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Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council

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AFA and Management Agree on a Remedy for the Delayed May & June 2022 Bid Awards

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • AFA Alaska leadership and Alaska Airlines management have reached agreement on a remedy for the delayed May & June bid awards.
  • All Flight Attendants who were active at any point during the May or June 2022 bid months will receive 4.0 TFP on their respective July 20th paychecks.
  • Thank you to the more than 4400 who participated in the “It’s Time to Make It Right!” letter writing campaign, and AFA appreciates management’s commitment to doing the right thing in these circumstances.

AFA Alaska leadership and Alaska Airlines management have reached agreement on a remedy for the delayed May & June bid awards:

All Flight Attendants who were active at any point during the May or June 2022 bid months will receive 4.0 TFP on their respective July 20th paychecks. *

* Flight Attendants must not have been on a leave of absence for the entirety of both bid months and newly hired Flight Attendants must have been eligible to bid for either bid period to be eligible for the settlement. The 4.0 TFP will have applicable taxes withheld at the regular withholding rate and less any other deductions/contributions.

Realistically, an arbitrator would not have awarded 4 TFP to all active Flight Attendants as a remedy to these contractual grievances, so we recognize that management ultimately agreed to more than we would have achieved through arbitration. This non-precedential monetary settlement compensates FAs for the inconvenience resulting from the contractual violations and demonstrates management’s willingness to accept responsibility for their actions. AFA appreciates management’s commitment to doing the right thing in these circumstances.

Thank you to the more than 4400 who participated in the “It’s Time to Make It Right!” letter writing campaign: Our collective action was an impressive show of solidarity that was invaluable in achieving this settlement!

Delayed Publication of May 2022 Bid Awards

Master Executive Council (MEC)

Like all of you, the MEC is extremely frustrated by management’s unacceptable violation of Section 10.J.8 of our collective bargaining agreement through their failure to post May 2022 bid awards on time. We will file a contractual grievance on behalf of all Flight Attendants for this violation, so please note there is no need to file a ticket through the AFA Alaska Support Center. We hear you loud and clear: You want transparency and accountability from management, and you expect AFA leadership to do everything in our power to make that happen on your behalf.

Management has already acknowledged “administrative error,” but this does not go far enough. Consequently, we have communicated your expectations that management transparently communicates additional details and management’s actions in response, including how responsible parties will be held accountable and what is being done to prevent a recurrence. The MEC has also requested Labor Relations to engage with us at the earliest possible opportunity regarding an appropriate and mutually acceptable remedy for the contractual violation.

What is a potential remedy? There is no identifiable loss of pay because of the contract violation, so there is no contractual basis to seek compensation or any other alternative remedy via arbitration. The best outcome we could achieve via a favorable arbitration ruling would be for management to cease and desist (i.e., not violate the contract provision going forward). However, management has already agreed there was a contract violation and signaled to AFA there is no intent for future violations.

Although management is neither obligated to pay anything for the inconvenience, nor would an arbitrator compel management to do so, nothing prevents the parties from mutually agreeing to compensation or some other compensatory-like remedy. AFA has expressed our desire to management to settle this dispute by negotiating such a remedy, so it’s their move next.

Before It Becomes a Grievance: Understanding ADR and SRB

Grievance Committee

  • When AFA and management disagree on a contractual issue, it doesn’t necessarily become a grievance right away.  Most times, there is an intermediate step taken to try to resolve the issue.
  • Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) brings together decision makers from AFA leadership, inflight management, and labor relations management to try to work the issue out.  Scheduling Review Board (SRB) is a similar process that involves AFA Representatives and Crew Scheduling management.  
  • If everyone can’t agree on a resolution, our AFA Grievance Committee can still file a formal grievance and address the issue through the contractual grievance process.

As we know, our collective bargaining agreement provides many protections related to our working conditions, pay, and benefits.  Our AFA Grievance Committee and other AFA Representatives work constantly to ensure that management is doing right by our Flight Attendants according to the language in the contract.  Sometimes, however, disagreements arise between AFA and management about how a particular provision in the contract should be applied or whether or not a contractual violation occurred in the first place.

Our contract provides an established process for handling disagreements such as these.  Section 19 [Grievance Procedures] and section 20 [Board of Adjustment] of our CBA, often referred to collectively as the contractual grievance process, outline the procedures for how disputes about contractual language and interpretation are handled.  But before a matter is referred to the grievance process, there is often an intermediate step taken to try to work the issue out with management.

Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process is intended to give AFA Representatives and management the opportunity to resolve issues more quickly and with more flexibility while saving on the expenses related to processing a grievance.  ADR meetings are held every two weeks and include the AFA MEC Grievance Committee and management counterparts in Inflight management and the Labor Relations department.  During these meetings, the group reviews each case and attempts to work through issues that would otherwise be forced to the grievance process directly.

Scheduling Review Board (SRB)

Alongside ADR is a parallel process that specifically addresses scheduling-related issues.  The Scheduling Review Board (SRB) meets once per month and includes representatives from our AFA MEC Grievance, Scheduling, and Reserve Committees along with Crew Scheduling management.  The goal of SRB is the same—work to resolve issues more quickly than the grievance process would allow while achieving the best possible outcome for Flight Attendants.

How Do I Know If My Issue Has Been Referred to ADR/SRB?

If you’ve reported a concern to AFA and the issue has been referred to ADR or SRB, the status of your ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center will show as “escalated to ADR” or “escalated to SRB” accordingly.  The AFA Representative assigned to your case will continue to be your point of contact and provide you with updates following ADR/SRB meetings.  Our MEC Grievance Committee also maintains a log of current and past ADR items that can be viewed on the Grievance Committee page of the AFA Alaska website (click the “view the ADR log” button under the ADR process heading).   

What If We Can’t Work it Out?

While an issue is being addressed through ADR or SRB, the time limitations outlined in the contract for when a grievance must be filed are placed on hold.  This ensures that the Flight Attendant and our contractual rights are protected as we try to resolve the issue.  If we aren’t able to reach an agreement with management that is acceptable to everyone involved, our AFA Grievance Committee maintains the right to address the issue by filing a formal grievance.

Questions?

If you have questions about the ADR process, don’t hesitate to contact your Local Grievance Committee Chairperson.  For any questions about the SRB process, contact your Local Scheduling Committee Chairperson or Local Reserve Committee Chairperson.

Council 35 News – January 2022

Important Dates

  • Jan 31:Temporary NavBlue Outage at 06:00 PST for 2 Hours for Programming Update
  • Feb 5-9: PBS Base Sits SFO Village
  • Feb 10: ACT CBT Due

SFO Employee COVID Testing

Information provided by FlySFO

As a result of new CA State legislation, one of SFO’s COVID-19 testing sites will now accept insurance (including Kaiser) and has set up a dedicated Employee Testing portal for all Airport workers. Links to the portal for employee registration at this site offering molecular testing is below. Advance registration is required via the Employee Portal. Employees who are symptomatic or are known to be in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 should use Worksite Labs if possible.

Location: Adjacent to the Long-Term Parking Lot and Cell Phone Waiting Lot by San Bruno Avenue

Testing Offered: Drive-Thru Only, RT-PCR with results in 12 or 24 hours

Employee Testing Hours: Daily 0700-1900 

Note: Operating hours and location are subject to change. 


Sunsetting of NavBlue Classbid After the March 5-12, 2002 Bid Period

by Virginia Fritz, Scheduling Committee Chair

NavBlue is sunsetting the old Classbid interface and FAs will need to use the updated WebApp interface for the March 5-12 bid period. Base Sits for SFO are scheduled on the dates below, and will be held in the SFO Village.  

  • Feb 5th 0900-1700
  • Feb 6th 1000-1800
  • Feb 7th 0700-1800
  • Feb 8th 0700-1700
  • Feb 9th 0900-1700 

Representatives from our Scheduling, Benefits, and Reserve committees will be on hand to assist and answer any questions. If you are unable to attend any of these sessions, please contact pbs.qa@alaskaair.com for assistance. WebApp virtual training dates are expected to be announced next month.

To get the most out of your time with a trainer at a Base Sit, you should have some familiarity with WebApp. If you have not already done so, please review the links below.  We strongly suggest beginning with the WebApp Tutorial.

Pairing Update for March 2022

by Virginia Fritz, Scheduling Committee Chair, PBS Subcommittee Member

The company has been trying to find ways to mitigate their operational risk of cancellations due to crew staffing shortages. They have found that the average sick call on a 4 day can take 2 or 3 reserve flight attendants to staff because of reserve legalities and days-on availability. This has led the company to significantly reduce 4 days in all bases for March. 

We have let crew planning know that we are very unhappy with this as it relates to the SFO base, and stressed that the quality of pairings is an issue, not quantity. If you have any feedback please reach out to sfo.scheduling@afaalaska.org so that we can relay any feedback to management.

Many in our base rely on longer trips. There are some tips to try and create your own longer pairings should you want to attempt it. You can attach one trip to another by adding a base turn (JCBA 8.T) to the beginning or end of another trip. A base turn isn’t necessarily a ‘turn’ but is “two (2) sequences combined in the same duty period that contain no less than one hour and forty-five minutes (1:45) block-to-block between the last flight of the previous sequence and the first flight of the subsequent sequence. The scheduled ‘base turn duty period’ cannot exceed fourteen (14) hours on duty according to CFRs.” Additionally, some trips have a SIP (JCBA 12.G),(a Sequence Interruption Point [SIP] will be any arrival of the aircraft at the Sequence Home Domicile). You can pick up a trip out of open time that in its entirety may not be legal to add, but with a SIP in base could create a legal combination. With many of the pairings we have, these tools may not always be applicable but we wanted to make sure that this information was available to you should you want and be able to use it.

Inflight Service Committee (ISC) Reminders

by Raymond Ramirez, ISC Chair

Create Success

Please help your fellow crew members by returning items to their originally catered galley positions.

Current Substitutions

Canned OJ replaces boxes-please pour.  SEA will cater Fruit & Cheese with 2 slices each of cheddar and Beechers due to a shortage of Brie cheese.          

F/A Feedback

Your comments have brought back mixer drawers to the FC beverage cart–coming March 02.  Current focus: carafes and lids are missing on many flights so please use B2B to report. THANK YOU!

Service

Feb 07, will see the reinstatement of many service items.  This service increase will be monitored and adjusted as necessary in partnership with AFA leadership.  Please reach out to your AFA SFO Inflight Service Committee, Raymond Ramirez (chair), Matt Voges and Renee Waggener with your service comments. 

Grievance Summary 2021

The following chart summarizes grievances filed for SFO for the year 2021.  This does not represent all of the performance meetings (investigations) that occurred and mitigated disciplines from Grievance Reps with management.  These numbers strictly represent grievances filed after discipline had been issued.  Of grievances filed, 3 of them were mitigated through the grievance process which resulted in either disciplines reduced and/or dropped.

ViolationCases% Total
Appearance of Sleeping12%
Intentional Flying with COVID12%
Breaking Quarantine/Insubordination12%
Lost IMD12%
Mask Non-compliance12%
Comping Non-Revs12%
Theft from Aircraft12%
Uniform12%
Last Chance Agreement12%
12+ Points12%
Reserve Out of Base24%
Late to Plane/Delay/Missing Required Item611%
CBT Missed Deadline1426%
Commuter Policy2139%
Total Grievances54100%

Calling in Sick and Wellness Calls

As everyone knows, thanks to the many reminders from management, sick leave usage is at an all time high.  Considering there’s a world-wide pandemic occurring this is not surprising.  One way management has taken steps to attempt to curb sick leave usage is to carefully monitor sick calls.  Many of the “suspect” cases are brought to the performance team for investigation from Crew Scheduling.  When an FA calls in sick and offers more information than what is needed, this often will trigger a “red flag” and get passed along for an investigation.  Best practice is to say only what is necessary to crew scheduling when calling in to report an absence.  “Hi this is FA (name)  Peoplesoft number (1234567) calling in sick for (trip number or reserve day).”  Nothing more is needed.  If schedulers are asking for more information, you are not required to divulge any health information.  

The same guidance is also true for Wellness calls.  Management has a process in place to follow up with Flight Attendants when they reach certain absence point levels.  Normally each discipline level triggers a wellness call and/or email from base supervisors. Wellness calls with management do not require a response, however it is recommended that the FA provide a confirmation of the message.  In recent investigations with FAs with high point levels, one of the questions from the performance supervisor is “did you receive the wellness calls from base leadership?  And did you respond?”  Best practice would be to respond via email only to any wellness calls and/or emails to avoid having a conversation with management without Union representation.

Member Question: How to use sick family

Flight Attendants can use sick leave to tend to a serious or emergency health condition of a family member.  If you report sick for a qualified family member and do not have enough sick leave to cover the entire sequence or reserve day(s), the absence(s) will be converted to a Management Drop and attendance points will be assessed at a half-point per day. To see your sick leave balance log into Rainmaker for the most current balance. If you need time away from work to care for a sick family member and you do not have sufficient sick leave available, contact an Inflight Supervisor to request a Management Drop. For more information please review Bulletin 2021-0059.

Membership Links for Payment or Personal Contact Updates

by James Ikehara, Secretary and Membership Committee Chair

If you are coming back from a leave of absence and need to catch up on dues payments, this link will take you directly to AFA’s Membership Services website to schedule an on-line payment. Should you need to update your personal contact information (e.g., address, phone number, email, etc.), use this link.

Fly safe and stay healthy!

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

Recent Changes to COVID-19 Policies

Recent Changes to COVID-19 Policies

Master Executive Council (MEC) and Grievance Committee

Summary of Recent Changes to COVID-19 Policies

The following is a general summary of what Alaska Airlines management announced in the “Our plan for keeping you and our guests safe from COVID” email that was sent earlier yesterday to all employees regarding the Company’s approach to vaccination and COVID safety measures:

  • No requirement for existing employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19
  • Requirement for new hire employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 -> This was previously communicated via an August 30th email from VP Inflight Travis Gelbrich “Important updates to pay protection and new hire policies,” which also references exceptions for accommodations required by law for medical exemptions or sincerely held religious beliefs
  • $200 incentive if proof of vaccination is submitted byOctober 15, 2021
  • Pay protection for vaccinated employees during any Company-mandated quarantine period for workplace exposure (for Flight Attendants: as defined by the Inflight division’s contact tracing protocol) -> Already communicated earlier in the week via the email from Travis
  • No pay protection for employees who decline to confirm being fully vaccinated for all COVID-related absences including during any Company-mandated quarantine period for workplace exposure (for FAs: as defined by the Inflight division’s contact tracing protocol) -> Already communicated earlier in the week via the email from Travis and confirmed by the updated contact tracing protocol effective September 2, 2021
  • For employees who decline to submit proof of vaccination by November 1st:
    • Regular COVD-19 testing
    • Must always wear a mask regardless of federal, state, and local requirements
    • Mandatory vaccine education program and acknowledgement of the risks of remaining unvaccinated and the protocols to be followed

Duty of Fair Representation

We know there are very strongly held and polar opposite convictions regarding mandatory vaccination—because we have heard from many of you regarding your expectation that we advocate for your personal position on the issue. However, the reality is that AFA has a duty to fairly represent all Flight Attendants. Consequently, the MEC continues to represent the entire group by faithfully reporting to management:

  • This is a complex issue.
  • Some FAs are passionately opposed to mandatory vaccinations, disclosing vaccination status and disparate treatment of those who decline to disclose their vaccination status.
  • Some FAs are passionately demanding mandatory vaccinations and all efforts to move in that direction.
  • The entire group is experiencing a range of emotions regarding the announced policy changes.
  • Almost everyone seems to be disappointed with at least some aspect of the policy changes.
  • Several questions and concerns about how the new COVID-19 policies will be administered remain unresolved.

Unprofessional and/or Unsupportive Behavior, Disparate Treatment, Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Harassment

The MEC has received concerns about unprofessional and/or unsupportive behavior, disparate treatment, discrimination, and hostile work environment. Regardless of the following legal minutiae, we understand that being at work lately has been more uncomfortable due to the divided opinions about vaccination and management’s recent COVID-19 policy changes.

Unprofessional and/or Unsupportive Behavior

On this point, we agree with Travis: “Our individual views around vaccinations do not warrant unprofessional or unsupportive behavior towards our fellow employees.” We need to find a way to peacefully coexist with each other, or there will eventually be disciplinary consequences. If you or your peers are struggling with experiences of unprofessional and/or unsupportive behavior between union-represented employees, then the MEC recommends contacting AFA EAP/Professional Standards for peer-to-peer handling.

Discrimination

There is a difference between ‘discrimination’ in the sense of (1) inequitable application of a Company rule and/or contract provision and/or disciplinary action versus (2) discrimination of a legally protected class. We will address the former later in the communication. Regarding the latter, our analysis is that the recent COVID-19 policy changes do not qualify as prohibited discrimination of a legally protected class. Even if there were such discrimination, AFA does not have the legal standing to bring forward such complaints under the law–the employee must do that directly.

Disparate Treatment and Hostile Work Environment

The recent vaccination policy changes by management are not technically disparate treatment or creating a hostile work environment under the law because disparate treatment or hostile work environment situations must occur in conjunction with illegal discrimination of a protected class to qualify.

Harassment

If you experience unprofessional or unsupportive behavior, then it is best practice to resolve those concerns directly with the employee(s) or via referral to Professional Standards for peer-to-peer handling. If any Flight Attendant is truly feeling harassed, we recommend bringing those concerns forward to Human Resources. AFA will make our best effort to provide a union representative for support during any conversations with Human Resources. Alternatively, or additionally, you may consider filing a complaint with the relevant government agencies or consulting with an attorney to discuss legal options. 

Inequitable and Unilateral Application of Non-Contractual Company Policy

AFA filed Grievance No. 36-99-2-230-21 Violation of §16 Sick Leave/On the Job Injury in response to management’s recent inequitable and unilateral application of a non-contractual (i.e., extra-contractual) Company Policy:

[AFA is] requesting an investigation and hearing into the following issue:

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.

Essentially, we are grieving the fact that management has no basis for applying the contract to some but not all Flight Attendants. Specifically, this is about Flight Attendants who decline to disclose vaccination status or have acknowledged they are not fully vaccinated and management’s denial of access to pay protection vs. sick leave for such FAs. This is because these FAs are inequitably and unilaterally denied pay protection for mandated quarantines under the COVID-19 contact tracing workplace exposure protocol and instead forced onto sick leave regardless of whether they are sick or not. Conversely, FAs who have confirmed they are fully vaccinated are afforded pay protection under the same or similar circumstances. This grievance was filed in response to management’s inequitable application of contractual sick leave provisions and benefits across the collective bargaining unit and not in response to any position about vaccination.

Remaining Questions and Concerns

The MEC recognizes that several details about the recent COVID-19 policy changes remain unclear and possibly may lead to AFA filing additional grievances. We have at least one follow-up meeting already scheduled between management and MEC representatives to discuss questions and concerns, so stay tuned for subsequent developments soon.

Human Rights Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2022 

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Human Rights Committee Our AFA Human Rights Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, August 4 to discuss their ongoing program of work to advance human rights within our workplace and community. The Committee also met with management to receive updates on what progress has been made on concerns that had been previously brought forward and address […]

Uniform Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2022

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Uniform Committee Our AFA Uniform Committee Chairpersons met on Tuesday, August 2 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent Flight Attendants interests related to uniforms. The Committee also met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems that Flight Attendants are reporting related to uniform quality, wearability, and availability. If you […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – July 2022

Scheduling Committee Our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met on Tuesday, July 26 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent Flight Attendants interests related to lineholder scheduling. The Committee also met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems that Flight Attendants are experiencing with scheduling, pairings, and bidding. Your Local Scheduling […]

Grievance Committee Update – 1st and 2nd Quarters 2022

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 two quarters. Management has issued discipline lately for a variety of reasons.  Read on for more information about the reasons […]

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2022

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Our AFA Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Chairpersons met on Thursday, July 14 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent Flight Attendants interests related to safety, health, and security in our workplace. The Committee also met with management to receive updates and discuss issues […]

December 2021 MEC Meeting Recap

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December 2021 MEC Meeting Recap Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson Just wrapped up chairing our monthly MEC meeting yesterday and today. As usual, your AFA committee chairs and reps provided written reports to the MEC about the latest developments in their areas, and we received live briefings regarding dispute resolution & grievances, scheduling, […]

Inflight Leadership Change and the Path Forward

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Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson Now that is has been officially announced that Travis will be stepping away as leader of the Inflight division, I thought Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants might want to hear from their MEC president. I may not always be at liberty to communicate the details of every conversation advocating […]

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