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Seniority Merger Update – October 27, 2017

The seniority merger process is well underway.  By now, you should have received your Seniority Verification Letter (SVL) at your home address.

If you did not receive it, you may request that a duplicate be sent to you by email.  To do so, send your request to the following email address: seniority@afacwa.org.  Your request must include your Name, Employee Number, Council/Base, and your Email Address.

To help explain where we are in the seniority merger process, we have included a timeline of events.  Note that the next date is November 24, the due date to notify us of any inaccuracies.  That is followed in January 2018, when we will work on the credit for training days and how to resolve same-day seniority dates.

Timeline of Events

Click to enlarge

May 22, 2017 AFA named as union for VX.  Seniority Merger Integration Committee (SMIC) Reps named for both AS & VX
July 19, 2017 SMIC kickoff training at AFA HQ in DC. Request sent to AS HQ for necessary employment data for AS & VX FAs
September 29, 2017 AS HQ provided AS & VX seniority lists that included seniority dates and dates of birth
October 10, 2017 Seniority Verification Letter (SVL) mailed to all FAs home address to confirm pre-merger seniority bidding date and birthdate
November 24, 2017 Deadline to respond to SVL, if inaccuracies exist.
January 2018 SMIC works to resolve any issues with pre-merger seniority bidding date and/or birthdate
January 2018 SMIC determines adjustments for initial training days and method for integrating same day seniority dates
January 2018 SMIC merges AS & VX seniority bidding list and publishes methodology used to merge of the joint list
Future Single Collective Bargaining Agreement ratified and final seniority bidding list published

As we move through the process, we will provide additional updates.

In Solidarity,

Your Seniority Merger Integration Committee – Sandra Morrow (AS), Rolando Teran (VX), Lynne Voigtsberger (VX) and Marie Maxwell (AS)

Seniority Verification Letters Being Mailed Today

The Seniority Merger Integration Committee (SMIC) has finalized the Seniority Verification Letters (SVL) that are being mailed today: October 10, 2017.  Over 5,000 letters are being sent to Alaska Airlines (AS) and Virgin America (VX) Flight Attendants, and they will begin arriving at mailing addresses on file with the Company within a week.

While letters are being mailed to everyone, the SMIC recognizes that F/A’s living and receiving mail outside the U.S. might face delayed deliveries.  To better ensure a timely delivery to F/A’s living and receiving mail outside the U.S., a copy of the letter will be placed in the company mailbox/v-file of anyone with a non-U.S. mailing address.

If you do not receive a Seniority Verification Letter (SVL) by October 23, you may request that a duplicate be sent to you by email.  To do so, send your request to the following email address: seniority@afacwa.org.  Your request must include your Name, Employee Number, Council/Base, and your Email Address.  You will receive a response within five business days.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Seniority Merger Integration Committee Members Attend Training This Week

Your Seniority Merger Integration Committee (SMIC) members are attending training this week at AFA-CWA headquarters in Washington, DC. Your SMIC members are Merger Representatives Sandra Morrow (AS), Rolando Teran (VX), Lynne Voigtsberger (VX) and Marie Maxwell (AS). Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson and MEC Secretary-Treasurer Linda Christou are accompanying them in a supportive role.

The merger representatives act on behalf of the Flight Attendants of their respective airline for the purpose of compiling necessary employment data and an Integrated Seniority List (ISL). Information about the duties and responsibilities of Merger Representatives is contained within Section X.C of the AFA International Constitution & Bylaws Policy Manual.

Seniority integration will be by competitive seniority date, which is the date from which each Flight Attendant accrues competitive (bidding) seniority as a Flight Attendant on her/his current seniority list. The merger representatives are tasked with sending letters to the Flight Attendants on each carrier’s respective seniority list so that seniority dates can be verified. The process for researching the seniority lists will begin after the merger representatives complete this week’s Seniority Merger Integration Committee training. The Integrated Seniority List will not be finalized and published until we have achieved a merged collective bargaining agreement.

You will be hearing more from the Seniority Merger Integration Committee as the process continues.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Your Seniority Merger Integration Committee – Sandra Morrow (AS), Rolando Teran (VX), Lynne Voigtsberger (VX) and Marie Maxwell (AS)

A Message from Merger Representative Lynne Voigtsberger

It has come to the attention of the Master Executive Council (MEC) that some Virgin America Members have concerns with the appointment of Lynne Voigtsberger as Merger Representative.   The concerned members have suggested that Lynne crossed a union sanctioned picket line while she was a TWA Flight Attendant in the ‘80s.  The MEC asked Lynne to provide her perspective on the allegations.  The MEC subsequently discussed the situation and reaffirmed that it would be in the best interest of the membership for Lynne to remain in her role as Merger Representative for Virgin America.

In response to these concerns, Lynne has prepared a statement:

First of all, I would like to thank all of you that have supported me the past few weeks with the appointment to be one of the Merger Representatives for Virgin America.  I have personally experienced the turmoil of an unfair seniority integration and I am determined to see that we have a fair and equitable integration as we merge with Alaska.

For those of you that don’t know me, I was a Flight Attendant at TWA when they merged with American in the early 2000s.  Our merger was infamous, as TWA F/As were “stapled” to the bottom of the American Flight Attendant seniority list that caused us to lose all our seniority.  That merger resulted in legislation to protect Flight Attendants in all future mergers, which we know as the McCaskill-Bond Act.  This legislation requires seniority to be merged fairly.  Going through that experience at TWA made me passionate to never see that happen again to another Flight Attendant. I am especially grateful for this opportunity to represent my Virgin family to ensure a fair merging of seniority takes place.

With that said, there is more to my history that I would like to shed light on.  It has been brought to my attention that many of you are concerned about my union relationship while I was employed at TWA.  Upon hearing that rumors have been surfacing, I feel it is important to explain my history and call out the “white elephant” in the room so to speak.  Although it surprised me to hear that something that happened over 30 years ago is causing concern, I want to address the issue openly in order to clear the air and set the rumors to rest.

I was hired at TWA in January 1986.  I was a young 25-year-old and excited to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a Flight Attendant for one of the most respected airlines in the world. I was trained in Kansas City and housed with all the other new-hire trainees nearby.  During training, we were essentially isolated from the rest of the world, and had no idea of the rising unrest that was occurring within the ranks of TWA Flight Attendants and management, due to failed negotiations. 

I began flying in February and less than a month into my probationary period, TWA Flight Attendants went on strike.  As a probationary Flight Attendant, I was an At Will employee and not covered by union protection, so participating in any work stoppage activity was strictly forbidden.  The company made it clear to all the probationary F/As that if we participated in the strike, we would be fired.  On top of that, the union would not be able to protect us if we were terminated.  I was given essentially no choice but to work or lose my job.  I chose to work. 

The strike lasted for 3 months, and was only the beginning of trouble at TWA. Relationships suffered as many broken friendships and divorces took place and people couldn’t pay their mortgages and lost their homes. It was a difficult time. The company made it next to impossible for anyone that participated in the strike to come back to work, so a lot of resentment built up and caused division within the work group that lasted for many years. 

Having experienced that and later experiencing one of the worst mergers in history, I feel I am more than well equipped to represent Virgin during this merger with Alaska. My past has offered me a wealth of experience and knowledge.  Those difficult times made me stronger and made me who I am today, and I feel that with this history I am the best choice to represent us in this merger.

I understand that my past at TWA may cause some to form a less than positive opinion of me, and I respect that. It will not be an easy job; however I am more than willing to take on the responsibility and challenges that come with the position of Merger Rep. I have chosen to look forward and take the lessons from my experiences to heart. I am committed to represent all of you to the best of my abilities, and I sincerely thank all of you for your understanding and support.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at lynne.voigtsberger@afaalaska.org.

In solidarity,
Lynne

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your Council 35 officers at vx@afaalaska.org.

Introducing Your Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee Member and Merger Representatives

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) conducted interviews last week for one Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Member position and two merger representative positions that will represent pre-merger Virgin America Flight Attendants. The MEC would like to thank the candidates who demonstrated willingness to represent our Flight Attendants. After thorough deliberation, the MEC has appointed Jamie Cogen to the JNC position and Lynne Voigtsberger and Rolando Teran to the merger representative positions.

Joint Negotiating Committee

About Jamie Cogen

Jamie started his career with Virgin America in 2009 as a Customer Service Agent. In January 2011 he joined the Inflight department and was initially based in New York (JFK). Jamie later transferred to San Francisco (SFO) where he upgraded into the role of Inflight Team Leader. In April 2013 he transferred to the newly opened Los Angeles (LAX) base where he remains today.

In July 2013 Jamie joined a few other advocates in approaching Transport Workers Union to help organize and unionize the Flight Attendants. Twelve months later, with the assistance of TWU, the organizing committee, and a lot of determination the Virgin America Flight Attendants were certified by the National Mediation Board.

Jamie graduated from the University of Phoenix with an AA degree in Hospitality, Travel and Tourism. Prior to becoming a Flight Attendant he worked for a large accounting software company helping clients with training, customization, and implementation.

When not flying, Jamie resides in Long Beach, California where he likes to ride his bike, cook, read, and travel.

About the JNC

The Joint Negotiating Committee works to obtain interim safeguards including a fence agreement with management (which maintains separate Inflight operations for a specified period of time) and merge the collective bargaining agreement(s) and/or respective work rules into a collective bargaining agreement for the combined airline. Additional information about the JNC can be found at http://afaalaska.org/merger/jnc.

Your full JNC is MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Lindsey Steele, Jamie Cogen and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

Merger Representatives

About Lynne Voigtsberger

Lynne has been with Virgin America for 10 years. She worked in the role of ITM and is currently an ITL based at LAX.  She was an original member of the Work Rule Committee for 3 years and has also served as a Peer Review Panelist for 4 years.

Lynne has worked as a Flight Attendant for 31 years, and her past history includes TWA and American Airlines during the merger in 2001.  During the merger, when the TWA Flight Attendants were stapled to the bottom of the American Airlines seniority list, Lynne became part of a team that fought and ultimately helped to enact the McCaskill-Bond Act of 2007 assuring that all future flight attendant seniority would be handled fair and equitable in the event of a merger or acquisition.

Lynne lives in Redondo Beach with her husband and has a daughter living in Santa Barbara.  She loves all things beach related and spending time with friends. She does house, dog & cat sitting whenever possible, loves a fine wine, gardening, entertaining, and traveling.

About Rolando Teran

Rolando has been a San Francisco-based Flight Attendant with Virgin America for 10 years.  In addition to his flying duties, he has served as an Inflight Team Leader and Air Transportation Supervisor.  Prior to start up, Rolando also held a few other roles in assisting with other departments working at headquarters and a brief special assignment position in Guest Care after launch.

Prior to Virgin America, Rolando worked the Flight Attendant position with Northwest Airlines for 17 years based in Detroit, New York and San Francisco.   While at Northwest, Rolando was an active Union member working with the base representative while under the Teamsters, PFAA and AFA-CWA prior to leaving Northwest.  Rolando was an active founding organizing member of the union involvement with TWU in 2010 along with other Virgin America inflight team members.

Rolando resides in San Bruno with his partner of 21 years and their two Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Izzy and Lily.  He enjoys spending non-flying time with friends, beach and sand vacations, wine tastings, gardening or sometimes packing up the car with Izzy and Lily and taking hikes and long walks at any of the Golden Gate National Parks trails.

About the Merger Representative Positions

In their roles as merger representatives, Lynne and Rolando will be responsible for compiling the necessary information to merge the Flight Attendant seniority lists in the upcoming Alaska Airlines/Virgin America merger. They will work closely with the pre-merger Alaska merger representatives, the MEC, and the AFA International Office.  Additional information about the seniority integration can be found at http://afaalaska.org/merger/seniority.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

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