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    You are here: Home / Archives for CARES Act

    Reduction in Force Part 4

    July 29, 2020 19:00

    This is the fourth in a series of “Reduction in Force” communications from the Master Executive Council (MEC). See “Reduction in Force Part 1,” “Reduction in Force Part 2,” and “Reduction in Force Part 3” for the previous editions.

    In This Edition

    • Avoiding Involuntary Furlough: Extend the CARES Act Payroll
    • How Many Furlough Mitigation Applicants are Needed to Avoid Involuntary Furlough?
    • Can I Avoid Involuntary Furlough by Applying for an Extended Leave of Absence or Enhanced Voluntary Furlough?
    • Order of Recall

    Avoiding Involuntary Furloughs: Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program

    The single most impactful thing that you can do to completely avoid involuntary furloughs (IVFs) in October would be for you, your family members and your friends to contact Congress and demand our legislators extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program.

    We need urgent action on this now and every day in July:

    1. Call your Representative and Senators. Flight Attendants, family and friends should make three calls every day: two to the Senate line and one to the House line.
    2. Sign this letter to your Representative and Senators >
    3. Tell five flying partners and your friends and family to do the same!

    House: 888-907-9365 |Senate: 888-848-4824

    Sample Script:
    Hello, I am a constituent calling to ask [Representative] /[Senator] to help save my job as an essential worker. Take legislative action in July to extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program for aviation workers in order to avoid massive job loss in October. Keep us connected to our jobs, our paychecks, and our healthcare. Thank you for your urgent attention to this.


    How Many Furlough Mitigation Applicants are Needed to Avoid Involuntary Furlough?

    The MEC is currently estimating approximately 1900 to 2200 Flight Attendants are in the potential involuntary furlough range without any furlough mitigations. As of this writing, over 2300 Flight Attendants have bid for some form of furlough mitigation (e.g. Early Out, Extended Leave of Absence or Enhanced Voluntary Furlough). How many are needed to avoid involuntary furloughs (IVFs)?

    That is very difficult to project with any degree of certainty. Keep in mind that management believes the Company is under no obligation to award all furlough mitigations to the bottom of the list. The Master Executive Council (MEC) is confident management will award all EOs, but we’re less confident about all ELOAs and EVFs.

    Management is concerned about awarding all furlough mitigation bids because of the potential to significantly imbalance the domiciles depending on the number and duration of the respective furlough mitigations (e.g. ELOA-12, EVF-6, EVF-9, EVF-12 and EVF-15). If management were to cut off furlough mitigation awards prior to reaching the bottom of the bids, that could lead to IVFs. Relatively junior Flight Attendants who have applied for furlough mitigations would be converted to IVF if they are in the seniority range impacted by involuntary furlough. Therefore, one cannot assume that every application for furlough mitigation will actually reduce the number of involuntary furloughs in a one to one (1:1) ratio.


    Can I Avoid Involuntary Furlough by Applying for an Extended Leave of Absence or Enhanced Voluntary Furlough?

    No. There has been a lot confusion regarding ELOAs/EVFs and IVFs. Bidding for an EVF does not prevent you from being involuntarily furloughed. – Section 18.A.3

    If a Flight Attendant bids for an ELOA and/or an EVF and if her/his Occupational Seniority number is in the IVF seniority range, then the Flight Attendant will be converted to IVF. If management is forced to involuntarily furlough Flight Attendants, then the most junior Flight Attendant on the Occupational Seniority list will be listed as IVF; the process continues up the seniority list until a sufficient number of IVFs have been designated to meet staffing needs. In no circumstances will the most senior Flight Attendant on IVF have anyone junior to her or him designated as an active Flight Attendant or on ELOA or on EVF.


    Order of Recall

    Recall will be in the following order: (1) Involuntary Furloughs, (2) Enhanced Voluntary Furloughs and (3) Extended Leaves of Absence.

    IVFs

    IVFs will be recalled first and offered in Occupational Seniority (system seniority) order; IVFs may bypass recall until no Flight Attendant is left junior to her/him amongst the IVFs.

    EVFs

    EVFs will be recalled second and offered in Occupational Seniority (system seniority) order irrespective of EVF duration; EVFs may bypass recall until no FA is left junior to her/him amongst the EVFs. EVFs are automatically recalled at the conclusion of their respective EVF duration (6, 9, 12 or 15 months).

    ELOAs

    ELOAs will be recalled third and offered in Occupational Seniority (system seniority) order. ELOAs may bypass recall until the end of their ELOA duration (12 months).


    Coming Soon

    • Base Swaps and Permanent Transfers
    • Dues Obligation

    These are extremely difficult and stressful times. Please remember that your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Committee is always available as a support resource. As your direct representative on the MEC, your LEC president is available to answer questions or concerns that you may have about all the information presented here. Contact information for your respective LEC president can be found by clicking here.

    Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 2020, CARES Act, ELOA, enhanced voluntary furlough, EVF, extended leave of absence, furlough, involuntary furlough, IVF, recall

    AFA Update – July 24, 2020

    July 24, 2020 12:00

    In This Edition

    • REMINDER: Call Congress to Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program
    • Onboard Service Expansion
    • Free Online Learning Course—African American History: From Emancipation to the Present
    • REMINDER: Flight Attendant COVID-19 Survey
    • Grievance Committee Update

    REMINDER: Call Congress to Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program

    Government Affairs Committee

    Keep up the pressure on our lawmakers to do the right thing and extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program.  The House of Representatives is scheduled to break for recess on July 31st and the Senate on August 7th. Make your calls today and every day!

    House – (888) 907-9365
    Senate – (888) 848-4824

    Sample Script:

    Hello, I am a constituent calling to ask [Representative]/[Senator] to help save my job as an essential worker. Take legislative action in July to extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program for aviation workers in order to avoid massive job loss in October. Keep us connected to our jobs, our paychecks, and our healthcare. Thank you for your urgent attention to this.


    Onboard Service Expansion 

    Master Executive Council (MEC)

    Last week, management implemented an expansion of onboard service by increasing beverage choices for passengers and re-introducing hot beverages as an available menu option.  This expansion of onboard service took place despite vocal objections by our Master Executive Council (MEC), Inflight Service Committee, and Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC).  Among these objections are management’s failure to adequately address the increased risk of exposure that our Flight Attendants are facing due to the additional time being spent interacting with passengers to offer the prescribed service.  In light of the recent nationwide increase in COVID-19 cases and many jurisdictions postponing or rolling back plans to reopen businesses, the expansion of onboard service seems counterintuitive and does not indicate that management is serious about “owning safety”.

    The MEC is currently developing a survey to gather more information about the specifics of how the expanded onboard service has impacted our Flight Attendants.  More information will be available in soon in another AFA update.


    Free Online Learning Course—African American History: From Emancipation to the Present

    Human Rights Committee

    Yale University is currently offering a free course on African American history taught by Jonathan Holloway.  Professor Holloway was Professor of History, African American Studies, and American Studies at Yale University and Dean of Yale College. 

    This course represents a unique opportunity to assist in fulfilling our union’s promise to redouble our efforts to seek out, listen to, and amplify the voices of black and brown Flight Attendants within our Union and to address the systemic racism in our Union, our industry and our nation.

    Additional information about the course can be found in the excerpt below from the Yale University website.  You can access the course directly by clicking here.

    About the Course

    The purpose of this course is to examine the African American experience in the United States from 1863 to the present. Prominent themes include the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; African Americans’ urbanization experiences; the development of the modern civil rights movement and its aftermath; and the thought and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.

    Warning: Some of the lectures in this course contain graphic content and/or adult language that some users may find disturbing.

    Course Structure

    This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 50 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Spring 2010.


    REMINDER: Flight Attendant COVID-19 Survey

    AFA International

    As a reminder, AFA International is currently running a Flight Attendant COVID-19 Survey to collect Flight Attendants’ experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential to our work with our airlines, the federal government, and Congress to get your feedback.

    Is there available PPE at work? Have you tested positive for COVID-19? How many trips have you worked since March? What’s your experience with aircraft cleaning? Are you on leave?

    Click here to take the survey

    All individual responses will be de-identified, kept confidential and only utilized publicly in the aggregate.


    Grievance Committee Update

    Grievance Committee

    The Master Executive Council (MEC) has been very hard at work ensuring disciplinary due process and contractual compliance on your behalf.  The contract requires a minimum of 13 arbitration dates yearly to dispute discipline/termination cases and contractual issues.  AFA typically prioritizes termination cases in order to return a Flight Attendant back to work as soon as possible; however, we seek a balance between discipline and contractual cases.  AFA and management mutually decide which cases to arbitrate next based on many factors. 

    Steps of discipline are confirmation of oral warning (COW), written warning (WW), suspension (varied number of days) to termination.  COWs, WWs, and suspensions remain in a Flight Attendant’s file for 18 months, and then are removed.  If a Flight Attendant is in a step of discipline and gets another violation, the new violation will build on the previous violation.  Management doesn’t always progressively travel up the steps of discipline.  If management investigates a Flight Attendant for theft or abuse of sick leave, for example, management will terminate the Flight Attendant if there is evidence to support its findings; if there is no evidence, then the Flight Attendant will most likely be issued a record of discussion (ROD). A ROD is not considered discipline.  There is no middle ground for certain violations.  

    Subject of Most Recent Discipline

    • Theft.  Anything other than an opened/used bottle of water, unused pilot crew meal or purchased food removed from the aircraft will result in termination.  (Temporarily there are Covid-19 exceptions).  
    • Sick leave and FMLA abuse—Terminations on the rise due to travel audits among other things.  Anything written in the comments posting of trip trades and personal drops can be seen, even if eventually deleted.  If management determines abuse it results in termination.  
    • Timecard fraud—For example: Holding the door open to obtain sit pay.  Management has terminated for this violation.
    • Drug/Alcohol violations
    • Harassment
    • Reserves commuting during reserve availability period even if self-assigned a trip. Management has terminated for this reason several times.
    • Social media violations Including “friending” passengers on FB from information gained from the IMD
    • Commuter Violations
      • Flight Attendant released from DHD and used D8Y home
      • Flight Attendant used D8Y when they picked up out of base
      • Flight Attendant used D8Y to/from incorrect cities
      • Flight Attendant used D8Y for pleasure travel
    • Lost IMD or other required items
    • Failing to complete CBT—even if FA just forgets to hit the close button within Cornerstone to switch the CBT from in process to complete.

    Recent and Upcoming Arbitration/Mediation

    ArbitrationApril 21Disciplinary Grievance
    ArbitrationMay 27Contractual Grievance
    ArbitrationJune 15Contractual Grievance
    ArbitrationJune 25Disciplinary Grievance

    Recent Arbitration Awards

    Grievance No.:  36-99-2-52-17-Violation of §§11.H.3.b & 11.H.4 JCTE Denying Unlimited Trading of Reserve Days Due to Classification as a Reserve Block Split.  This grievance alleged the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §§11.H.3.b & 11.H.4 [Reserve:  Reserve Exchange of Days, Pick-Ups and Trades/Reserve Day/Blocks], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) trading system denied unlimited trading of reserve days pursuant to §11.H.4 due to JCA incorrectly classifying such trade as a reserve block split pursuant to §11.H.3.b. 

    Arbitrator’s Decision:  The grievance is denied.  Alaska Airlines did not violate Sections 11.H.3.b & 11.H.4 and/or any and all related sections of the collective-bargaining agreement or past practice when its Jeppesen Crew Access trading system denied transactions where Reserve Flight Attendants sought to give away less than an entire block more than once per month.  Alaska Airlines properly classified these transactions as a reserve block split pursuant to Section 11.H.3.b.

    Recent Grievance Settlements

    Grievance No.:  36-99-2-30-19-Violation of §28.G.2 Ground Commuting Policy.  This alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §28.G.2 [Domiciles:  Commuter Policy/Ground Commuting Policy], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when during the February 2019 Pacific Northwest snowstorms, it did not allow Flight Attendants to use the ground commuter policy because the Company did not consider a snowstorm-related ground commuting failure to be unanticipated.  

    Details:  See the July 13, 2020 AFA Update for more information.

    Grievance No.:  36-99-2-159-19-Violation of §11.F, §11.F.13 and §11.D.2.c Airport Standby Reserve and On Duty at 4:29 am.  This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.F [Reserve:  Airport Standby], §11.F.13 [Reserve:  APSB on Duty at 4:29 am] and §11.D.2.c [Reserve:  Notice of Time to Report], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to or inconsistently compensated Flight Attendants when they were:  1)  Sitting airport standby (APSB) prior to 4:29 am; 2) Sitting APSB prior to 4:29 am and while on said APSB was given a flight assignment prior to 4:29 am; and 3)  Sitting APSB prior to 4:29 am and while on said APSB was given a flight assignment after 4:29 am. 

    Details:  

    1. Reserve Flight Attendants sitting airport standby (APSB) prior to 4:29 am local domicile time who do not receive a flight assignment during APSB:
      1. Will be compensated pursuant to §11.D.2.c at one and one-half times (1.5x) the trip rate in that duty period of which one-half times (0.5x) the trip rate will be paid above guarantee for the APSB assignment if the Flight Attendant receives less than nine (9) hours’ notice of the APSB assignment; or 
      1. Will be compensated straight time (1.0x) towards the reserve guarantee for the APSB assignment if the Flight Attendant receives at least nine (9) hours’ notice of the APSB assignment.  
    2. Reserve Flight Attendants sitting APSB prior to 4:29 am local domicile time and while on said APSB are given a flight assignment prior to 4:29 am will be compensated one and one-half times (1.5x) the trip rate for all TFP flown or credited or APSB in that duty period of which one-half times (0.5x) the trip rate will be paid above guarantee.   
    3. Reserve Flight Attendants sitting APSB prior to 4:29 am local domicile time and while on said APSB are given a flight assignment after 4:29 am will be compensated one and one-half times (1.5x) the trip rate for all TFP flown or credited or APSB in that duty period of which one-half times (0.5x) the trip rate will be paid above guarantee.

    Click here to view the complete settlement agreement.  

    Grievance No.:  36-99-2-116-18-Violation of §10.J.4 Bidding Timelines.  This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Section 10.J.4 [Scheduling:  Bid Packets and Bidding Timelines], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about March 13, 2018, management re-opened its Preferential Bidding System (PBS), NAVBLUE, for a full bid re-award for April 2018 because it was not programmed to match the bid “duty on” preference on the new web application user interface.  However, due to system limitations the re-award required the PBS to reopen which allowed access for Flight Attendants to submit new bids after the contractual bid submission deadline.   

    Details:  The Company and AFA will The parties will actively work on installing an administrative lock-out function (or other mutually agreed upon solution) in the NAVBLUE bidding system (or any successor system).  The lock-out function will allow the ‘back end’ of the bidding system to be opened for bid protests, technical issues, or other adjustments while locking out Flight Attendants from altering their bids on the ‘front end’. It is unknown whether NAVBLUE can accommodate a lock-out function exactly as described in this paragraph. If it is not possible, the parties will work together and mutually agree on the alternate solution and how it would work.  If an alternate solution is not mutually agreed upon, AFA reserves the right to refile this grievance.  

    Compensatory Settlement:  The Company will pay compensation to all Flight Attendants whose adjusted April 2018 bid resulted in a loss of four (4) or more TFP and at least one day of flying from their original April 2018 bid.  Approximately 150 Flight Attendants are in this pool, plus two additional Flight Attendants who do not meet the requirements but whose situations present unique circumstances that warrant settlement.  The total TFP amount to be paid out is 1130.6 TFP. A list of said Flight Attendants will be provided to the Company by the Association pursuant to this Settlement Agreement.  The Company will pay the TFP to all the above-named Flight Attendants no later than on their June 20, 2021, paycheck.  For any affected Flight Attendant who is inactive  (due to separation or furlough) as of June 20, 2021, the Company will mail a check (less applicable withholdings) to the Flight Attendant’s last known address.  The pay will be at the respective rates in effect on the day the Flight Attendant is paid.  Payment will be paid above the reserve guarantee if applicable.  

    Click here to view the complete settlement agreement.

    Grievances Recently Granted by Management

    None

    Grievances Recently Filed and Denied

    Grievance No.:  36-99-2-200-20-Violation of §25.C.1 Failure to Include ASHSC in Safety Meeting.  This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.C.1 [Air Safety Health and Security: Safety Meetings], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about April 3, 2020, it failed to include the Air Safety, Health and Security Committee (ASHSC) in a meeting to discuss passengers who were scheduled to travel on Alaska flights after disembarking from a cruise ship which had suffered an outbreak of COVID-19. The company instead opted to brief AFA about the issue after the meeting and decision was made about how to proceed. 

    Grievance No.:  36-99-2-201-20-Violation of §10.Q & §11.E.4.d Violation of Reserve Assignment List Order.  This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10.Q [Scheduling:  Low-Bid Option] and §11.E.4.d [Reserve:  Order of Assignment, Assignment of Open Sequences/Assignments], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) scheduling system places low-bid option and no-bid lineholder Flight Attendants who pick up reserve days and opt out of the Reserve Assignment List (LTFA) at the top of the list rather than listing them in inverse seniority order following all other Reserves within the same classification (AM/PM/ER) and with the same number of days of availability.

    Grievance No.:  36-99-2-207-20-Violation of §10, §11.D & §24.L Bundled Scheduling Notifications.  This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10 [Scheduling], §11.D [Reserve: Scheduling/Notice of Time to Report] and §24.L [General and Miscellaneous: Company-Provided Inflight Mobile Device (IMD)], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) scheduling system sent bundled scheduling notifications to Flight Attendants on their Inflight Mobile Devices (IMDs) or directly in Crew Access, requiring Flight Attendants to batch acknowledge or ignore such notifications and thereby resulting in Flight Attendants potentially waiving multiple contractual protections via an extra-contractual point of contact (i.e. Crew Access scheduling notifications).  

    More Information

    For more information, including the status of previously filed grievances, please visit the Grievance Committee Activity Page.

    Questions?

    Please contact your Local Grievance Committee if you have any questions about the Grievance Committee update.

    Filed Under: Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC), Government Affairs Committee, Grievance Committee, Human Rights Committee, Inflight Service Committee, Latest News, Master Executive Council (MEC) Tagged With: 2020, AFA Update, Black Lives Matter, CARES Act, Government Affairs, Grievance Committee, Human Rights Committee, Inflight Service, Payroll Support Program, survey

    Reduction in Force Part 3

    July 23, 2020 17:00

    This is the third in a series of “Reduction in Force” communications from the Master Executive Council (MEC). See “Reduction in Force Part 1” and “Reduction in Force Part 2” for the previous editions.

    In This Edition

    • Avoiding Involuntary Furloughs: Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program
    • Staffing Projections From the All-Employee Webcast Explained

    Avoiding Involuntary Furloughs: Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program

    The single most impactful thing that you can do to completely avoid involuntary furloughs (IVFs) in October would be for you, your family members and your friends to contact Congress and demand our legislators extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program.

    We need urgent action on this now and every day in July:

    1. Call your Representative and Senators. Flight Attendants, family and friends should make three calls every day: two to the Senate line and one to the House line.
    2. Sign this letter to your Representative and Senators >
    3. Tell five flying partners and your friends and family to do the same!

    House: 888-907-9365 | Senate: 888-848-4824

    Sample Script:
    Hello, I am a constituent calling to ask [Representative] /[Senator] to help save my job as an essential worker. Take legislative action in July to extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program for aviation workers in order to avoid massive job loss in October. Keep us connected to our jobs, our paychecks, and our healthcare. Thank you for your urgent attention to this.


    Staffing Projections From the All-Employee Webcast Explained

    WARN Act Notices

    The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified mass layoffs. Management is required by law to provide “WARN notices” to employees who may be laid off (i.e. involuntarily furloughed). In all the states in which there are Flight Attendant domiciles (AK, WA, OR and CA), those notices must be sent no less than 60 days prior to the date of the involuntary furlough, or no later than August 1st for involuntary furloughs effective on October 1st.

    WARN notices provided to the union on behalf of affected employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement satisfies the WARN Act requirements except for in California, which also requires notices to be sent directly to the employee. As of today, AFA has not been provided with WARN notices, but we will advise membership as soon as the notice has been served.

    Management’s Projections and “Excess Employees” Explained

    On today’s all-employee webcast, management shared there would be 2500 “excess employees” in Inflight in October and that there are 1200 “volunteers to date” in Inflight. The Master Executive Council (MEC) understands that 2500 is the number of Flight Attendants who will receive WARN notices. That number of 2500 is inclusive of a buffer above the actual number of potential involuntary furloughs (IVFs) in order to assure the Company is in compliance with the WARN Act; it is not the actual number.

    AFA’s Interpretation of Management’s Projections

    The MEC is currently estimating approximately 1900 to 2200 Flight Attendants are in the potential involuntary furlough range without any furlough mitigations. At the time of the webcast, 1200 Flight Attendants had bid for some form of furlough mitigation (e.g. Early Out, Extended Leave of Absence or Enhanced Voluntary Furlough); that number has climbed to approximately 1300 since then. It would seem logical to estimate that we are somewhere between 600 and 900 Flight Attendants short of avoiding IVFs as of this writing, but that is not entirely accurate.

    Keep in mind that many relatively junior Flight Attendants have applied for various furlough mitigations. They would be converted to IVF if they are in the seniority range impacted by involuntary furlough. Therefore, one cannot assume that every application for furlough mitigation will actually reduce the number of involuntary furloughs in a one to one (1:1) ratio.


    Coming Soon

    • Order of Recall for IVF, EVF and ELOA
    • Dues Obligation During a Reduction in Force

    These are extremely difficult and stressful times. Please remember that your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Committee is always available as a support resource. As your direct representative on the MEC, your LEC president is available to answer questions or concerns that you may have about all the information presented here. Contact information for your respective LEC president can be found by clicking here.

    Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 2020, CARES Act, early out, ELOA, enhanced voluntary furlough, EO, EVF, extended leave of absence, furlough, involuntary furlough

    Reduction in Force Part 2

    July 20, 2020 17:00

    This is the second in a series of “Reduction in Force” communications from the Master Executive Council (MEC). See “Reduction in Force Part 1” for the previous edition.

    In This Edition

    • Avoiding Involuntary Furloughs: Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program
    • Status of Primary Travelers and Registered Domestic Partners
    • Order of Awards for EOs, ELOAs and EVFs
    • Seniority Accrual, Pay Rates and Retention of Longevity

    Avoiding Involuntary Furloughs: Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program

    The single most impactful thing that you can do to completely avoid involuntary furloughs (IVFs) in October would be for you, your family members and your friends to contact Congress and demand our legislators extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program.

    We need urgent action on this now and every day in July:

    1. Call your Representative and Senators. Flight Attendants, family and friends should make three calls every day: two to the Senate line and one to the House line.

    House: 888-907-9365
    Senate: 888-848-4824

    Sample Script:
    Hello, I am a constituent calling to ask [Representative] /[Senator] to help save my job as an essential worker. Take legislative action in July to extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program for aviation workers in order to avoid massive job loss in October. Keep us connected to our jobs, our paychecks, and our healthcare. Thank you for your urgent attention to this.

    • Sign this letter to your Representative and Senators >
    • Tell five flying partners and your friends and family to do the same!

    Status of Primary Travelers and Registered Domestic Partners

    On ELOA, EVF and IVF

    AFA has confirmed with Employee Travel that Primary Travelers and Registered Domestic Partners retain online pass benefits (Alaska Airlines [AS], Horizon Air [QX] and SkyWest operated as Alaska Airlines [OO]) while on an Extended Leave of Absence, Enhanced Voluntary Furlough or during the contractual eligibility period (of varying durations pursuant to §18.M [Online Pass Privileges During Involuntary Furlough]) if involuntarily furloughed.

    On Retiree Travel

    For Flight Attendants considering the Early Out packages, Registered Domestic Partners but not Primary Travelers retain online pass benefits under the Early Out packages (and Retiree Travel if eligible).


    Order of Awards for EOs, ELOAs and EVFs

    Early Outs (EOs), Extended Leaves of Absence (ELOAs) and Enhanced Voluntary Furloughs (EVFs) will be awarded in the following order:

    • EOs (EOP-1 and EOP-2) in Occupational Seniority (system seniority) order
    • ELOAs (ELOA-12) and EVFs (EVF-6, EVF-9, EVF-12, EVF-15) in Occupational Seniority (system seniority) order

    Seniority Accrual, Pay Rates and Retention of Longevity

    Seniority accrual

    Pursuant to the Reduction in Force 2020 Sideletter of Agreement (7/8/2020), Occupational Seniority (e.g. for schedule and vacation bidding, Longevity Paid Time Off eligibility) and Company Seniority (e.g. for vacation accrual and non-revenue travel boarding priority) will continue to accrue while on an Extended Leave of Absence, a Voluntary Furlough or if involuntarily furloughed.

    Pay rates

    Flight Attendants will continue to move through the step rates of pay if eligible while on ELOA, EVF or IVF.

    Longevity

    Longevity, which is “vesting service” for 401(k) vesting and retirement eligibility, is frozen (retained but not accrued) while on ELOA, EVF or IVF.


    Coming Soon

    • Dues Obligation
    • Order of Recall for IVF, EVF and ELOA

    These are extremely difficult and stressful times. Please remember that your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Committee is always available as a support resource. As your direct representative on the MEC, your LEC president is available to answer questions or concerns that you may have about all the information presented here. Contact information for your respective LEC president can be found by clicking here.

    We hope to see you at the remaining “Early Out & Leave Options” informational session tomorrow (7/21)!

    Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 2020, CARES Act, early out, ELOA, enhanced voluntary furlough, EO, EVF, extended leave of absence, furlough, involuntary furlough, IVF, longevity, reduction in force, seniority

    Reduction in Force Part 1

    July 17, 2020 17:00

    This is the first in a series of reduction in force communications.

    In This Edition

    • How to Mitigate or Avoid Involuntary Furlough
      • Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program
      • Contact Congress Every Day in July
      • Updated Projections
      • Bidding to Avoid Involuntary Furlough

    How to Mitigate or Avoid Involuntary Furlough

    Master Executive Council

    One of the most frequently asked questions by Flight Attendants right now is what we can do to mitigate or avoid involuntary furloughs (IVFs).

    Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program

    There is an active effort by AFA-CWA and other unions to champion an extension of the CARES Act, which would bring additional payroll support to aviation workers and a continued moratorium on involuntary furloughs through March 31, 2021. This is an active conversation within Congress right now with very tangible momentum, but the window in which to achieve an extension during this legislative session is relatively short.

    Contact Congress every day in July

    The single most impactful thing that you can do to completely avoid involuntary furloughs in October would be for you, your family members and your friends to contact Congress and demand our legislators extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program.

    We need urgent action on this now and every day in July:

    1. Call your Representative and Senators. Flight Attendants, family and friends should make three calls every day: two to the Senate line and one to the House line.
    2. Sign this letter to your Representative and Senators >
    3. Tell five flying partners and your friends and family to do the same!

    House: 888-907-9365 | Senate: 888-848-4824

    Sample Script:
    Hello, I am a constituent calling to ask [Representative] /[Senator] to help save my job as an essential worker. Take legislative action in July to extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program for aviation workers in order to avoid massive job loss in October. Keep us connected to our jobs, our paychecks, and our healthcare. Thank you for your urgent attention to this.

    Updated Projections

    During the first FA Early Out & Leave Options informational session on Tuesday, management estimated they are looking for between 1300 Flight Attendant (~22% of 5975) and up to 2200 Flight Attendants (~36% of 5975) to elect some form of furlough mitigation effective in October. Therefore, IVFs will be avoided altogether if somewhere between 1300 and 2200 Flight Attendants take Early Outs, Extended Leaves of Absence or Enhanced Voluntary Furloughs–or if Congress passes an extension to the CARES Act.

    Read more about the Early Out and other furlough mitigation options >

    Bidding to Avoid Involuntary Furlough

    Some Flight Attendants seem to believe that bidding for an Extended Leave of Absence or Enhanced Voluntary Furlough or being on any type of leave of absence will make them ineligible for involuntary furlough. This is not true. If an insufficient number of Flight Attendants bid for EOs, ELOAs and EVFs, then the Flight Attendants with the least Occupational Seniority (i.e. most junior) will be furloughed in order to achieve the required reduction in force. There is no IVF “super seniority” gained by bidding for or being on any type of LOA because such leaves are ‘converted’ to IVF if applicable.

    Example: The Company needs a reduction in force of 2200 FAs. 2190 FAs bid for EO, ELOA or EVF, so the Company needs to reduce staffing by at least 10 more FAs. The 10 most junior FAs on system seniority list will be involuntarily furloughed. If any of those 10 junior FAs also bid for an ELOA or EVF, then their awards are denied; the next most junior FA(s) will also be involuntarily furloughed until there is a reduction in force of 2200 FAs via ELOA, EVF and IVF.


    Coming Soon

    • Order of Awards for EOs, ELOA, EVFs
    • Seniority Accrual and Retention of Longevity
    • Dues Obligation
    • Order of Recall for IVF, EVF and ELOA

    These are extremely difficult and stressful times. Please remember that your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Committee is always available as a support resource. As your direct representative on the MEC, your LEC president is available to answer questions or concerns that you may have about all the information presented here. Contact information for your respective LEC president can be found by clicking here.

    We hope to see you at the remaining “Early Out & Leave Options” informational session on 7/21!

    Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 2020, CARES Act, ELOA, enhanced voluntary furlough, EVF, extended leave of absence, involuntary furlough, IVF

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