committee update

November Committee Update

November 8, 2023 07:00

In this issue….

Inflight Service Committee Update
Membership Committee Update
Mobilization Committee Update
EAP Committee Update
Reserve Committee Update
Scheduling Committee Update
Uniform Committee Update

Inflight Service Committee

A few reminders from your ISC Committee:

Please remember to comp crew members dead head meals instead of swiping. To comp the meal from the pre-ordered meals list, tap on the crew member’s name and scroll to the DH Crew and tap.
Use B2B to report juice shortages in FC and MC. Management needs to hear from us when we need more supplies.
During November it is possible that you will be catered with both Starbucks and Stumptown coffee. Please use the Starbucks first.

Membership Committee

We have many Seattle Flight Attendants that are delinquent or in dues arrears. Please makesure to keep up on your union dues. Missed dues deductions will not come out of future paychecks, payments for missed deductions must be paid directly to International Membership.

If you are an active member and do not have enough money on your 20th paycheck to auto deduct union dues, you will owe dues for that month.

When a Flight Attendant is out on leave and coordinating sick leave or vacation, they are considered active and will owe dues. Depending on what other deductions you have, coordinating minimum TFP might not be enough to cover your union dues deduction. If this is the case you will have to pay your dues directly to International Membership.

Here is a link to payment options when you miss an auto deduction https://www.afacwa.org/payment_options. Flight Attendants that are delinquent would not be eligible to vote for a TA.

We will be holding a membership meeting on December 19th around our Solidarity event. More information about this will come out shortly!

If you have questions, you can reach out to our Membership Chair and Council Secretary, Adam Clarey at adam.clarey@afaalaska.org.

Mobilization Committee

The Mobilization Committee continues to be busy supporting the Negotiating Committee by getting information out to our flight attendants and building solidarity. Save the Date for a system wide Informational picket on December 19th. There will also be a membership meeting on this same day.

We’re always looking for more Mobilization Volunteers. If you’re interested, sign up at https://contract2022.afaalaska.org/mobilization/volunteer/signup/

Reserve Committee

Your Council 19 Reserve Committee will be conducting a joint in person base sit along with the Scheduling Committee on November 15th from 10:00AM-6:00PM in the north satellite village. Please come say hi, and meet your local Reserve and Scheduling Chairpersons and have all your Reserve and Scheduling related questions answered. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please continue to file tickets at https://support.afaalaska.org for contractual concerns. You can direct general inquiries to our monitored email (sea.reserve@afaalaska.org). We try to reply and provide assistance within 24 hours, but keep in mind that we all fly full schedules.

We continue to see a lot of out of order assignments. As a reminder, LTFA order must be followed in all cases, even for ER conversions and APSB assignments. You can only be assigned out of order relative to other FAs who are the same type of Reserve classification (AM/PM/ER) who are good for the same number of days. If you believe you were assigned out of order please file a ticket at https://support.afaalaska.org.

Additionally, your local Reserve Committee was successful in getting a bulletin issued to Crew Schedulers clarifying the Reserve monthly maximum LOA (118.2 TFP) and so far we are seeing less issues related to FAs being illegally scheduled beyond 118.2 flown reserve TFP.

Lastly, we are getting reports that the PPP (productivity premium program) calculator is not working properly. We have recently been informed that Crew Pay believes the issue has been resolved and is working properly at this time. If you believe your calculator is still incorrect you can email FA Crew Pay (fa.crewpay@alaskaair.com) for an accurate year to date count if you have PPP related inquiries.

Fly safe and see you out there!

Scheduling Committee

Thank you for continuing to reach out to the Sea Scheduling Committee and submitting AFA Support tickets so we can assist you with scheduling issues as they occur. We’ve included a few important year end reminders.

Know Before You Go:

We would like to give a few recommendations as we move into the Fall/Winter months, the holiday season, and possible weather related operational issues. We suggest that FAs review the following sections of the contract: 10.R. Reassignments, Section 10.S. Pre- Cancellation, and Ground Commuter Policy (Section 28.G.) (AFA SLOA 2020-05-20)

The Scheduling Committee has created several Flowcharts to assist you in understanding sections of the CBA.

They can be found in the Scheduling section on the AFA Website.

AFA Website > Main Page > Committees > Scheduling > Tools and Resources (right hand side)

Record Improvement – End of year 480/960 TFP totals and Point Reduction

We traditionally tend to see sick leave drop in November and December as FAs are trying to achieve their 480/960 TFP totals and also qualify for the point reduction (record improvement) for not calling in sick in November and December.

Record Improvement – Point Reduction – end of year Nov/Dec 4 points or less (Section 32.G.4. 480 TFP [§13.D.6.] [§16.L.4.] [§21.D.6.] [§23.B.1. – B.4.] [§23.C.6.b.] [§23.C.7.a.] [§32.G.4.] 960 TFP Longevity PTO (Section 14.A.5.)

Sit Pay Adjustment Form

We continue to get questions regarding pilot sit pay adjustments. This is currently a manual process. The requirement is for the Flight Attendant to submit the form (Sit Pay Adjustment Form) for Crew Scheduling to adjust if applicable.

The form can be found on the FA Website:

Administration > Pay & Benefits >Sit Pay Adjustment Form

If preferred, there is a QR code which can be found in Bulletin Bundle #2023-0067

***** Helpful hint: whenever there’s a change to your trip in Crew Access (JCTE) you will see a shaded triangle in the top Right corner of the Trip. You can expand that window and it will provide additional information. Typically when there’s a pilot adjustment it will show there.

Your Council 19 Scheduling Committee will be conducting a joint in person base sit along with the Reserve Committee on November 15th from 10:00AM-6:00PM in the north satellite village. Please come say hi, and meet your local Scheduling and Reserve Chairpersons and have all your Scheduling and Reserve related questions answered. We look forward to seeing you there!

Uniform Committee

Please remember to use your uniform Allotment ASAP. Any leftover funds will not roll over.
Please continue to report any quality issues for garments to alaskaservice@unisyncgroup.com. It is helpful to include photos of defects and of the tag inside

World Kindness Day: November 13

One constant among our workgroup is that of kindness, woven into our innate nature, continually making an appearance throughout all our days. For this, we have much to be proud of alone as an integral foundation. This kindness glows in abundance with positive light onward to every corner we touch, to every soul we meet, bestowing an impact that ripples on to all others. We simply have the best work force.

Remember to practice kindness within all social media dwellings, too. Company policy has set forth a social media policy that we all must adhere to, for review please refer to their guidelines. Kindness, so simplistic in thought, but so sincere in nature, toward all, forever lights our way…with indelible impact, highlighting once more our very nature….

The wisdom of kindness gleams on; for there is always a hand that needs help, a kind word that needs to be spoken, a word of wisdom that needs to be heard, a kindness to be shown…the radiance of which shines on to profound depths.

In Solidarity,

Your Council 19 Committee Chairs and Officers

To view this communication in a PDF version with graphics, see below.

Council-19-November-Committee-FINAL Download

October Committee Update

October 11, 2023 10:00

In this Edition

ASHSC Committee Update
Benefits Committee Update
Communications Committee Update
EAP Committee Update
Grievance Committee Update
Hotel Committee Update
Human Rights Committee Update

ASHSC Committee

The Seattle Air Safety, Health, and Security Committee has continued working towards creating a safer work environment for our workgroup. We have participated in discussions around changing processes and announcements as we continue to grow and change. The Flight Attendants that conduct our Cabin LOSA observations had their annual recurrent training and are getting ready for the audits that will begin again in October.

This year, the switch from Summer to Fall seems to have happened overnight. With this change, we are starting to see the fall storms and the days are getting shorter. It’s important to remember to review and adjust some of our habits to stay safe. With more darkness, be aware of your surroundings, especially in parking lots, on layovers, and other places that aren’t well lit. While driving during this transition period, be aware that there are still lots of people out and often they aren’t wearing clothing that’s geared towards the dark. We also deal with a lot more wind which requires additional attention while driving.

Both NOAA and the national Weather Service have lots of good information on their websites. A couple of links follow:

https://www.weather.gov/

Click to access fall_2020_presentation.pdf

https://www.noaa.gov/

https://www.noaa.gov/stories/4-safety-tips-for-fall-hazards-small-actions-can-have-big-impacts

Benefits, Retirement & Maternity

Our Benefits Committee is always very busy assisting Flight Attendants with planning their medical, maternity, and workers comp leaves.

When a staffing leave is offered, many calls are generated regarding benefits while on a staffing leave. We had many SEA based Flight Attendants that are on the October staffing leave. It is very important to double check your benefit enrollment when you return. An email will be sent from our benefits department with a link to your benefits enrollment.

The 2024 annual enrollment period is right around the corner. This year, the dates are 10/24/2023 – 11/17/2023. This is your once per year time to review your benefits and make any changes for plan year 2024. Our Benefits Committee will be doing base sits 11/9, 11/10, 11/16 & 11/17. Watch for detailed information regarding annual enrollment.

Our Benefits, Retirement and Maternity committee are committed to helping our SEA based Flight Attendants in any way we can.

Communications Committee

We launched our first newsletter since bringing on new committee members. As with any change, there will be some growing pains, and we are working to streamline our processes.

Moving forward, you will receive two regular email communications from us each month. The first will be our monthly committee update (like the one you are reading now) containing information/updates on a portion of our committees, being sent the 2^nd Wednesday of each month. The second will be a monthly newsletter, coming the 4^th Wednesday of each month.

In addition to the above communications, we will send out emails when we need to get important information out to the membership.

We are also going to focus on social media. We have already launched our new Council 19 Facebook group, and we will be launching our Instagram page soon. Moving forward, we will continue to evaluate other social media platforms to keep our members informed. As always, we will continue to make posts on our Council 19 webpage https://afaalaska.org/sea.

EAP Committee

Are you looking for a counselor? Alaska is in the process of switching to a new provider for company sponsored EAP benefits, which will be available in early 2024. In the meantime, we want to ensure that you have access to timely and quality counseling services. EAP has compiled a comprehensive list of providers that you can choose from if you need extra support. We can also assist you in finding someone who matches your needs and preferences, especially if this is your first time seeking professional help. Please visit the AFA EAP website for resources or email Andrea Korican at andrea.k@me.com or Lisa Haugen at skylis@hotmail.com and share your personal email for an updated list.

We continue to see professional standards concerns with social media misuse, unauthorized trip trades, bullying, and unprofessional behaviors on the airplane. We urge you to resolve any conflicts or issues through respectful dialogue and mutual understanding. Remember that everyone may be facing different challenges and stressors at work or in their personal lives. If you encounter a situation that you are unsure about or that makes you uncomfortable, you can always seek confidential guidance and support from an EAP Professional Standards representative or chairperson. They can help you with strategies and solutions to address or cope with your concerns.

Joint Meetup with AFA and ALPA Professional Standards Committees

Your AFA Professional Standards Committee, in coordination with ALPA’s Professional Standards Committee, invites you to coffee and snacks in the Seattle Village (i.e., the crew lounge on the first floor of the North Satellite) on October 19 from 0800 – 1100.

AFA and ALPA are making a joint effort to provide information about the committees and how they can support you on the line. The AFA and ALPA Professional Standards Committees are each part of their respective Assistance Programs available to all union members.

Your Professional Standards Committees goal is to provide you with a better understanding of who we are and how our two committees work individually and together to assist our fellow flight attendants and pilots. This is an opportunity to ask any questions you may have and gain a better understanding of how the professional standards process works. We are committed to assisting our fellow crew members by resolving situations that arise at the lowest level possible so they can continue to perform their duties professionally and safely in an increasingly challenging work environment. Please take a few minutes to stop by for coffee and snacks and meet our committee volunteers! We look forward to the opportunity to serve you!

Grievance

On September 12, 2023, there was a Grievance Committee Update published for the 3rd quarter of 2023. Items discussed included:

Steps of Discipline
Subjects of most recent discipline
Recent Arbitration/Mediation
Recent grievance Settlements
Grievances recently filed, denied by management and currently awaiting arbitration dates

Steps of Discipline

As stated in the update, the steps of discipline are:

Confirmation of Oral Warning (COW)
Written Warning (WW)
Suspension – the number of days varies
Termination

These disciplines remain in your file for 18 months and then are eligible for removal. It’s important to understand that each violation builds on another, regardless of if they are related or of a different nature. So, if a Flight Attendant is still within the 18-month period of a previous discipline, then a subsequent violation will be the next step and the 18 months starts again.

For example, a Flight Attendant receives a COW for being late to plane and causing a delay. Twelve months later, the Flight Attendant loses their IMD and is issued a WW. Eight months later, the Flight Attendant forgets to do their CBT and is suspended. Even though it’s been 20 months since the first violation and the COW will have been removed from their file, they are still in the steps of discipline for the WW, so the next step is still suspension.

For more information regarding the removal of discipline, refer to the CBA, §19.D:

DISCIPLINARY EIGHTEEN (18) MONTH REMOVAL

All letters of discipline (warning or suspension) will be expunged after eighteen (18) months after the date of issuance and, at the request of the Flight Attendant, will be removed from the Flight Attendant’s personnel file.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Not all violations follow the steps of discipline. Some violations, including but not limited to, theft or sick leave abuse is cause for termination, even if the Flight Attendant is not already in a step of discipline.

Attendance Discipline

Unlike other violations, attendance disciplines follow a separate track and are dependent on point accumulation. Refer to the CBA, §32.E.1 to learn more about the steps of discipline related to occurrences of absenteeism. It is up to the Flight Attendant to be aware of the status of their own point accumulation. Make sure that you are utilizing your Quarterly Point Reduction form to help mitigate your point accrual. You have until the end of your next sequence to designate the sequence for your point reduction form. If you don’t submit your form in time, it will be denied, and your points will stay. In other words, a Flight Attendant can’t wait until the end of the quarter and try to use their form for a sequence weeks prior if they had already returned to work and flown subsequent trips since.

For example, a Flight Attendant calls out for a 4-day trip. They are off for 3 days and then report to work for their next 4-day trip. The Flight Attendant has to submit their Quarterly Point Reduction Form prior to their release on Day 4 of their trip.

Hotel Committee

Your hotel committee continues to advocate for the best hotels possible, while maintaining the language in our CBA.

We have seen an increased number of Crew Care reports coming through which is great. Please remember to continue to send the reports for both complaints and compliments. These reports are essential when we are evaluating markets. The Crew Care reports can be accessed directly on your IMD by clicking the API Icon, or on the Inflight Website, Hotels, Hotel Links, My Crew Care.

Our committee has been busy doing site inspections the last couple of months. Members of the committee have recently conducted inspections in CUN, BWI, DEN, SJC, ONT, EWR & PIT. Upcoming inspections include NAS, RDU, GUA, ZIH, IAH, and BNA.

We have seen recent new hotels in Downtown Seattle, and Downtown Chicago, we hope you are enjoying these great new locations and properties!

We hope you have been utilizing the API quick link on your IMD for all your hotel information and needs. Important information like shuttle pick-up times/locations, hotel amenities, and more can be found via the link. The quick link will be replaced with a stand-alone app in the next couple of months. We are currently testing the app and are happy with what we see so far. More information will come on this as we get closer to the launch. We are also planning a base sit in Seattle to highlight the functions!

Human Rights

A note from Yan Yan Teague, Local Human Rights Chairperson:

Hello Council 19,

After four years as your LEC Human Rights Chairperson, I have decided to step down at the end of the year.

To quote Chris Jackson as Washington in Hamilton:

“If I say goodbye, the nation learns to move on, it outlives me when I’m gone”

While I by no means am comparing my position to that of the nation, I do believe that it is important to get a fresh new perspective in this position. I know there is still so much to tackle, but I am proud of what we were able to accomplish in the past four years.

To ensure we have an equitable process in selecting a new Chairperson, the SEA LEC will hold interviews for eligible candidates during the week of December 4, 2023. If you are interested, please plan to bid around that week. All interviews will be conducted using Google Meet video conferencing.

Visit our AFA Alaska Human Rights Committee page to learn more and download roles and responsibilities of the committee. Interested candidates should submit a resume along with a cover letter outlining your interest to sea@afaalaska.org, no later than November 1, 2023.

Find Us on Social Media

You can find the most up to date information on our Council #19 Facebook Group. Click below to join our group and stay connected. Also, our communication team is researching other social media platforms, more information will come soon!

Council #19 September Committee Update

September 13, 2023 07:07

In this ediition

Inflight Service Committee Update
Membership Committee Update
Mobilization Committee Update
Reserve Committee Update
Scheduling Committee Update
Uniform Committee Update

Inflight Service

The Seattle ISC committee continues to receive reports of poor-quality glassware, and utensils coming from the Seattle Kitchen. The reports of dirty and spotted glassware, and utensils has been discussed with management multiple times. Management indicates that they have asked LSG for a review of their processes, and to check the dish washing equipment. Management indicates that LSG has found a faulty part in the machine, and that a fix is in process. Please continue to report dirty dishes using the Block 2 Block app.

The ISC committee is also asking management to address the shortage of FC glassware, and to find a solution as quickly as possible. We have too many reports of missing glassware and having to use paper cups in FC. This is unacceptable and needs to be addressed immediately.

Please continue to use B2B to report all catering issues. Your report may not be responded to, but it is read and assigned to the appropriate team inside the Catering Department.

Membership

In September, we welcomed over 70 new Flight Attendants from Class 5 to Seattle. We add each new Flight Attendant to the AFA newsletter database. All Flight Attendants should be receiving email updates from AFA. If you are not receiving AFA emails, please register here. If you accidentally unsubscribed or need to update your email address, please email us, and we can update your subscription for you.

It is important to keep up with your union dues; missed dues deductions will not be taken out of a future 20^thpaycheck. Dues are owed each month you are active or for the first three months of an unpaid leave. The deductions that occur from the 20^th paycheck each month apply to that month (the September 20^th paycheck covers September dues). Please visit the AFA Membership page for more union dues information and payment options if you owe dues.

Mobilization

As you know, your mobilization committee has been hard at work this summer. We organized two highly successful informational picket events, with over 300 attendees in July and an astounding turnout of over 1,000 in August. Flight Attendants, Pilots, Agents, family, friends, and labor allies came together to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to fighting for the contract we deserve. While we don’t have any formal activities planned at the moment, we encourage you to continue wearing your red AFA pins and proudly displaying our red AFA luggage tags on your suitcases to show management that we are fired up and ready to continue the fight.

Reserve

We have been busy on the Council 19 Reserve Committee continuing to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants based in Seattle. Please reach out with questions or concerns anytime via our email sea.reserve@afaalaska.org. If you have a contractual concern, then please file a ticket at the AFA Support Center page.

We have noticed an increase in out of order assignments, so be sure to check the LTFA and take screenshots if you feel you are assigned out of order related to other Flight Attendants with the same classification reserve (AM/PM/ER)/number or days of availability.

Remember, if you experience an over duty period (duty period that exceeds 12.5 hours) you may be due double out rest. Whatever is on your line at the time of the over duty period you are obligated to complete, but scheduling should not add any new flying after an over duty period has occurred. With how busy reserves have been in Seattle, a reminder is due that you do not have to accept any assignment that causes you to exceed 118.2 TFP flown reserve TFP for a bid period. An easy way to keep track is by checking how much TFP to date you are credited with on the LTFA. If you exceed 118.2, you can ask to be released from your remaining reserve days.

We have seen an uptick in crew access trading issues, if you experience a crew access glitch, please let the reserve committee know ad we will forward it to the correct party.

Lastly, we successfully fought to have the north satellite quiet room open after hours for overnight APSB shifts. For instructions on how to leave the north satellite when the trains are not running, visit the inflight webpage, my base, SEA, SEA Base and SpotOn location information, ADVISORY, and read the message about after-hours crew room access.

Fly Safe and see you out there!

Scheduling

It has been a very busy summer for the Seattle Scheduling Committee. Thank you all who have submitted AFA Support Tickets so we may assist and document scheduling related issues.

Below are highlights of upcoming important scheduling topics:

Don’t forget to bid your 2024 Vacation.
2024 vacation bidding is now open. Refer to Inflight Bulletin for details and due dates for first and second round vacation bidding and award timelines.

As a reminder for vacation bidding:

For additional vacation bidding assistance, there is Vacation Bidding User Guide found on the Inflight webpage > Scheduling and Bidding > Vacation Trading > Vacation Bidding & Trading User Guide.

Keep in mind January, February, and March bid dates for both vacation and monthly bidding.

Section 5 – Definitions: Month: Each Calendar month will be a bid month except for January, February, and March.

January: January 1 – January 30
February: January 31 – March 1
March: March 2 – March 31

Additional information can be found in the CBA, Section 14, Vacation.

October PBS Base Sits

We will be conducting PBS base sits in Seattle in October, for November bid schedules.

October 5: 11AM – 7PM
October 6: 9AM – 5PM
October 7: 10AM – 6PM
October 8: 10AM – 6PM
October 9: No SEA Base Sit
October 7 & 9: Virtual Base Sit 11AM – 1PM

Please Note: There will be PBS base sits at ALL bases. If you are on a sit or in another base, you can participate in those base sits.

PBS Base sit schedule for all bases is posed on the PBS Information Page.

REASSIGNMENT and PRECANCELLATION

There has been an uptick in Reassignments (Section 10.R) and Precancellations (Section 10.S). Please familiarize yourself with CBA Section 10.R and 10.S in its entirety.

AFA Scheduling has helpful resources to assist you on the AFA website, under Committee Resources. Below are helpful flow chart links:

Reassignment Flowchart (Pay): https://afaalaska.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AFA-Reassignment-Flow-Chart-Pay-2022.09.30.pdf
Reassignment Flowchart: https://afaalaska.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AFA-Reassignment-Flow-Chart-2022.09.30.pdf
Precancellation Flowchart: https://afaalaska.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AFA-Precancellation-Flow-Chart-2022.09.30.pdf
Irregular Operations Quick Reference: http://afaalaska.org/scheduling/irops

Uniform

This is a recap from the Quarterly Meeting held on August 8, 2023.

The quarterly meeting was divided into an AFA only meeting and an AFA with management meeting. The following items were discussed:

Reported quality issues including wings/pins causing injury and holes in uniform, name bar falling off wings, hems and seams running/tearing, zipper tabs falling off feminine cardigans, holes in sweaters, and sleeves on cardigans splitting at cup.
Clarified there is no desire for management to remove the requirement for company issued lanyard due to safety concerns. Current lanyards are “snap away” feature that prevents injury.
Management will consider moving from the current approved list to “boot guidelines and requirements” for the seasonal navy boots. Updates will be made as soon as internal discussions conclude.
The committee requested management review seasonal neckwear policy to allow for year-round wear for pride, patriotic, and breast cancer awareness themes. Marketing’s initial concern is this would lose the cohesive look of the brand with so many different styles. It also lessens the impact of the seasonal neckwear during those specific months/days. Will continue discussing.
There with be an update on gender neutral collections and the Unisync website in late October. It will link back to uniform subsite to provide more information.
Management is not inclined to remove the hosiery requirement for the feminine look.
Unisync has a preferred vendor list which as limited ability to source a transition jacket. The committee has requested a list of the preferred vendors and will continue to actively assist in sourcing the best possible fit and quality.
The feminine vest wear test was a success, and the redesign will be used in the site relaunch in October.

The next quarterly Uniform Committee meeting is scheduled on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.

What the Committee is Working On:

Wear Testing: Wear testing for the pride neckwear began on Monday August 7^th and will run for 14 days. Wear testing for a gender neutral “Aura Vest” has been suspended. Advocating for a uniform that suites all body types require wear testers. Seeking volunteers who have gender neutral, petite, tall, and/or plus sizes to test uniform redesigns and additions.

Mock Neck Sweater: Will be added to uniform collection and available for preorder in October. Shipping in Quarter 1.

Warm Weather Shirt: Added to the uniform collection and currently available for order. The shirt does not have any alteration guidelines; however, Flight Attendants may hem the shirt halfway up their bicep. Flight Attendants may not fold or cuff the shirts more than once.

We want to hear from you! Please email Unisync with any quality issues. In the email, please describe the issue in detail, include the “PO” number from the tag, attach photos of the issue and the tag, if possible, and CC your Local Uniform Committee chairperson (sea.uniform.chair@afaalaska.org). Please consider opening a ticket on the AFA Support page so the Uniform Committee can track these issues.

Would you like to join the wear test pool? Do you have other feedback for the committee or items that you would like brought up with management, also lets us know. Your Local Uniform Committee is your voice to management. You can find contact information on the Uniform Committee page of the AFA website.

Find Us on Social Media

Grievance Committee Update – 3rd & 4th Quarters 2022, 1st Quarter 2023

June 2, 2023 09:00

Grievance Committee

Our Grievance Committee works to protect all Flight Attendants from arbitrary and unjust disciplinary action and to uphold our collective bargaining agreement. This update provides a short summary of the committee’s work over the past few quarters.
Management has issued discipline lately for a variety of reasons. Read on for more information about the reasons why management is disciplining and terminating Flight Attendants.
If you’ve faced a situation that you believe might be a contractual violation, please report the issue through the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. AFA Representatives review each report submitted and will follow up to help you determine options and a course of action.

Our Grievance Committee 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. Termination cases are usually given first priority 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.

Many Flight Attendants are under the impression that if they’ve been an overall good employee, have no to low attendance points, good kudos, decent seniority, etc., that they will not receive discipline. This is not the case; regardless of any good work qualities you may have, if management believes the Flight Attendant committed an offense, they will receive discipline.

If a supervisor or manager calls and asks questions pertaining to a flight, work issue, or disciplinary issue and no AFA representative is on the call, you should assert that you would like an AFA rep on the call.

Subject of Most Recent Discipline

Sick leave and FMLA abuse. Terminations are on the rise due to travel audits among other things. Anything written in the comments/remarks on posted trip trades and personal drops can be seen, even if eventually deleted. If management determines abuse it results in termination.
Theft. Removing anything from the aircraft other than an opened/used bottle of water, unused pilot crew meal or purchased food will result in termination.
Timecard fraud. Examples: Intentionally delaying boarding door closure to obtain sit pay. Management has terminated for this violation.
Reserve “Roulette”. Not being within two hours of base for your Reserve Availability Period (RAP) and calling in sick only once given an assignment. The Company considers this a terminable violation. Management regularly reviews the trip trade postings and history related to sick calls. Even deleted trade history or postings can be seen by management.
Lying in an investigation
Drug/Alcohol violations
Harassment
Reserves commuting during Reserve Availability Period (RAP) even if self-assigned a trip and/or not being in base for the entirety of reserve period. Management has terminated for this reason several times. Management regularly reviews commuting history and whether a Flight Attendant is in base for their RAP.
Social media violations including sending friend or follow requests to passengers on social media based on information gained from Block2Block.
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.

Commuter audits are conducted monthly.

Lost IMD or other required items
Failing to complete CBT even if FA just forgets to hit the close out x at the top to switch it from in process to complete.
Uniform Issues. Flight Attendants can and have been pulled from working their flights without pay for uniform non-compliance.
Late to gate/flight delay

Recent Arbitration/Mediation

September 2022	Disciplinary Grievance
October 2022	Contractual Grievances
November 2022	Disciplinary Grievance
December 2022	Disciplinary Grievance
January 2023	Disciplinary Grievance
February 2023	Contractual Grievance
March 2023	Contractual Grievance

Recent Grievance Settlements

Grievances 36-99-2-1-22, 3-22, and 4-22 Christmas 2021 Grievances:

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-1-22-Violation of §8.D Check-In and Release. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.D [Hours of Service: Check-In and Release], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Block to Block (B2B) check-in system doesn’t allow a Flight Attendant to check-in if they have an unacknowledged trip change requiring them to report as originally scheduled.

Details: On February 11, 2022, I sent my original grievance response as follows: “In reviewing this grievance, we attempted to look into this alleged issue within B2B. Without an example however, we couldn’t determine that this was in fact what happens in B2B if a Flight Attendant has an unacknowledged trip change requiring them to report as originally scheduled. As such, this grievance is denied.”

I am now amending my grievance response to Grievance 36-99-2-1-22 [Violation of §8.D Check-In and Release] to the following: We are aware of two Flight Attendants who were not able to check-in on Block to Block (B2B) during the last week of December 2021 because they had an unacknowledged trip change requiring them to report as originally scheduled. These two Flight Attendants’ circumstances were discussed and remedied shortly after the Company became aware of what happened and neither AFA nor the Company believe any further action is required to address this grievance other than to sustain this grievance under these narrow set of facts.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-3-22-Violation of §10.S Pre-Cancellations. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10.S [Scheduling: Pre-Cancellations], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about December 26, 2021, it did not accept or process Flight Attendant calls in a timely manner thereby usurping the Flight Attendants’ ability to utilize the contractual pre-cancellation language allowing them to receive and decline an alternate assignment; and it allowed the Company to reassign Flight Attendants.

Details: My original grievance response, dated January 28, 2022, stated “In reviewing this grievance, we are aware that with 300+ flight cancellations during this timeframe, and the resulting call handling volume Inflight Crew Scheduling was working through, that some Flight Attendant calls were not accepted or processed in a timely manner. We are unaware of any specific situations where due to not having their phone call processed or accepted timely, a Flight Attendant wasn’t able to utilize the contractual pre- cancellation language allowing them to receive and decline an alternate assignment.”

I am now amending my grievance response to Grievance 36-99-2-3-22 [Violation of §10.S Pre- cancellations] to the following: We are unaware of any Flight Attendant who attempted to call Crew Scheduling between approximately December 26, 2021 to December 30, 2021 regarding a pre- cancelation, and then was unable to get through due to increased call volume from irregular operations. During this time period, Alaska Airlines experienced hundreds of cancelations which forced many unplanned calls between Schedulers and Flight Attendants thus jamming up the phone lines at certain times. We are aware that some flight attendants were not able to immediately get through to Crew Scheduling during this period of time due to the increased call volume. If a Flight Attendant attempted to call Crew Scheduling as required regarding a pre-cancelation (10.S), and was unable to get through, we would sustain this grievance under these narrow set of facts.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-4-22-Violation of §8.D Check-In and Release. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.D [Hours of Service: Check-In and Release], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its designated check-in application (Block2Block) on the Flight Attendants’ Infight Mobile Device (IMD) displayed cancelled trips that were not cancelled in Crew Access thereby inhibiting check-in for their trips and assessing them a No Show and 3 (three) attendance points. Flight Attendants were unable to check in manually via a call to Crew Scheduling as it had excessive wait times

Details: AFA will withdraw this grievance due to no identifiable harmed parties.

Grievances Recently Mediated

Grievances 36-99-2-230-21, 234-21 and 233-22, COVID Grievances:

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-230-21- Violation of §16 Sick Leave/On the Job Injury. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §16 [Sick Leave/On the Job Injury], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it announced beginning on or about August 31, 2021, that it would grant pay protection per §21.M [Compensation: Pay Protection…] to vaccinated symptomatic and/or COVID+ Flight Attendants for scheduling obligations removed due to Company-directed quarantine in response to high-risk COVID-19 workplace exposures and deny pay protection under similar or the same circumstances for unvaccinated Flight Attendants or for Flight Attendants who decline to disclose their vaccination status and would instead require them to be removed from their scheduling obligations by forcing them onto sick leave and paid through their sick leave bank or accrued vacation pay if the sick leave bank was depleted. Neither §16 nor §21.M contains any exceptions or distinctions based on vaccination status, yet the Company failed to bargain with the Association and unilaterally implemented such non-contractual exceptions or distinctions inequitably across the collective bargaining unit.

Details: There were different provisions for different dates, vaccination status and symptom status. Management agreed to true up sick leave and points in some instances. Full details can be found in the LOA.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-234-21-Violation of §21 Non-Negotiated Compensation. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21 [Compensation], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it announced on or about September 2, 2021, that it would pay $200.00 to each vaccinated Flight Attendant who provides proof of vaccination to the Company by October 15, 2021. Section 21 does not contain any exceptions or distinctions based on vaccination status, and the Company failed to bargain with the Association and unilaterally implemented such a non-contractual exception inequitably across the collective bargaining unit.

Details: Management agreed vaccinated FAs can keep their $200, but they would not agree that unvaccinated with or without a medical or religious exemption would get $200.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-233-22-Violation of §16 Sick Leave/On the Job Injury. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §16 [Sick Leave/On the Job Injury], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about May 11, 2022, it unilaterally implemented disparate quarantine procedures without adequate notice by posting and/or updating the Company intranet (“Alaska’s World”) with different quarantine requirements for symptomless vaccinated versus symptomless unvaccinated Flight Attendants. Alaska’s World articles do not provide adequate notice of a policy change to Flight Attendants, whereas such changes are communicated to Flight Attendants via required bulletins that must be read within 24-hour period prior to beginning of pairing, recurrent/requalification training, or reserve. Under this new policy, the Company requires symptomless unvaccinated Flight Attendants to be removed from their scheduling obligations by forcing them onto sick leave and paid through their sick leave bank or accrued vacation pay if the sick leave bank was depleted. Section 16 does not contain any exceptions or distinctions based on vaccination status, yet the Company failed to bargain with the Association and unilaterally implemented such non-contractual exceptions or distinctions inequitably across the collective bargaining unit.

Details: The Company agreed it will notify Flight Attendants of any changes to COVID-19 quarantine policies and procedures through required (“must-read”) bulletins.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-458-22- Violation of §8.D Check in and Debrief. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.D.1 [Hours of Service/Check in and Debrief], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on July 22, 2022, it delayed flight 263 IAH-SEA by nine minutes to adjust for one crew member’s 24/7 violation. While doing so it did not change the other three Flight Attendants’ scheduled check in time on their roster thus requiring them to report for the start of the duty day 54 minutes prior to the new adjusted flight time rather than the required 45 minutes.

Details: The parties agree that in the case of a FAR illegality affecting one or more Flight Attendant(s) on the same flight, the Company may either: 1. Change the schedule departure time (to a later time) and adjust the report time of all Flight Attendants; or 2. Keep the scheduled report time. At Crew Scheduling’s direction, the Flight Attendant(s) affected by the illegality may report fewer than forty-five minutes (:45) prior to scheduled departure.

Grievances Recently Filed and Denied

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-458-22- Violation of §8.D Check in and Debrief. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.D.1 [Hours of Service/Check in and Debrief], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on July 22, 2022, it delayed flight 263 IAH-SEA by nine minutes to adjust for one crew member’s 24/7 violation. While doing so it did not change the other three Flight Attendants’ scheduled check in time on their roster thus requiring them to report for the start of the duty day 54 minutes prior to the new adjusted flight time rather than the required 45 minutes.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-60-23-Violation of §19.A and §7.B Disciplinary Meetings and Probationaries. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §19.A & §7.B [Grievance Procedures: Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedure; Probationary Period: Discharge, Discipline or Furlough], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it refused to conduct investigatory, work performance, disciplinary and dismissal meetings with probationary Flight Attendants per the contractual meeting requirements with regard to pay, scheduling and union representation.

Grievances Recently Filed, Denied by Management and Currently Awaiting Arbitration Dates

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-22-14-Violation of Required Maternity Leave. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Section 15.D. and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to require Flight Attendants to begin Maternity Leave after the 28^th week of pregnancy.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-55-17-Violation of §21.V Winds Aloft Adjustment of Sit Pay in JCTE. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21.V [Compensation: “Scheduled” or “Actual” For Minimum Pay Rules (MPRs) and/or Sit Pay], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) trading system displayed each posted trip as a static ‘snapshot’ taken at the time of posting rather than a ‘live’ view, thus denying the Flight Attendant the ability to determine whether a trip is eligible for 1.0 TFP of Sit Pay due to an automated scheduling adjustment (e.g. by the Winds Aloft program).

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-40-19-Violation §25.B Failure to Provide a Safe and Healthy Workplace. This alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.B [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safe and Healthy Workplace], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to provide a safe and healthy workplace when it installed new bulkheads on the retrofitted Airbus (“Aura”) aircraft that effectively renders the aft assist handles near doors L1/R1 as unusable and unnecessarily increases the likelihood and potential severity of Flight Attendant injury during an emergency evacuation.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-41-19-Violation of §25.D.2 Failing to Notify MEC President and ASHSC of Reconfiguration or Re-design Prior to Final Decision. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.D.2 [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safety Information], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to notify the MEC President of a decision to reconfigure or re-design the interior of the Airbus aircraft and when it failed to discuss with the ASHSC the parties’ interests and concerns for inflight safety prior to making a final decision on the reconfiguration/re-design.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-162-19- Violation of §12.C.1 Real-Time Trading Procedures Grievance 36-99-2-28-17 Mediated Settlement. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.C.1 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedure], past practice, its mediated settlement of grievance 36-99-2-28-17 and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it agreed but failed to adhere to its July 5, 2017, mediated settlement of grievance 36-99-2-28-17: To have AFA and Alaska representatives meet with Jeppesen to explore the capabilities of the system and how to align the front-end with the “real time” experience of the back-end user. This is a continual violation as such meeting did not take place in a reasonably timely manner, and sufficient action was not taken to rectify the underlying system issues.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-36-20-Violation of §25.B ANC Training Facility. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.B [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safe and Healthy Workplace], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it conducted Recurrent Training (RT) drills in Anchorage, Alaska in the Ross Aviation Hanger, and on or about February 16-19, 2020, the external temperature ranged from 18 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit and when the hanger door opened, frequently without notice, the internal hanger temperature dropped to as low as 46 degrees. After the external hanger door opened it took approximately two hours with a loud heater to get the internal temperature back up to the low to mid 60s.

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).

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-384-20-Violation of §10.S Scheduling Notifications. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10.S [Scheduling: Pre-Cancellations], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it used non-contractual scheduling notifications sent to Flight Attendants via the Crew Scheduling system in order to communicate and assign alternate flying or an obligation to call Crew Scheduling within a specific window of time. If a Flight Attendant accepts such non-contractual scheduling notification(s), which is neither contact by Crew Scheduling via Company email nor via primary phone contact as defined in §10.S.1.a, the scheduling notification(s) violates the contract by abrogating the Flight Attendant’s ability to: (1) decline the alternate assignment and waive pay protection (§10.S.2.b), (2) decline the “out of original footprint by more than two hours” alternate assignment and call Crew Scheduling between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM (local domicile time) the night prior to the start of the original sequence (§10.S.2.c), or (3) waive pay protection and be relieved of any further scheduling obligation (§10.S.3).

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-386-20-Violation of §8.Q & §8.R Contactability and Notification of Delay or Cancellation. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.Q [Hours of Service: Contactability] and §8.R [Hours of Service: Notification of Delay or Cancellation], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it used non-contractual scheduling notifications sent via the Crew Scheduling system in order to communicate and assign revised flying to Flight Attendants who were off-duty on a remain overnight (RON). Such scheduling notifications are in violation of the contractually defined means of contact and/or the Flight Attendant’s obligation to respond pursuant to these provisions.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-84-22-Violation of §21.J Ground Delay Pay. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21.J [Compensation: Block and Ground Delays], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it did not pay ground delay pay accumulatively, requiring each delay to go over 11 minutes to be eligible for pay, when a flight (same flight number/same routing) returns to gate one or more times.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-176-22-California Family School Partnership Act Violation of Past Practice and Roberts Award. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of past practice, the Roberts Award 36-99-2-49-03, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it unilaterally disallowed the California Family School Partnership Act for those Flight Attendants based in Los Angeles (LAX); then reinstated, with no notice, the state law for LAX based Flight Attendants only, but not for the other California based Flight Attendants in San Diego (SAN) or San Francisco (SFO), and not for the rest of the Flight Attendants based in our system, Seattle (SEA), Portland (PDX) or Anchorage (ANC), in violation of Roberts.

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