of the mitigated leaves of absence, your dues may not be deducted since you were not active in the previous month.
If you are not able to pay your balance in full, payment options are available and can be coordinated with the Membership Services office. We are here to offer assistance in ways of paying your obligation so it is very important that we work together to ensure that Section 26 C, D & E of our Collective Bargaining Agreement are not applied for non-payment of dues which could result in termination once you have reached a Standing 5 status. We want to ensure the status of your AFA membership stays current and appreciate your prompt attention to correct this issue.
In solidarity,
Melissa, James and Brad
Melissa Osborne, LEC President • Melissa.osborne@afaalaska.org • 415-275-1322
James Ikehara, LEC Secretary • James.ikehara@afaalaska.org • 415-289-9011
Bradley Young, Council Representative • Bradley.young@afaalaska.org • 916-508-3503
