Newsletter

Council 35 News-September 2019

September 30, 2019 12:30 By Bradley Young (SFO Council Representative/MEC ASHSC Vice Chair-ASAP)

Membership Meeting November 4

Mark your calendar and plan to attend the Council 35 Membership Meeting in SFO. All members in good standing are encouraged to attend to meet officers and committee chairs and get updates on the latest concerns facing SFO based Flight Attendants. Special guest Karen Ferrell, AFA Pairing Analyst will be present to answer questions regarding pairing construction in SFO.

Date: 11/4/19
Location: Terminal 2 Tunnel Conference Room (map)
Time: 1100-1300
Who: C35 members in good standing (dues up-to-date)

Supplement Insurance Enrollment Still Available

If you missed the September 16-18 session with the National Group Protection (NGP) representative JoAnn Levandoski, Flight Attendants have one more chance to sign up if you are traveling through PDX. JoAnn will be in PDX on October 13th-15th to enroll or make changes to your existing coverage. For more information on on policies and options please visit the NGP website.

New Gate Numbering System at SFO Starts October 16

SFO will migrate to a new alpha-numeric gate numbering system across all terminals on October 16. The gates we currently use, 50-59, will change to D1-D18. The following link provided by the airport explains the methodology behind the new numbering system.

Welcome Class 2019-5

On September 25, 78 trainees graduated to become Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants. Council 35 would like to extend a warm welcome to the 10 FAs joining SFO on October 1. If you need any assistance with your transition to SFO, please feel free to reach out to the SFO Reserve Committee or SFO Officers with questions.

Committee Opening: Benefits

Council 35 is still seeking a committee chair for the Benefits Committee. If you are interested please reach to officers at sfo@afaalaska.org.

Council 35 Government Affairs DC Visit

Government Affairs committee members from AFA Alaska attended an AFA International sponsored “fly in” to our nation’s capitol. GA committee members from all AFA carriers were able to visit key locations ]in Washington DC to lobby AFA issues with key government officials. Council 35 chair, Rodolfo Garcia, writes his experience in this summary

Photo credits: Council 35 GA Chair Rodolfo Garcia and AFA International President Sara Nelson.

Crew Scheduling Issues

Very often Flight Attendants who encounter operational issues while on duty and find themselves frustrated or in disagreement with a scheduler should reach out to the scheduling Manager on Duty (MOD). If you believe a scheduler has not followed SOP or has not followed contractual guidelines for an assignment, please request to speak to the MOD at the time of the event. Keep in mind that if you are unable to resolve the conflict at the time of the event, be prepared to “fly in protest” and present the issue to your base scheduling committee for follow up with crew scheduling management. With more information, scheduling committee members and crew scheduling management can more efficiently research flight attendant inquiries and determine a resolution.

Trip Trades and Swaps

Council 35 Officers have seen an increase in complaints regarding unwanted trip trades initiated by Flight Attendants. There appears to be a lack of consideration of published trip preferences. As a result, we would like to provide guidance for those posting trades to avoid further disagreements.

Be specific and provide a clear description of the type of desired trip. Some examples:

“trade for a high credit”
“minimum 7 TFP”
“2 legs only on the same day”
“no A position”
Provide number and indicate “must text first”
Post as “grab” rather than trade

When a trade or swap is made accidentally, FAs are expected to sort out the disagreement respectfully. The problem arises when one or both of the FAs are unable to agree on a solution. Very often, if the trade was part of a series of trades and the original trip or trips are no longer available, it is difficult to reach a resolution. This is particularly challenging with L-VX FAs who are accustomed to a bidding system that required approvals for all trades.

Management has taken the position that they will not interfere with, or participate in, any remedies for trading errors. They believe that understanding the system is the FA’s responsibility and expects that courtesy will be offered to fellow Flight Attendants. EAP/Professional Standards is available to help facilitate an amicable resolution between parties however requests to compel management to change their position on a remedy have not been successful.

Trending Discipline: Sick Leave Abuse Investigations Still Ongoing

When calling in sick, whether protected under FMLA or normal sick, the company’s expectation is that the Flight Attendant is taking the time to recover from an illness which is preventing them from being able to work. If evidence is discovered that shows a Flight Attendant using sick leave that doesn’t appear to be recovering, the company will investigate. Recent investigations have included travel audits, scheduling requests and social media posts that the company believes may contradict a Flight Attendant’s alleged sick status. From the company’s perspective, calling in sick for any other reason than sick, is considered time card fraud. In all cases, the investigations concluded in termination when proof of illness is not substantiated by evidence (i.e. hospital/doctor/medical receipts) and when conflicting evidence of apparent wellness is presented. This is true for both sick leave and FMLA. Sadly most cases brought forward to management for investigation have been provided by other Flight Attendants. If you have any questions, please reach out to your Council 35 officers for assistance.

FAQs

How do I contact Council 35 Officers?
The best way to contact Council 35 officers is via email using a personal email account. The preferred methods of contact are:

sfo@afaalaska.org (this is the group contact for all officers-if one officer is flying /unavailable the 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.com 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 24 business hours for a response to any method of contact (email, phone, text).

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

September Updates and Important Information

September 4, 2018 18:00 By Brice McGee (SAN LEC President)

AFA Meeting Oct 8^th 12:00 to 3:00

AFA Constitution and Bylaws require that local councils hold a membership meeting twice per calendar year. Our first meeting of the year was held in May to discuss the AFA Board of Directors Meeting Agenda.

This meeting is open to all Council 15 members in good standing. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide members the opportunity to meet your Officers. Please come ready to ask questions and participate in the discussions regarding merger negotiations, bidding and the latest issues impacting Council 15 members. The meeting will be in the Volunteer Conference Room located above the USO across from Terminal 2 East.

Scheduling Chair JR will be attending to discuss scheduling issues and our Uniform Chair Denise Sheldon will be there with her uniform pieces and will discuss the second round uniform testing.

If you have an agenda item that you would like to discuss at the local meeting or any issues or concerns you would like us to discuss with management, please send them no later than OCT 4th, to LEC Secretary/Treasurer Stephen Couckuyt at Stephen.Couckuyt@afaalaska.org

We hope to see you there!

Going Away Party/Happy Hour for Melissa

We are looking for a fun venue for the happy hour following the Base Meeting, someplace close to the airport. If you know of a place please, contact Melanie Buker @ 208-890-1849 and continue to send photos, videos, quotes, etc so that we can create a nice going away video. Mail to: melanie.buker@gmail.com

Committee Updates:

We welcome Norma Dorman, Rex Hampton and Holly Mozzone to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Professional Standards Committee.

These 3 bring diverse backgrounds, work experience and many varied skills in areas such as peer support, working with addiction and volunteer work.

They have just recently completed the EAP initial training, so please help us in welcoming them to the EAP peer support program.

We have one opening on the uniform committee and with the second round of wear testing upcoming, we think it’s important to add a male to the committee. If interested, please send an email to: SAN@afaalaska.org.

We are also looking for someone to assist with Workers Comp if you would be interested and have knowledge in this area please send an email to: san@afaalaska.org

To look at the complete list of our SAN committee’s go to http://afaalaska .org/committees

Pairing Changes

After many talks with management regarding our high percentage of 4-day trips in SAN. They heard us loud and clear: 4-day pairings for SAN significantly dropped to 14.7% for OCT. However, please know that though Crew Planning was able to make this adjustment from SEP to OCT, they may not always make adjustments like this. The reality on trip distributions is that it needs to be assessed on a month-by-month basis across all bases as Crew Planning tries to balance safety, quality, cost, and productivity.

Until we are fully integrated, scheduled for February 2019, we may see many changes. Flying that we’re missing now should return and you’ll have the ability to fly on both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Also, this is when all bases are planned be aligned and transfers will be allowed for both Airbus and Boeing into all 6 bases as staffing permits.

Professional Standards

Conflicts and/or issues with Coworkers

In San Diego we are lucky to have a great team of supervisors and management staff.

Please keep in mind that many personal conflicts should be taken to your Professional standards team and not taken immediately to management. Often AFA EAP/ Professional Standards can resolve the problems or issues without Management becoming involved. Once management is aware of the situation that could lead to someone’s discipline and or possibly even termination.

Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Chair and Reps can be found here: http://afaalaska.org/san/committees

Reminder: Calling out Sick or Sick Family

Less is more

When calling in sick, the only thing that scheduling needs to know is that you are calling in either sick, sick family, FMLA or Workers Comp period. They do not need to know why, what symptoms or anything else related to the illness. You don’t need to apologize, and you don’t need to explain.

Reminder: Contacted by Management?

Know Your Rights

If you receive a call from any Inflight Supervisor, it is best to first clarify if the conversation could lead to disciplinary action. If the answer is “Yes,” at this point you can request that the union be involved in any further conversations. However, even if the supervisor states that the conversation won’t lead to any discipline, if at any time you feel the questions to be leading or uncomfortable you can once again end the conversation by saying you will only continue with a union rep present.

Having a union rep there is insurance. It is an advocate and a second set of ears to ensure that your point is understood clearly by the company and not misinterpreted.

Keeping Current with AFA Information

There are several ways to keep up to date with your Council #15 news! In addition to your regular email updates, the information can be found at: afaalaska.org/san

Are you on Facebook?

Like the Official Council #15 page at: https://www.facebook.com/AFA-Council-15-San-Diego-249262698862442/

We also have the SAN AFA page that is not public and you need to ask one of your friends who is in the group already, or one of the Officers to add you.

Receive the most important information via text (we do not send out all communications via text, just the ones that are the most important!). Register for texts at: https://www.remind.com/join/afalec15

We also have an App exclusive to SAN. The App give you easy access to jump seat agreements, KCM Locations, Air Quality and much more. The App is not searchable in play store you need to either click on this link: http://m.magmito.com/inva/47717

Or ask one of your officers and we can assist you with downloading.

In Solidarity,

Brice, Melanie and Stephen

Summer News

May 28, 2018 09:00 By Brice McGee (SAN LEC President)

Terminal 1 and 2

On May 20^th, our morning OGG, HNL and LIH flights started departing out of T2 using Gates 20, 21, and 22 (these are the gates our SJD & PVR flights arrive into).

Baggage check-in will remain at T1, and passengers for three of our Hawaii flights will head over to T2 to depart out of gates 20, 21, and 22.

Knowing which terminal to go to for your flight is key, as well as knowing where the closest KCM for these gates is located.

Transition Training

Everyone must go through both Recurrent Training (RT) and Transition Training (TT) this year. Recurrent Training certifies you on Boeing aircraft and TT certifies you on Airbus aircraft.

It is currently planned to start bidding for both aircraft types in January 2019 for flying in February 2019.

Next Year’s RT will certify you on both aircraft.

Being as SAN does not have a training facility we are the only base that is provided with a hotel/hotels and travel pay. Travel pay is based on the shortest route flying between SAN and the base you choose to do recurrent. Depending on the flight schedules for your travel day your TFP for travel could fluctuate, for example in order of highest tfp for travel to lowest.

ANC: SAN-SEA-ANC, SAN-PDX-ANC

LGB: SAN-SEA-LAX limo LGB, SAN-PDX-LAX limo to LGB or SAN-SFO-LAX limo LGB

SEA: SAN-SEA

PDX: SAN-PDX

Keep in mind you are not required to take those flight but that is how your pay will be determined for travel purposes. If you have questions please reach out to your Scheduling Chair San.Scheduling@afaalaska.org or your Officers SAN@Afaalaska.org

Pairing Changes

As we move toward fleet integration, flying is being shifted from Boeing to Airbus, and from Airbus to Boeing. Our pairings are changing more than they typically do because of seasonal flying changes. We expect more changes in the future.

We’ve heard from many F/As who are unhappy with these changes, and who are upset that their preferred pairings are no longer available. This is not limited solely to San Diego. Unfortunately, it is likely to continue. We’ve all seen the ‘network realignment’ articles on Alaskasworld.

Please know that your officers and the SAN Scheduling Committee continue to advocate for improved pairings, but ultimately the company’s decisions are based on cost. Both our Scheduling Chairs and Crew Planning are very aware that these changes are unpopular. We have been told that a communication from Crew Planning on this subject is forthcoming, but do not have a specific date.

Professional Standards

Conflicts and/or issues with Coworkers

In San Diego we are lucky to have a great team of Supervisors and Management staff.

Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Chair and Reps can be found here: http://afaalaska.org/san/committees

Calling out Sick or Sick Family

Less is more

Contacted by Management?

Know Your Rights

Having a union rep there is insurance. It is an advocate and a second set of ears to ensure that your point is understood clearly by the company and not misinterpreted.

Keeping Current with AFA Information

There are several ways to keep up to date with your Council #15 news! In addition to your regular email updates, the information can be found at: afaalaska.org/san

Are you on Facebook?

Like the Official Council #15 page at: https://www.facebook.com/AFA-Council-15-San-Diego-249262698862442/

We also have the SAN AFA and SAN TRIPS pages that are not public and you need to ask one of your friends who is in the group already, or one of the Officers to add you.

Do You Have Questions, Issues or Concerns?

On June 1 we will have 378 F/As in San Diego and possibly growing to 395 by the end of the year and in an effort to keep track of everything in one place we are asking that if you have questions, issues or concerns that you please go to https://support.afaalaska.org and ‘open a ticket.’

We particularly ask that you use this resource for scheduling, pay and reserve concerns. We need the information requested on the form to research your concern. If you would like to talk to an officer or committee chair, please go to www.afaalaska.org/contact, and look through the officer and/or committee lists for contact information for your local representatives.

In Solidarity,

Brice, Melanie and Stephen

December Update

December 28, 2017 12:30 By Brice McGee (SAN LEC President)

San Diego Committee Update

We would like to welcome Joe Coneglio to the Reserve Committee (chair), Vanessa Woods to Air Safety, Health & Security and Pablo Fregosa to Government Affairs. Reach any of our committee members at http://www.afaalaska.org under the SAN committee tab.

It’s a busy time of year for our scheduling chair JR (Jack) George. To help lighten his load, we ask that you use the local San Diego scheduling email address for all questions: san.scheduling@afaalaska.org, you can also copy in your Officers at san@afaalaska.org.

Please do not send text messages, IM’s or tag us in Facebook, it is too hard for us to monitor. Many times the information needs to be forwarded to other individuals and an email (with snap/screen shots) is the format that helps us, help you!

JCTE

We are well aware that there are continuing problems with JCTE (Crew Access) and with payroll errors. Please go to support.afaalaska.org to report payroll issues, scheduling problems and reserve concerns. Not only does this provide an opportunity for AFA to track trends in order to resolve problems, but also it allows us to research each individual situation and respond.

We are finding that many Flight Attendants do not know how to track their hours and pay. Our payroll system is very complex with all the different rates, depending on each situation. The following guidelines may be helpful:

· Flight Crew Pay Sheets live forever, unlike Rosters, which currently vaporize after 60 days. To see a print out of what you were paid for, look at the Pay sheet for the month at issue. You will also find your running sick leave usage and vacation totals in the upper right-hand corner of each sheet.

· Save your original line award. Keep a screenshot of every change you make to your awarded line, and in particularly any trips that operate irregularly. Do the same with reserve assignments. This is the material you’ll need to determine whether or not you were paid properly for your flying or reserve duty, and to determine leave eligibility continuing health care benefits and vacation accrual during a leave.

With the start of winter, and the attendance issues, please copy and print or bookmark the following information to assist you in determining your legalities and pay: http://afanewsletters.org/docs/2/Irregular%20Operations.pdf.

We know that this feels like extra work and agree that it shouldn’t be necessary. It will be necessary information in order to file a ticket at support.afaalaska.org, so that we can resolve your issues as quickly as possible. Without supporting documentation, which can be easily attached to a ticket, it is much more difficult and time consuming to resolve individual issues and to track larger problems. Please know that we are working diligently to ensure that each problem is addressed and rectified as quickly as possible.

Recurrent Training

If you are having any significant problems with the Cornerstone app, please reach out to one of your Officers and take screenshots if possible. We are always a little concerned when new apps or updates are launched and want to hear how the process is working and that there are no huge issues.

Speaking of recurrent training, FAs traveling to recurrent from SAN were not getting paid correctly since possibly the implementation of our current CBA 12/14.

Brice brought this to the companies attention last April. We were receiving 11 tfp when traveling to LGB, but you should have been paid 18.6 (5.8 to travel up, 6 for recurrent, 5.8 to travel back, +1 for an extended duty day = 18.6 tfp plus $75 for doing the at home workbook). An audit has been completed and the pay corrected, but we recommend that you look at your pay sheet and verify for yourself.

End of Year Reminders

Remember to convert your unused guest passes before the end of day December 31^st.

Record Improvement S32.G.4– should be applied by mid January, For those of you that had 4 or fewer points at the end of 2017, and you had zero points assessed in NOV, DEC you will be starting 2018 with zero points. Please allow about two to three weeks for the attendance Supervisors to apply your Nov/Dec record improvement. Once this has been done, let us know if there are any discrepancies.

AFA Council 15 San Diego Facebook Page

Since the base opened we have been using the SANFA Facebook page, this page is used both for trip trading posts as well as AFA posts. Being as its easy for things to get lost with so many postings, Your AFA Officers started a new “Official” Facebook page called AFA Council 15 San Diego click on the link and like our page, there you can find all the latest news from AFA without having to search through numerous trip trading posts.

Text Notifications from AFA

To reach more of our base (including those who are not on social media or don’t check their email often), your LEC Officers started a new way of communicating with our members in San Diego through text message alerts. This program is completely optional. But we feel that it’s a great tool to get information out to everyone quickly. We will not overwhelm you with texts. And we do realize some people may have to pay for texts, so again this program is optional and the information will be available as always on the AFAalaska.org website, emails, and on our Facebook page.

The enrollment process is simple, all you need to do is send a text message from your personal phone.

Open your text messaging application. In the send to field enter 81010 and then enter @AFALEC15 in the body of the text and press send.

You will then receive a reply asking you to enter your full name. Once you send your name, your officers will receive notification and then you are all set to receive texts.

Please ignore the 3^rd question where it asks if you are student or teacher we are borrowing this technology from school districts as to save costs from designing a system or paying a company to send mass texts and you do not need to download the app.

We hope you like our new service. And as always, we welcome your feedback / questions Please help us spread the word and get your fellow crew signed up.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and we wish you a Healthy and Happy New Year!

March Newsletter

March 24, 2017 09:00 By Brice McGee (SAN LEC President)

AFA Council 15 San Diego Facebook Page

Since the base opened we have been using the SANFA Facebook page. This page is used both for trip trading posts as well as AFA posts. Because it is easy for things to get lost with so many postings, your AFA Officers started a new “Official” Facebook page called AFA Council 15 San Diego click on the link and Like our page. There you can find all the latest news from AFA without having to search through numerous trip trading posts.

Text Notifications from AFA

To reach more of our base (including those who are not on social media or don’t check their email often) we are excited to announce that your LEC Officers started a new way of communicating with our members in San Diego through text message alerts. This program is completely optional, however, we feel that it’s a great tool to get information out to everyone quickly. We will not overwhelm you with texts. We do realize the possibility of text costs, therefore justifying the option. The information will be available as always on the AFAalaska.org website, emails, and on our Facebook page.

The enrollment process is simple. All you need to do is send a text message from your personal phone.

Open your text messaging application. In the send to field enter 81010 and then enter @AFALEC15 in the body of the text and press send.

You will then receive a reply asking you to enter your full name. Once you send your name, your officers will receive notification and then you are all set to receive texts.

We hope you like our new service. And as always, we welcome your feedback/questions. Please help us spread the word and get your fellow crew signed up.

Keeping Track of Trends

Data and Flight Attendant Reports

Your AFA representatives have recently started using a new program to track issues reported by our members. Our goal is to track and trend as many issues as possible. The key to this program’s success will be hearing from YOU! We need to hear from you every time you have an issue. With all five bases tracking and compiling information we will be able to present stronger cases to management.

When you report an issue, please include your personal email address, phone number and Peoplesoft number. Include as many details as possible, Trip Number, Flight Number, screenshots of phone call time stamps/trips… etc.

Send your issue to the appropriate Committee Team.

Scheduling Issues Line Holders San.Scheduling@afaalaska.org

Reserve Issues sanfa.reserve@gmail.com

Officers San@afaalaska.org

Professional Standards

Conflicts and/or issues with Coworkers

In San Diego we are lucky to have a great team of Supervisors and Management staff. Please keep in mind that many personal conflicts should be taken to your Professional Standards team and not taken immediately to management. Often AFA EAP/ Professional Standards can resolve the problems or issues without Management becoming involved. Once Management is made aware of the situation, an investigation could commence, both parties may be brought in and interviewed and any potential witness(es). The outcome could lead to discipline and or possibly even termination.

Jean Sharrock jeans4112@yahoo.com

Ava McWilliams avaeap@yahoo.com

Lisa Rhodes lisa.rhodes.alaska@gmail.com

Shari Clark ownyourlife4ever@yahoo.com

Loretta Fogle lorettafogle@gmail.com

Contacted by Management?

Know Your Rights

Having a union rep there is insurance. It is an advocate and a second set of ears to ensure that your point is understood clearly by the company and not misinterpreted.

$$ Transportation is the Company’s responsibility $$

Over the last few months we have seen a steady increase in crew schedulers pawning their responsibilities off on Flight Attendants. There has been a significant spike in the number of reports from Flight Attendants that have been told to find their own transportation.

Contractually, it is the Company’s responsibility to provide transportation to and from layover hotels and airports. That includes coordinating and paying for it. You are not required to pay upfront and then wait for reimbursement.

If you are ever asked to pay for a hotel room or transportation or a Visa required to enter a foreign country (yes, that did just happen!) by Crew Scheduling- Contact your AFA Reps immediately! SAN@afaalaska.org

Merger Update

National Mediation Board Makes Single Carrier Determination

The National Mediation Board (NMB) responded to AFA’s application to have the board investigate whether Alaska Airlines and Virgin America are operating as a single transportation system for the craft or class of Flight Attendant. The NMB ruled that the carriers are indeed a single transportation system.

The NMB will now address Flight Attendant representation at each carrier, and AFA is expecting to be declared the representing union at both carriers shortly after a 30-day waiting period.

Odds and Ends

When using the Matrix App, you must “dial in” each of the dates of the trip you will be dropping. So if your trip runs the 12, 13, 14^th, you must dial the first month/day and enter, then the second month/day and enter and then the third month/day and hit enter. Please remember that you must also call scheduling!

There have been reports of phone numbers and addresses changing in Peoplesoft with the JCA switchover. It is a good idea to go in and make sure your contact information is correct. Also it is wise to check your pay, point accrual, banked points, etc. as there have been some reports of “inaccuracies” after the JCA switchover.

In Solidarity,

Latest News

AFA Update – November 8, 2019

Council 35 News-October 2019

Yet Another System Malfunction (This Time Vacation Trading)

AFA Special Update – Negotiations

AFA Special Update – Negotiations

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