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Open Time Negotiations Survey – Take 2

As reported a few weeks ago on afaalaska.org  (“Open Time Negotiations Survey Suspended Due to a Technical Problem”), the Open Time negotiations survey went offline because of an unforeseen glitch. Shortly thereafter the Master Executive Council (MEC) made the decision to leave the survey down in order to address membership feedback sent to leadership (“Update on Open Time Survey Suspension”). After much consideration AFA is re-posting the survey. Previously submitted surveys are on file, so it is not necessary to re-take the survey unless you wish to revise your responses.

About minimum flying and other undesirable options…

What was the feedback? Members expressed frustration with the last question in particular: “Some changes MAY be required in order to negotiate a better Open Time system. IF that becomes necessary, I would prefer to see them in the following order, with 1 being the change I would be most willing to accept and 8 being the change I would be least willing to accept.” Although there were several concerns, feedback was mostly centered on apprehensions that the survey seems to suggest a monthly minimum is a possibility.

A survey can be used as a communication tool to both membership and management in addition to being an informational tool for the Negotiating Committee and leadership. In this case, the reference to minimum flying in the survey was definitely not intended to communicate AFA’s desire to actually seek or even allow minimum flying. In fact, it was intended to do the exact opposite. Management tends to bring up minimum flying in every negotiation, so we wanted to have additional ‘ammunition’ to respond to such a proposal.

Be assured the entire MEC and the Negotiating Committee are adamantly opposed to a monthly minimum. We know changes to “the 480” were very controversial in this current contract, so we were (and are) highly confident the membership would rank any reference to minimum flying as dead last. It was unintentional and unfortunate that the survey would cause so much controversy. The survey was designed to simply determine priorities in a comprehensive list of possibilities that either the union or management might voluntarily address or be forced to address in one way or another.

The MEC and the Negotiating Committee will go so far as to say that we’re encouraging you to take (or re-take) the survey and rank “minimum flying” last on the list. We will also tell you that we fully understand you do not wish to accept any of the items on the list in that last question, and we will proceed with crafting our opening proposal accordingly. If you are opposed to answering the last question altogether, then you have the ability to completely skip it (just don’t fill in any of the bubbles). There is also a “free form” comments field at the end of the survey if you would like to provide additional feedback.

Take 2

*** Note: Previously submitted surveys are on file, so it is not necessary to re-take the survey unless you wish to revise your responses. ***

Pursuant to AFA Alaska Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.F.9.b. [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial], AFA and Alaska Airlines management will begin negotiations on a successor Open Time system due to cancellation of the Open Time Trial. AFA is surveying the membership regarding Open Time in order to guide the Negotiating Committee in writing our opening proposal for negotiating a new Open Time system.

Your candid responses are appreciated.

You must enter your Arctic number in order to take the survey. We’re asking for your Arctic number to ensure each Flight Attendant receives one vote and is not for tracking purposes. If a survey is submitted more than once with the same Arctic number, only the last response will be counted.

If you have any creative solutions or ideas regarding Open Time, please share them in the free form comments field at the end of the survey.

The Master Executive Council (MEC) knows that many of you are tired of taking surveys about Open Time, but this is a different survey than the satisfaction surveys that went out during the Open Time Trial. Now that the MEC has canceled the trial, it is extremely important that every Flight Attendant take this negotiations survey. AFA very much wants every voice to be counted regarding a new Open Time system.

>>> To take the Open Time Negotiations Survey click here. <<<

The survey will close at noon Pacific Time on Friday, October 7th.

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

Open Time Negotiations Survey Suspended Due to a Technical Problem

The Open Time negotiations survey is currently inaccessible due to a technical problem. The Master Executive Council (MEC) believes the problem is most likely due to the survey being inadvertently set to close at an incorrect date and time.

Unfortunately, it appears there may be only one person at AFA International who effectively can assist in troubleshooting the issue and that person is on vacation through the weekend.

Consequently, we are officially suspending the survey until further notice. Stay tuned for developments on this issue by early next week if not before.

AFA sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Fees and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

New Open Time User Guide

Some big changes are coming with our new Open Time system. To help with the transition we’d like to point out some highlights and give helpful hints.

 

Open Time Video

 

For a full review of the new Open Time, check out the video that was produced during the TA-2 Roadshows:

Correction: Trading for any newly established domicile(s) would begin at 9am, not 3pm as stated in the video.

 

Fundamentals

 

  • Flight Attendant to Flight Attendant and the new Open Time trading will begin simultaneously on the 15th of the month prior to the month in which the flying will occur. Trading remains unlimited. Access to trading will begin as follows: SAN at 9:00am PT, PDX at 10:00am PT, ANC at 11:00am PT, LAX at 12:00pm PT and SEA at 2:00pm PT.

 

  • Flight Attendants may post trips at 8:00pm PT on the 14th of the month.

 

  • Every sequence in the new Open Time is coded with a reason code: e.g., TO (trades with Open Time), CP (Coupon Drops), SL (Sick Leave), UB (Union Business) and CB (Company Business). There could be other reason codes, but these are the most common. The CP code will likely be very rare since drop coupons haven’t been issued in years.

 

  • The “Threshold Sequence Number” is based on domicile population (see Section 12.F.3 [Open Time Trial]) and is currently calculated as 10 in Seattle and 3 in Anchorage, Portland, Los Angeles and San Diego. This means that when the total number of sequences coded as TO/CP in Open Time on that day meets or exceeds the Threshold Sequence Number, the day will be “limited.” Remember, only the first day of TO/CP sequences counts towards the Threshold Sequence Number and therefore the limiting of Open Time. The Threshold Sequence Number can change based on the number of Flight Attendants in a base; however, there will always be a minimum of 3. Any other type of sequence: SL, UB, CB, etc., does not count toward the Threshold Sequence Number.

 

  • A Flight Attendant is able to reduce his/her schedule by a net 40 TFP as a result of dropping to or trading with Open Time each bid month. There is no cap on how much TFP can be dropped as a result of dropping to or trading with another Flight Attendant.

 

Open Days

 

  • On any calendar day that is “open” and not “limited” (closed under the old contract), all sequences with that day of report may be picked up, traded or dropped into Open Time without respect to the number of flights, the number of days and/or duty periods, TFP credit or any other parameters.

 

  • If you wish to trade a sequence with a sequence on a different calendar day, the only day that needs to be open is the day in which you report for your sequence. For example, you have a 3-day trip beginning on October 4th and you want to trade for a 2-day trip beginning on October 17th, as long as October 4th is open, regardless of the reason code, you can make this trade.

 

Limited Days

 

  • Once a day is limited because the Threshold Sequence Number has been met, all trips coded other than TO/CP will be converted to a reason code of TX.

 

  • If a day is limited it can be reopened if a Flight Attendant picks up a TO/CP sequence from that day.

 

  • Any sequence reporting on a calendar day that is limited and is coded other than TO/CP may only be traded for a sequence (with the same date of report) of the same or greater number of days. For example, if a sequence is coded TX, SL, UB, CB, etc., and you wish to trade with that sequence and the day of report is limited, you could only trade your 2-day trip reporting on October 4th for a 2, 3 or 4 day trip reporting October 4th, and you could not trade for a turn.

 

  • Any sequence reporting on a calendar day that is limited and is coded TO/CP then that sequence may be traded for another sequence with the same day of report regardless of the length of trip. For example, if you wish to trade your 4-day trip reporting on October 4th with 1-day trip reporting on October 4th, it would be approved provided the Open Time trip is coded TO/CP.

 

Miscellaneous

 

  • All things being equal, it is to your fellow co-workers’ benefit if you are going to pick up a trip you do so out of the Flight Attendant to Flight Attendant trade box, or if you pick up out of Open Time, that you pick up a trip that is coded TO or CP. This will open the day if it is limited, allowing another flight attendants to drop a trip into Open Time.

 

  • All of this information can be found in the Collective Bargaining Agreement in Section 12.F. [Open Time Trial].

 

* * *

 

Questions? Contact your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers or your local Scheduling Committee members.

 

In solidarity,

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

Your Contract Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

AFA Alaska

Recycle Your Red Pins and Join Flight Attendants at the New United for a Day of Action July 16th!

The Continental, Continental Micronesia and United Master Executive Councils in conjunction with the United Joint Negotiating Committee have authorized their Flight Attendants to switch from white to red AFA pins in response to the lack of progress in their contract negotiations. You can check out all the details about their negotiations at ourcontract.org.

With around 20,000 Flight Attendants, it is very challenging to come up with that many red pins. The New United (CAL, CAL Micronesia, UAL) is asking for AFA Alaska to help out their efforts by recycling our red pins. If you have any extras, please leave them in one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers’ mail files the very next time you are coming through your base so we can re-gift the red pins as soon as possible.

The New United is also planning a Day of Action on July 16th at airports throughout the combined Continental, Continental Micronesia and United system. Your colleagues at those carriers would be delighted to have any Flight Attendants from AFA Alaska attend an event at a convenient location (e.g. at a domicile or while on a layover) as a show of solidarity. You cannot wear your Flight Attendant uniform but if you still have a red t-shirt from the second round of our negotiations, you are welcome to wear the shirt to the event. You can find more information about the events here.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

AFA Alaska

 

Negotiations Update – MEC Reviewing the T/A

Update:  Your Negotiating Committee and Master Executive Council (MEC) are still hard at work.  The MEC decided to continue the meeting through tomorrow evening before releasing more information.  We realize many are anticipating more information this evening, but we ask that you please stand by for an update tomorrow.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

MEC 5BSS Logo (Web)

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