dues

Dues & Voting—What You Need To Know To Make Sure You Can Vote

October 17, 2023 17:00

Membership Committee

Voting is an essential part of our Union’s democratic process.
Only active Members in good standing who are current on their dues are eligible to vote on any AFA ballot.
Contact AFA International Membership Services if you have questions about your membership or dues account status.

As we continue with our contract negotiations, it will be time for us to vote at some point. Voting is a powerful tool that lets your voice be heard. It’s a vital aspect of democracy in our Union. To be eligible to vote under the AFA Constitution, it’s necessary to be an active Member in good standing.

What Is An Active Member in Good Standing?

An active Member in good standing is a Flight Attendant who has completed an AFA Membership application, has completed their four-month AFA Apprentice Membership, and is referred to as a “Member.” This Member is flying and has a financial obligation for dues to AFA. A Flight Attendant on paid leave (coordinating sick and/or vacation time) is active and eligible to vote as long as their dues account is current.

Most Flight Attendants fill out and submit an AFA membership application during initial training. A Flight Attendant who hasn’t submitted one is not a Member and is not eligible to vote, even though they must pay a fee equivalent to the dues amount each month for representation. Local Membership Committees will be reaching out to anyone who doesn’t have an AFA membership application on file to offer the opportunity to submit one and become a Member.

Members On An Unpaid Leave of Absence

Flight Attendants on an unpaid leave of absence continue to owe dues for the first 90 days; this includes voluntary furloughs and company-offered staffing adjustment leaves. After completing the 90-day leave commencing period in which dues are owed, they’re considered by AFA to be on leave, having no further financial obligation to AFA-CWA until they return to the line. They are NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE unless they have chosen to “Leave and Remain Active.”

The AFA Constitution allows for a Member on an unpaid leave of absence from their airline to remain active with AFA by notifying AFA of their desire to stay active and continue to pay their dues each month. These Members are eligible to vote if their dues accounts are current.

If You Receive A Statement From AFA International

A statement from AFA International indicates that a dues payment you owe has not been received. If you receive an invoice for dues from AFA International, it’s essential to take action as soon as possible to ensure you remain in good standing as a Member.

Dues are owed each month you are active or the first three months of an unpaid leave of absence. You’ll be invoiced if your dues are unable to be fully deducted each month. The deductions that occur from the 20th of the month paycheck each month apply to that month. For example, if you receive an invoice for unpaid dues from May, your dues were not deducted from your May 20 paycheck.

The payroll department cannot deduct past-due balances and they must be paid directly to AFA. Payments can be made online through the AFA dues payment site. AFA Membership Services offers Flight Attendants with past-due accounts the ability to set up a payment plan to keep you in good standing while making payments. Please get in touch with the AFA Membership Services Department to set up a promissory agreement.

Questions?

If you have any questions about your membership or dues account status, contact AFA International Membership Services using this link. You can also reach out to your Local Membership Committee for assistance.

Council 35 News – September 2021

October 1, 2021 12:44

Important Dates

September 30: Last day of COVID Points Forgiveness-today!
October 1: Vacation Round 2 opens
October 15: Last day to submit vaccination record for $200
October 18: Vacation Round 2 closes
October 25: Vacation Round 2 Awards posted
Various dates (see below): How-To Series

Hotel and Reserve Committee Opportunities

Council 35 has chair openings in the Hotel and Reserve Committees. Please review the duties and responsibilities of each position which can be found on our website. If you are interested in volunteering, please submit a letter expressing your interest to sfo@afalaska.org.

How-To Series Starts October 1st

Council 35 is happy to announce a new learning series to help Flight Attendants navigate a variety of scheduling and reserve activities. In collaboration with Inflight Base Managers Cierra Lewis and Benito Pasia-Garcia, our very own Virginia Fritz, SFO Scheduling Chair, is hosting these events along with PDX Reserve Chair, Anthony Eskander. Each event will include a short lesson about a scheduling or reserve topic followed by live Q&A. These short live events will be held throughout the month of October via Teams. Can’t make the event you want? No problem! All live events will be recorded and posted for FAs unable to attend. To view live events, past recordings or more information, visit the How-To website on Alaskasworld. Schedule and details can be found in the following links:

October 1: Personal and Management Drops
October 4:  Bidding Strategies for your Seniority
October 13:  Splitting and Advertising Reserve Days
October 14:  Trading Reserve Days
October 15:  Posting and Shifting Reserve Days and Understanding Coverage
October 15:  TO and Non-TO Days and Open Time
October 26:  Lineholder’s Picking up Reserve Days
October 28:  Precancellations

COVID MOU Sunsets

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) negotiated to remove points for COVID related absences will sunset today, September 30. AFA requested that management extend the MOU however the suggestion was not accepted and management will discontinue the COVID points forgiveness program as planned. Please be sure to submit for COVID related absences according the guidelines in the MOU. Flight Attendants returning from leave on October 1 have 14 days to submit documentation. Additionally, any FA that has a continuous absence that begins in September but carries over into October will also be considered for point forgiveness if reported in a timely manner. Please review the COVID Points Forgiveness MOU for more information. Reminder to CA based Flight Attendants: Please review the State Laws Part 3 communication for information on CA COVID laws.

Call to Action: Possible Government Shutdown

Transportation is one of the many industries that will be affected by a government shutdown. Join other AFA members and let your state’s representatives know that avoiding the shutdown is important to Flight Attendants. For more information and how this impacts our jobs, please read No More Shutdowns and take part in this important mobilization effort.

Save the Date: California Local Council Membership Meeting

The next membership meeting for Council 35 members will be Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 1100 via Zoom. The purpose will be to discuss news and events happening in California bases at Alaska. This meeting will be a combined council meeting and open to all Council 35 (SFO), 18 (LAX) and 15 (SAN) members in good standing (up-to-date on dues). Agenda, time and registration details will be sent in a separate communication.

AFA Membership Dues – Update

by LEC Secretary and Membership Chair, James Ikehara
Approximately 300 Council 35 members are in arrears with their monthly AFA dues based on the September 2021 report from AFA International’s Membership Services department. Although the amount of months in arrears vary widely, a member that is only one month late ($50) can fall into a “Bad Standing” status if the amount owed is more than 90 days delinquent; there are approximately 102 members that fall into this category. A delinquency may have been caused by the following

A type of leave of absence you incurred in the past and were not coordinating enough sick leave or vacation to cover your dues
You flew low TFP’s in any given month and there was not enough money for an auto-deduction
When you are on any type of leave and you are completely off payroll (not coordinating any sick leave or vacation time) you are obligated to pay the first 3 months during your leave according to the AFA-CWA, Constitution & Bylaws. Once the 3 months have been fulfilled you have met your obligation and you do not owe union dues until you return to work.

If your delinquency is not corrected, the following is the progression of steps taken for non-payment based on AFA International’s bylaws:

Standing 2 (S2) – this letter indicates you are now in bad standing and this is the first stage of the AFA-CWA delinquency process. A flight attendant goes into S2 when you have ONE or more dues billings that are over 90 days old and remain unpaid.
Standing 3 (S3) – this letter indicates that the FA remains delinquent after receiving the initial “Bad Standing” warning letter. You now receive your S-3 letter via certified mail return receipt (if AFA International has an incorrect address on file, the LEC President or Secretary will put it into your co-mail file at work and it is treated as if it was sent via certified mail). Nonpayment could result in discharge per our FA Collective Bargaining Agreement, Section 26 C & D.
Standing 4 (S4) – this is a pending status which means your International Membership Services department is researching your account for you.
Standing 5 (S5) – this is your final warning and this becomes very serious. After receiving your S-2 and S-3 letters for nonpayment, our International AFA office in Washington, D.C. sends a letter to Alaska Airlines requesting discharge for nonpayment and a copy of this letter is also sent to your LEC President.

If you have received a text or email from me, or a letter from AFA International’s Membership Services department about your dues, it is important you contact AFA-CWA Membership Services by calling them directly at 844-232-2228, extension 3 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Eastern), or by submitting an online inquiry via this link to verify the amount owed on your account. If you were on any type of leave, ensure you note the dates of your leave in the comments section and they will investigate and make the necessary changes. Debit and credit card payments can be made via this link.

If you need to complete a Dues Check Off (DCO) form to ensure your dues are automatically deducted from your account, you can access the form here. After printing and signing the DCO, mail it to the Washington, D.C. address at the bottom of the form. Please note the following: the paycheck you receive on the 20th of each month (Advice Date) pays you for all of your flying for the previous month. However, the AFA dues that are payroll deducted from this check pays for the month it was deducted (i.e., the $50 deduction for October 20th will be for October dues, not for the previous month). For those returning to work from one of the mitigated leaves of absence, your dues may not be deducted since you were not active in the previous month.

If you are not able to pay your balance in full, payment options are available and can be coordinated with the Membership Services office. We are here to offer assistance in ways of paying your obligation so it is very important that we work together to ensure that Section 26 C, D & E of our Collective Bargaining Agreement are not applied for non-payment of dues which could result in termination once you have reached a Standing 5 status. We want to ensure the status of your AFA membership stays current and appreciate your prompt attention to correct this issue.

In solidarity,

Melissa, James and Brad

Melissa Osborne, LEC President • Melissa.osborne@afaalaska.org • 415-275-1322
James Ikehara, LEC Secretary • James.ikehara@afaalaska.org • 415-289-9011
Bradley Young, Council Representative • Bradley.young@afaalaska.org • 916-508-3503

AFA Alaska Update – September 30, 2021

September 30, 2021 09:00

In This Edition

URGENT: No More Shutdowns
Having Difficulty Working with a Fellow Crew Member?
How AFA Dues Deductions Work

URGENT: No More Shutdowns

AFA International

Unless Congress acts before Thursday night (midnight, Friday morning), the federal government will shut down again.

We need to make it clear: federal shutdowns are unacceptable.

Aviation workers ended the shutdown of 2019/2020. Together, we ended the 35-day nightmare of two million people out of work without notice, 400,000 workers forced to come to work without pay, and an increasingly dangerous workspace for the rest of us. We’re not going to stand by while Congress puts us in danger again by failing to do their jobs now.

Call your member of Congress now and demand they fund the government and avert a shutdown and pass legislation that keeps all transportation going.

Shutdowns are dangerous.

Transportation Security Officers and Air Traffic Controllers will be forced to work without pay, putting huge stress on workers whose attention to detail keeps us all safe.
Investigators who build cases against unruly passengers will be furloughed. Because of the statute of limitations on these investigations, this could mean unruly passengers get off without being investigated at all.
Key security personnel who track potential threats will be furloughed, leaving exploitable gaps in aviation security.

This is a safety issue. Flight Attendants are already on the frontlines dealing with a crisis of dangerous passenger behavior. If Congress fails to do their basic job and makes our jobs more dangerous, we will take any necessary action to keep ourselves safe.

Call your members of Congress directly or use the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121 to get connected to your Representative and two Senators. Demand they do their job and avoid a shutdown.

Script: Dear Representative/Senator _____, I am a constituent and a Flight Attendant. I cannot do my job if Congress doesn’t do its job. Fund the government and avoid another government shutdown that would put us all in danger. After you fund the government, get to work to ensure we don’t default on our debts and pass the bills that give us the infrastructure we need all over our economy with living wage jobs and basic rights for everyday people. Pass the bipartisan American Jobs Act and the Build Back Better Act without delay. We need Washington to do its job so we can do our job too. Thank you.

Keeping the government open is the bare minimum, but there’s much more we need done to solve the problems in front of us today.

You’ve probably heard some of the debate about the two infrastructure bills. The process sounds complicated, but the outcomes are simple. We need Congress to pass BOTH the American Jobs Act, which you may have read about as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework or BIF, and the Build Back Better Act, which reporters are calling the “reconciliation package.”

Here are four key items in the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) for Flight Attendants and aviation:

Voting Rights: BBBA expands early voting and other voting rights. Flight Attendants are often on trips on Election Day, and we deserve to have our voices heard in our democracy. This will ensure we—and all workers—have the chance to cast our votes.
Labor Rights: BBBA makes it easier for workers to come together to form unions, negotiate contracts and hold bad bosses accountable.
- Creates real financial penalties for employers who retaliate against organizing.
- Bans Mandatory anti-union meetings.
- Charges executives who break labor laws so that corporate leaders have real consequences for union busting and violating workers’ rights.
- Stops companies from retaliating against workers who exercise their right to strike.
Expands the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide every worker with up to 12 weeks of comprehensive, paid leave whether caring for themselves or a loved one.
Makes union dues tax deductible for all workers, a benefit that was taken away for everyday people in the Trump tax cuts.

Your action today and tomorrow is urgent. We’ll keep updates coming so you have the latest on what’s happening and what we’re doing together to keep each other safe.

Call your Member of Congress now.

Having Difficulty Working with a Fellow Crew Member?

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee

Quite often, someone doesn’t realize they may have come across as bossy, rude, lazy, etc. They may in fact be experiencing issues at home, are new and unsure of the job, have just come back from a medical leave and are out of practice, or other life challenges are causing them to not be performing as expected. If you’re experiencing a similar issue, believe the issue needs to be addressed, and are not comfortable talking one-on-one with the other person, we recommend that you speak to one of our highly trained AFA EAP/Professional Standards Committee Members.

Contact AFA Professional Standards First!

AFA EAP/Professional Standards can help facilitate a conversation between the affected Flight Attendants. We can offer suggestions on dealing with each other. We can reach out to Flight Attendants and share the perceptions of their co-workers. All this is done in a safe and confidential environment.

Professional Standards Can Help with Pilots

AFA Professional Standards maintains a close working relationship with ALPA Professional Standards. If have a concern or conflict that involves a Pilot, we can refer the issue to ALPA Professional Standards. Just as AFA Professional Standards responds to every report of a concern, ALPA Professional Standards does the same.

Management Isn’t Involved

Most importantly, it’s handled without involving management. Often, when a Flight Attendant has an “off” day, it’s due to special circumstances. If you were in their shoes, you would appreciate your co-worker giving you the benefit of the doubt and leaving management out of the equation.

Who Do I Contact?

If you have a professional standards concern, please reach out to your AFA Local EAP/Professional Standards Committee or call (949) 470-0493.

How AFA Dues Deductions Work

Membership Committee

The Current Month is the Current Dues Month

The paycheck that you receive on the 20^th of the month is your pay for all flying activity during the previous month. Your AFA dues that are deducted from the 20^th of the month check, however, cover your dues obligation for the current month.

For Example:

Paycheck Date (Advice Date): October 20
Flying Pay for (Pay Begin and End Dates): September 1-30 (previous month)
AFA Dues Deducted for: October (current month)

For those returning to work from one of the mitigated leaves of absence your dues may not be deducted since you were not active in the previous month.

Questions?

If you have any questions about dues deductions, please refer to the Membership Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Council 35 News – April 2021

May 3, 2021 10:23

Important Dates

May 6: CA Membership Meeting

May 12: Contract Extension TA Voting Closes

June 1: Rainmaker Launch

June 30: Q2 CBT Due

CA Bases Local Council Membership Meeting

As previously communicated, our local Council meeting will be Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 1100 PDT. The meeting will be via Zoom and is open to all members of Councils 35 (SFO), 18 (LAX) and 15 (SAN) in good standing. The primary purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the AFA Board of Director’s meeting scheduled for May 13-14, and any local council agenda items. Please submit local council agenda items to SFO@afaalaska.org prior to May 5th, 2021. Advance registration is required using a personal (non-company) email address. To receive confirmation to attend, please register here.

COVID Point Forgiveness

Calling in sick for a COVID related issue, such as exposure, vaccine appointments or reaction to the vaccine may receive attendance point forgiveness. Management has agreed to remove all points related to COVID with documentation. It is recommended that FAs save all receipts and appointment confirmations and send evidence to performance for conversion. This process is manual so allow some time for the adjustment to show on the attendance record. For more information, please review the April 12 Bulletin on the inflight page of Alaskasworld.

Flight Attendant COVID Vaccination Status

AFA International is collecting data on Flight Attendant Vaccinations. Please complete the form to help discover trends in vaccination availability in your area. Please visit the website for more information.

Trending Discipline

Reserve Not at Base

Reviewing the JCBA§11 which defines the AS reserve rules, the company expects that a reserve Flight Attendant will be within 2 hours of base at the beginning of the assigned reserve availability period (RAP). Commuting into base or being more than 2 hours aways from base at the start of RAP would be considered time card fraud and normally results in termination with the first offense. Lineholders picking up reserve days should be aware of the reserve rules found in JCBA§11 in order to be familiar with the expectations. Any reserve F/A or lineholder picking up reserve days who are interested in extra support or guidance, please reach out to the SFO Reserve Committee for assistance.

Sick Leave Abuse

The focus on sick leave usage has increased again. Actions that trigger an investigation include calling out sick after a reassignment, calling out sick after a reserve assignment, or calling out when a deadhead leg is converted to a working leg. Sick leave is not the same as paid time off (PTO). Company provided sick leave is a benefit that is offered with a condition. That condition is illness. Use of this benefit for any other reason is considered fraud. In the event the company suspects misuse, the burden of proof is on the Flight Attendant to prove an illness. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t a violation of HIPAA laws, as the company is prohibited from asking the nature of the illness, but rather that illness was the cause of the call out and that the conditional benefit was used appropriately. If misuse is confirmed (no evidence is discovered), the company has historically discharged on first offense.

A Special Note to Commuters

Commuters with a registered city have also been the focus for many investigations. This includes sick leave and reserve violations. When suspicion arises through the above mentioned actions that trigger a closer look, travel records are often pulled to confirm suspected violations. Additionally, monthly audits of registered commuters have been performed. Violations found during the audit normally result in a Confirmation of Oral Warning on first offense, but can escalate up the steps of discipline if multiple violations occur.

TA Extension Info

Questions about the TA and voting? Please visit the AFA Alaska dedicated TA Extension webpage to find answers! All roadshows have been uploaded and the Q&A section has been added to the blog. Questions not already addressed may be sent to: extension@afaalaska.org. Reminder: voting ends May 12!

Catering Update

by Raymond Ramirez, SFO ISC Chair

With all the catering updates that went into effect on April 13, please utilize B2B to provide feedback with regards to food quality, missing items, new equipment, etc. Also, if you happen to make a note of a catering issue but forget to submit it on B2B before the flight disappears from your IMD, I’m happy to receive feedback through my e-mail raymond.ramirez@afaalaska.org. Please remember to provide the flight # and date, and if possible the aircraft tail and a photograph if possible. Also, if you are flying on Airbus and encounter a FC oven without an insert, that should be written up on B2B and not through the aircraft logbook. Speaking of the aircraft logbook, please write up tray tables that have the appearance of looking brown and stained. The cleaning chemicals over the last 12 months are causing these to look dirtier than they actually are. Although the company is aware, we can help bring more awareness by asking the pilots to write it up.

Uniform Update

by Lisa Mueller, SFO Uniform Chair

Our new uniforms have been on the line for about a year now. Since the new custom uniform was released during COVID, many Flight Attendants returning from furlough will be wearing it for the first time.

Wondering what the guidelines and policy are for the new uniform? Here is a link to the uniform page for guidelines, ordering, the fit center, etc: https://splash.alaskasworld.com/es/uniforms/

Need different uniform pieces? Different sizes? Here are some options to help if it is past the 90 day return policy:

Inquire with the Seattle Fit Center. They have limited pieces that you may possibly (not guaranteed) be able to exchange your pieces for if they have the size you need. These are pieces from flight attendants who have quit, retired etc. Phone: 206-392-7730, email: fitcenter@alaskaair.com
Trade your uniform pieces with other flight attendants. There are private groups on Facebook that may be a good resource for finding other FAs willing to trade
You can also to order new pieces via the Uniform Webpage

In case no one told you today…You look marvelous! See you on the line!

Updating Personal Information and Membership Dues

by James Ikehara, Council 35 Secretary
Have you recently moved to another city or changed your email address? Please use this link to update your personal details to ensure the Membership Services department of AFA International has the most current contact information in their database. If you are coming back from a leave and need to inquire about the amount of dues owed on your account, use this link and someone from the Membership Services will contact you with details on the status of your account. Payments on your account can be made using this link.

How do I contact Council 35 Officers?

Using a personal email address, the preferred methods of contact are:

Open an Online Support Request ticket
Officer group email sfo@afaalaska.org (if one officer is flying /unavailable other officers can respond)
Individual officer emails (if information is for a specific officer)
Calls/text (if situation requires more urgent attention)

When contacting Council 35 officers please avoid the following methods:

Sending to/from alaskaair email (subject to company audits and therefore not private)
Officer personal Facebook/social media accounts (not actively monitored for AFA concerns)
Excessively lengthy texts (please use email for important information as it’s easier to respond and forward to appropriate resource-texts should be reserved for alerts to an issue that requires a timely response)

Please allow at least one business day for a response to any method of contact (email, phone, text).

In solidarity,

Melissa, James and Brad

Council 35 News – December 2020

December 30, 2020 22:03

Important Dates

December 31 (tomorrow!): Q4 CBT & Convert Guest Passes

Dues Info

With many Flight Attendants on leave, Council 35 has received many requests for dues owed. To inquire about your dues account, please visit the new dues page on AFA-CWA for more information.

Latest info on PSP

Progress on PSP and Flight Attendant benefits can be found on the AFA-CWA website. To get the most updated information please visit the Latest News page.

Keep Guest Passes for Next Year

Remember to convert unused companion travel passes before the end of day December 31. Once converted the passes live in your FLY account. The passes may be ticketed for 3 months after the conversion date. To find your account:

Alaskasworld > FLY > Guest Passes > Manage Guest Passes

Record Improvement

Year-end record improvement will be applied by mid-January. Flight Attendants with 4 or fewer attendance points at the end of 2020 and who did not accrue any points in November and December, will have points removed. Please allow two to three weeks for the performance supervisors to manually apply the Nov/Dec record improvement to attendance records. Reference: JCBA§32.G.4

December PPP

December is an Individual PPP month. To qualify, FAs must meet or exceed awarded TFP for the month of December by a minimum of five (5.0) TFP. The $350 payout will be issued Jan 20th separately from normal pay. Reference: JCBA§21.R

SFO Base Leadership Update

Congratulations to Cierra Lewis who has been promoted to base manager of SFO.

Holiday Offer

“In These Times,” the leading progressive magazine that covers workers rights, access to healthcare, climate change, systemic racism, and more is offering Union members a free subscription. To take advantage of this free subscription, CLICK HERE to sign up. The offer is only valid until December 31, 2020.

How do I contact Council 35 Officers?

Using a personal email address, the preferred methods of contact are:

Open an Online Support Request ticket
Officer group email sfo@afaalaska.org (if one officer is flying /unavailable other officers can respond)
Individual officer emails (if information is for a specific officer)
Calls/text (if situation requires more urgent attention)

When contacting Council 35 officers please avoid the following methods:

Sending to/from alaskaair email (subject to company audits and therefore not private)
Officer personal Facebook/social media accounts (not actively monitored for AFA concerns)
Excessively lengthy texts (please use email for important information as it’s easier to respond and forward to appropriate resource-texts should be reserved for alerts to an issue that requires a timely response)

Please allow at least one business day for a response to any method of contact (email, phone, text).

Happy New Year!

In solidarity,

Melissa, Aladrian, James and Brad

Melissa Osborne, LEC President • Melissa.osborne@afaalaska.org • 415-275-1322
Aladrian Hillmon, LEC Vice President • Aladrian.hillmon@afaalaska.org • 415-991-3791
James Ikehara, LEC Secretary • James.ikehara@afaalaska.org • 415-289-9011
Bradley Young, Council Representative • Bradley.young@afaalaska.org • 916-508-3503

Dues & Voting—What You Need To Know To Make Sure You Can Vote