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AFA Update – March 6, 2020

In This Edition

  • COVID-19 Continuing Developments
  • Negotiating Committee Interviews – Additional Opportunity
  • Never Refuse a Drug or Alcohol Test
  • MEC Meets with FAA to Discuss Recurrent Training

COVID-19 Continuing Developments

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC)

The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) and Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC), in conjunction with our AFA counterparts at Horizon Air and AFA International, continue to closely monitor the situation in regard to the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).  A meeting was conducted between AFA Alaska and Horizon leaders on Wednesday to have further discussion about AFA’s requests to improve Flight Attendant protections.  This meeting will be followed up by an additional meeting between all Alaska and Horizon labor leaders and management from across Alaska Air Group (AAG) to further discussions about the impact of the virus and the steps that need to be taken to protect Flight Attendants, other employees, and passengers.

AFA Alaska released a communication earlier this week with more detailed information about the requests that we have made of management to improve protections for all of us on the job.  In addition to this communication, you can find the most up-to-date, pertinent information about COVID-19 and its impact on Flight Attendants on the Coronavirus Outbreak page of the AFA International website.  The page contains the latest news on the outbreak, resources for Flight Attendants to guard against the spread of infection, and links to additional governmental resources such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and CDC.  

Negotiating Committee Interviews – Additional Opportunity

Master Executive Council (MEC)

[Note: The MEC has become aware of chatter elsewhere on social media that we’re discriminating against junior and/or Legacy Virgin America (L-VX) FAs. This is due to the reposted opening for the Negotiating Committee that is soliciting for 25+ years occupational seniority and/or prior negotiations experience. This is definitely a misunderstanding about intent. The MEC has already received approximately 20 applications from both Legacy Alaska (L-AS) and L-VX FAs. We have full intention of interviewing all of them for the NC.


With a few exceptions, nearly all applicants have less than 15 years of occupational seniority and no formal negotiations experience. It is the MEC’s desire to have a representative NC, so we are looking to fill in the applicant pool with more senior FAs so that we have a representative sampling of the Membership. Additionally, Section VI.A.1 of the AFA Constitution & Bylaws specifically states “The Negotiating Committee selected should include a member, or members, who have had previous experience, insofar as is practicable.”


It is regrettable that some FAs have misconstrued the call for additional applicants with specific qualifications to mean the NC will be exclusively comprised of FAs with 25+ years of seniority and therefore all L-VX will be locked out of representation on the NC. This is absolutely not true.With only three members on the NC (plus the MEC president as chair), the MEC must consider each appointment very carefully. There are no guarantees who will ultimately be appointed because it will depend on each applicant’s qualifications and interview(s), but the MEC has a strong desire to choose a NC that is representative of all members and all constituencies as much as possible (e.g. seniorities, domiciles, legacy carriers, etc.). ^jtp 03/06/2020 @ 17:50 PT ]

The Master Executive Council (MEC) is currently in the process of scheduling interviews for prospective Negotiating Committee candidates who submitted expression of interest forms prior to the March 3 deadline.  In order to provide an additional opportunity, the MEC has decided to re-open the expression of interest process for Negotiating Committee Members.  Additional interviews will be conducted at the April Regular MEC Meeting.  The MEC is specifically seeking candidates with 25 years or more of Flight Attendant seniority and/or those with previous negotiating experience.  Other candidates will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Our current Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) becomes amendable on December 17, 2021 but also contains an early opener clause for the negotiating process to begin as early as December 2020.  In anticipation of early openers, the Master Executive Council (MEC) will be conducting interviews for the Negotiating Committee during the April Regular MEC Meeting, to be held April 7 and 8, 2020.  All three Negotiating Committee positions are up for interview and consideration.  Per the AFA Constitution & Bylaws, the MEC President is the chairperson of the Negotiating Committee and rounds out the Committee as the fourth member.

The Negotiating Committee is charged to negotiate and institute the needs and desires of the Flight Attendants into an effective collective bargaining agreement (CBA).  The Committee should have a good working knowledge of the current CBA and be willing to devote their full time to the Committee during negotiations.  The members of this Committee shall serve as the CBA Interpretation Committee until a new agreement is completed.

Selection of Committee Members

  • Any person seeking a position on the Negotiating Committee must submit a resume to the MEC
  • Committee Members will function until a new Committee is selected
  • The Chairperson of the Negotiating Committee will be the MEC President or her/his designee
  • Committee Members are selected by majority vote of the voting members of the MEC (LEC Presidents)

Committee Member Duties & Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the Negotiating Committee shall include the following:

  • The Committee, with the advice of the Staff Negotiator shall have the authority to conclude an agreement, subject to the provisions of Article XII of the Constitution and Bylaws.
  • All members of the Committee, including alternates whenever possible, shall complete a negotiations training seminar prior to writing an “opener.”
  • Be familiar with Union policy and keep abreast of new developments in the industry.
  • Utilize the facilities and resources of the Union and the experience and knowledge of Union Officers, International Office staff and study committees of the Union. (eg., Legal, Retirement and Insurance, Wage and Working Conditions, etc.).
  • Maintain a current record of the:
    • Financial condition of the company.
    • Management lines of authority and methods of communication.
    • Operations statistics and experiences of the airline which may be used in bargaining, grievances, litigation, etc.
  • Be familiar with the wishes of the Flight Attendant group with respect to wages, working conditions, and work rules, through, for example, system-wide distribution of contract surveys, periodic road shows, etc.
  • Prepare the contract opener with the advice of the Staff Negotiator
  • Provide regular updates to the membership on the status of negotiations
  • Proof CBA language and agree with the Company on implementation and effective dates
  • Review tentative agreement with the MEC
  • Prepare membership summary package and Roadshow schedule
  • Present the tentative agreement to the members
  • Proof printed agreement and prepare CBA index
  • Prepare CBA interpretations for new concepts
  • Remain available as a resource for interpretations
  • Maintain a complete record of the negotiations, including proposals, notes and communications, and such record is the property of AFA-CWA.  A copy of this record will be forwarded to the International Office by the Negotiating Committee.
  • Maintain contact, through the MEC President, with IAM, ALPA, TWU, AMFA, and other applicable labor unions on property

Flight Pay Loss Reimbursement

Flight pay loss (FPL) reimbursement will be provided to Negotiating Committee Members at the rate of 6 TFP at “A” pay for 8 hours of work.  FPL is not reimbursed for days that solely contain travel to/from an activity.

Expressing Interest and Interview Scheduling

The MEC will hold interviews during the April Regular MEC meeting from April 7-8, 2020.  Bid around the interview date or plan to arrange your schedule accordingly to accommodate.

Interested candidates should submit an expression of interest and resume online at https://forms.gle/YGCUtxVETB3z9aZW7.  The deadline for submissions is 5 PM Pacific time on Friday, March 27.  After that time, MEC Secretary-Treasurer Linda Christou will contact qualified candidates to schedule a specific interview time.

Please note that in order to submit an expression of interest, you must have a Google account.  If you do not have a Google account, you can create one for free at https://accounts.google.com/signup.

Questions?

Any questions regarding the Negotiating Committee positions or application process should be directed to MEC President Jeffrey Peterson at jeffrey.peterson@afaalaska.org.

Never Refuse a Drug or Alcohol Test

Grievance Committee

As Flight Attendants, we are all aware that we are subject to random drug and alcohol testing.  This requirement is contained in 49 CFR part 40 and falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation.  At Alaska Airlines, the Drug Abatement department, which is part of the Safety Division, is responsible for administering the testing program and ensuring that the company remains compliant with all applicable rules and regulations pertaining to drug and alcohol testing. 

At the end of a duty period, many of us eagerly await block in and the opening of the boarding door to see whether or not a drug/alcohol tester is waiting for us.  The Drug Abatement department has told AFA that their expectation of the drug testers is that they will be present in the jet bridge when the door is opened.  Unfortunately, this does not always happen for a variety of reasons.

In order to prevent any misunderstanding and protect yourself, it is critically important that you never refuse a request to be tested.  Failing to cooperate with any part of the testing process is also considered a refusal to test.  Alaska Airlines drug and alcohol policy states that refusing to take a test is considered to be the same as failing a test.

Reporting any Drug or Alcohol Testing Irregularities to AFA

If you are notified of a drug or alcohol test and experience any irregularities with the process, fully cooperate with the tester but make a mental note of anything unusual.  Irregularities could include:

  • The tester is not present in the jet bridge prior to aircraft block in
  • The test is conducted in a public restroom that is not closed off to public access

* Please note that even though these items could be considered irregularities, they are not prohibited under DOT regulations.  Do not refuse a test based on a suspected irregularity.

Once the test is complete, please report any suspected irregularities to AFA as soon as possible.  These reports should be filed as a ticket through the AFA Alaska Online Support Center.  Be sure to include the date and time of the test, the name of the tester (if known), the flight number you worked immediately prior to the test, and any details of the irregularity.  An AFA representative will follow up with you based your report.

Questions?

If you have questions about drug and alcohol testing or possible test irregularities, please contact your Local Grievance Committee.

MEC Meets with FAA to Discuss Recurrent Training

Master Executive Council (MEC)

On Wednesday, February 26, members of the Master Executive Council (MEC), including many Local Executive Council (LEC) Presidents, met with representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Cascadia Certificate Management Officer (CMO) as well as various members of Alaska Airlines inflight, flight operations, and labor relations management.  During the meeting, the MEC was able to engage in direct dialog with both FAA and management representatives in an attempt to gain clarity surrounding the considerable changes made to the recurrent training (RT) program over the past several months.  The MEC plans to have additional discussion about RT at next week’s Regular MEC Meeting and will provide another update within the next several weeks.

AFA Alaska MEC Grievance Update August 2015

 

The Master Executive Council (MEC) has recently filed numerous grievances on your behalf.

 

Grievances Settlements

 

First and foremost, we filed and settled two very important grievances:

 

Grievance No. 36-99-2-17-15: Assigning a Failure to Report after Successful Check In.

 

This grievance was filed due to the Company’s violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Section 32 [Attendance Policy], when it assigned failure to report occurrences after a Flight Attendant’s successful check in.

 

In certain circumstances management had been assigning a “Late Report” when a Flight Attendant arrived late to the gate or arrived late to the gate at RON, this was after a successful scan in at the beginning of her/his sequence. AFA’s long-standing position has been that “Late Report” occurrences only applied when a Flight Attendant failed to scan in at domicile. All other situations, which might result in a Flight Attendant arriving late to the aircraft, were handled as general performance issues; these will now be referred to as “Late Arrival to Aircraft”. Please note this does not change a Flight Attendant’s requirement to be at the aircraft 45 minutes prior to departure.

 

Management agreed and a settlement was reached with the following clarifications:

 

1) A Flight Attendant may only be assessed a Late Report (formerly Failure to Report) when s/he checks in after the scheduled check in time and has not been assessed a No-Show for the same event;

 

2) When a Flight Attendant is late to the aircraft at any time during a scheduled sequence, s/he will not be assessed any attendance points, these occurrences will be considered a performance issue and will be handled under the Company’s progressive discipline policy; and

 

3) The Company agrees to remove attendance points from any Flight Attendant who received them for being late to the aircraft during a scheduled sequence, provided the points were assigned in the 18 months preceding May 19, 2015.

 

If you believe that you may have been assessed a Failure to Report incorrectly and it occurred after November 19, 2013, please reach out to a local grievance representative for assistance.

 

A copy of the settlement language can be found by clicking here.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-26-15: Quarterly Productivity Premium.

 

The second grievance settlement involved Section 21.R [QPP]. It was filed due to Management’s position that Flight Attendants who had not received a PBS bid award for one or more months of the quarter were excluded from the Quarterly Productivity Premium. A copy of the settlement language can be found in its entirety here.

Grievances Upheld

 

Management granted the following two grievances:

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-11-15: Violation of Section 27.N [New Hire Initial Training Presentation].

The Company’s violation of Section 27.N, when it failed to provide the Association one hour for the purpose of new hire orientation during a regularly scheduled training day.

Resolution: Management has agreed to ensure that a full hour is provided.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-13-15-Failing to Provide Automated Trading of 4K Pairings.

The Company’s violation of Section 10.DD.6 [Long Stage Length (“4K”) Duty Period] and 12.C.1 [Trading Procedures], when it failed to automate trading of Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4K”) Pairings. In addition when it violated the Contract Implementation Schedule Letter of Agreement paragraph numbers six* (“One-hundred and twenty days after DOS-but no later than May 1, 2015,…”) and nine* (“The Company agrees to make a good faith effort to meet the above implementation time frames…”), when it failed to notify the Association of the delay and discuss the circumstances and necessary adjustments to the implementation schedule.

Resolution: Manual trading is in effect until the next emaestro release scheduled for September 15, 2015. Bulletin 2015-0182 issued on July 16, 2015, addresses how to manually trade “4K” pairings.

 

Grievances Pending

 

The following grievances have been filed and are still pending:

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-15-15-Limiting Access to the SAN Domicile.

The Company’s violation of Section 28.I [Company Provided Computers and Printers at Domiciles], when it limited access to the SAN Domicile including contractually required resources to only those Flight Attendants based in SAN.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-19-15-Failing to Pay Flight Attendants for Reasonable Suspicion Drug/Alcohol Testing.

The Company’s violation of Addendum to Section 21 [Compensation], when it failed to pay Flight Attendants for reasonable suspicion drug & alcohol testing.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-20-15-Converting a Line Holding Flight Attendant to ER Reserve Outside of her/his Contactable Period.

The Company’s violation of Section 11.C.3.b.6 [Conversion of Reserves to ER] and 11.C.3.c [ER Contactibility], when it converted a line holding Flight Attendant to ER Reserve outside of her/his contactable period.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-21-15-Section 21.M Compensation.

The Company’s violation of Section 21.M [Pay Protection Due to Weather, Mechanical or to Suit Company Convenience], when it removed a Flight Attendant from a trip and failed to pay protect her.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-22-15-Violation of Past Practice Regarding Manual Revision/Emergency Interim Bulletin (EIB) Insertion Timelines.

The Company’s violation of past practice regarding manual revision/emergency interim bulletin (EIB) insertion timelines, which fails to provide Flight Attendants sufficient time to thoroughly read and insert their revisions and/or EIB’s. Long standing past practice is articulated in the Flight Attendant Manual 6.500 page 1, dated July 6, 2012, which states: “Insert, post and record manual revisions within 14 days of receipt, no later than 30 days after distribution.” A new EIB 14-40 effective November 25, 2014, now states: “The holder of the FAM shall insert revisions/EIBs on or before the effective date or prior to the first assignment following the effective date, whichever comes first.”

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-23-15-Beyond Service Training Exceeding Contractual Training Hours.

The Company’s violation of Section 30.A.2 [Recurrent Training and Other Company-Required (Non-Computer-Based) Training; Hours], by conducting Beyond Service Training after 5:00PM local time, failing to provide a clear break between required training and the optional “Happy Hour” and failing to provide transportation information to Flight Attendants who choose to depart promptly at 5:00PM.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-24-15-Ground Floor Lodging While on Company Business.

The Company’s violation of Section 34 [Hotels], when it failed to avoid ground floor lodging for Flight Attendants attending company required Beyond Service training.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-29-15-Section 28.G.6 Commuter Boarding Priority. The Company’s violation of Section 28.G.6 [Commuter Policy], when it allowed Company employees (and their dependents) on pleasure travel to be given higher boarding priority than commuting Flight Attendants.

 

* * *

 

The next step is to move forward to arbitration on any grievances that cannot be resolved appropriately. In addition, we continue to file disciplinary grievances, which occur on a near daily basis.   Many of these will move forward to arbitration as well.   All Flight Attendants system wide are impacted when AFA cannot resolve issues with management prior to arbitration.   AFA is committed to resolving these issues and will soon be scheduling new arbitration dates for the year 2016. Periodic grievance updates will follow; however should you have questions on specific grievances, please reach out to your local grievance representative.

 

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; MEC Grievance Committee chairperson Jennifer Wise MacColl, MEC Grievance Committee member Stephanie Adams and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

AFA Grievance No. 36-99-2-17-15 Failure to Report or Late Report Settlement

AFA Alaska

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