Dear AFA: February 03, 2012

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Reported by Allen Ward

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to Dear AFA. A democratic, Member driven Union of Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants. Today is Friday, February 3, 2012 and this is Denver, Council 9 Volunteer, Allen Ward reporting and together we will do better.

Urgent – House Voting Today / Senate Monday

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 248-169 to approve the FAA reauthorization bill with the attack on our collective bargaining rights, the future of our contracts and our right to gain representation. Thanks to the calls you generated to your Representatives’ offices many of our good friends in the House understood how dangerous the anti-labor provision included in the bill would be.

Tell the US Senate to Protect Workers Rights

The US Senate can stop this complete obliteration of the Railway Labor Act and our rights. They will vote on Monday - we can't waste a minute.

Corporate interests launched this sneak attack, using the FAA reauthorization bill to gut 75 years of workers’ rights in the aviation and rail industries. We are calling on all AFA members to stand up and fight back. It will take all of us to defeat this insidious attack on you and your family. The US Senate can prevent this unrelated labor provision from becoming law.

Make your voice heard now!

Via Phone: Call both of your U.S. Senators (you have two!!) - use the Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121. Or, you can text FAA to 69866 to get connected to your Senator about the FAA bill.

Here is a sample script you may use:
Hello, my name is _____ from __________. I am a constituent and a Member of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and this is urgent. I am calling to urge Senator _________ to oppose the unrelated labor provision that guts collective bargaining rights by voting NO on the FAA Reauthorization Bill Conference Report. This has no place in a bill for funding of aviation safety, health and security. Please make sure the Senator gets my message to Vote NO on the FAA bill. Thank you.

Call your Senators today and again on Monday. Even if you have made your calls this morning, make them again. Your Senators can be reached with two calls to the Capitol switchboard at 202.224.3121 today or Monday morning. Remember, you will have to call again once you have been connected to one of your Senators to connect to the other.

As we turn our attention now to the Senate, we will need to generate tens of thousands of calls to sway our Senators to vote with us. We did a great job with our calls to the House with very little notice. We now have today and Monday morning to generate our Senate calls.

We are directly petitioning President Obama to veto any FAA reauthorization bill that includes provisions that endanger workers’ contracts and right to organize. We encourage you to sign this petition. After your calls and signing the petition, spread the word to your colleagues, friends and family. We cannot allow this sneak attack to destroy our future. They won't stop here. The 1% has the money, but we have the people power. Show them we won't let them take any more! We are Standing Up, Fighting Back!

We can win this fight if we ALL Stand Up and Fight Back! Please get your family, your friends and especially your flying partners to make these critical calls. Let’s save the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and the future of collective bargaining and our right to form a Union.

Tentative Agreement Voting Instructions

A Tentative Agreement has been reached between the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) and United Airlines. In accordance with the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws the Tentative Agreement must be voted upon by the United Airlines AFA-CWA Membership. A simple majority of the ballots cast will determine the outcome.

The United Master Executive Council (MEC) has reviewed the terms of the Tentative Agreement. The consensus of the United MEC is to accept the Tentative Agreement and recommend a “FOR” vote. This decision has not been made lightly. This Tentative Agreement addresses the priorities you have told us were important in a Contract, provide much needed relief to our Flight Attendant community with immediate improvements, and moves us forward to Single Contract Negotiations. For questions about the Tentative Agreement contact your Local Council office.

All active (meaning dues paying) Members in Good Standing on the count date who have cast their ballot will have their vote counted. Members who are on a leave of absence or voluntary furlough beyond 90 days must continue to pay dues beyond their leave obligation (3 months) in order to remain active with the union and be eligible to vote. You must pay any outstanding dues before the count date or your vote will not be counted. Approval by a simple majority of valid ballots cast by members

NOTE: If you receive the following message while voting via the internet: “THERE ARE NO BALLOTS CURRENTLY OPEN FOR WHICH YOU QUALIFY” or while voting using the telephone: “I AM SORRY, OUR RECORDS INDICATE THAT THERE ARE NO OPEN ELECTIONS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN AT THIS TIME” you will need to contact the AFA Membership Services Department before you can vote.

To vote, follow the instructions on our website. You may vote as many times as you like, using either the telephone or Internet—only your last vote will be counted in the tally. If you have any questions, please contact the AFA Membership Services Department; office hours are 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM, ET. At all other times, please call the UAL MEC Voter Helpline 1-800-624-3907, Extension 545.

The voting system provides you a “vote confirmation number” after you cast your vote. Save this number to review your vote later, by either phone or Internet.

Special Leaves May Affect Benefits

After carefully reviewing all of the information about a Special Leave of Absence, bidding for the March/April/May leave may be accomplished through your LOAREQ screen before Tuesday February 14, 2012 at 0830 Central Time. The special leave TYPE on the bid screen is indicated by the abbreviation "SP" and the dates of the leave should be listed as schedule month dates: 03/02/12 - 05/31/12. These are the start and end dates of the March – May Flight Attendant schedule months, respectively. Awards will be posted by 1730 Chicago Time on Someday, February 14, 2012.

Whether you intend to bid or not, every Flight Attendant should check their individual LOAREQ screen to ensure there is not a request on file that is no longer wanted. This is especially important since your benefits could be affected with the award of a Special Leave of Absence.

Invoices for August 2011 AFA Dues

Recently, invoices for missed August 2011 dues deductions were sent from the AFA International Office as part of the normal dues collection process. Because dues are collected one month in arrears, these dues should have been collected on the September 16, 2011 paycheck but were not collected as a result of the company transition to the new payroll system. These invoices are surprising many Members and are generating a number of questions. If you believe an error has been made and that you have paid these Union dues, please first check your September 16th pay stub. If there is a deduction on that paystub for AFA Union dues, please contact the Membership Department at the International Office for assistance in resolving the discrepancy at 800 424 2401 X707.

As a result of receiving these invoices, unnecessary concern has been expressed with some questioning if this company payroll error will prevent people from casting their ballot in the Tentative Agreement vote that closes on February 28. Definitively, any Flight Attendant who has missed only the August 2011 dues payment will be considered eligible to cast a ballot in this vote.

That’s all for this evening! Thank you for calling and remain informed as we stand strong together to do Whatever It Takes! to achieve an industry leading Contract!