Dear AFA: February 05, 2010

Choose a different Dear AFA: Feb 05, 2010 Feb 02, 2010 Jan 29, 2010 Jan 26, 2010 Jan 22, 2010 Jan 19, 2010 Jan 15, 2010 Jan 12, 2010 Jan 08, 2010 Jan 05, 2010 Jan 01, 2010 Dec 29, 2009 Dec 25, 2009 Dec 22, 2009 Dec 18, 2009 Dec 15, 2009 Dec 11, 2009 Dec 08, 2009 Dec 04, 2009 Dec 01, 2009 (search archives)

Reported by Allen Ward

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to Dear AFA. Today is Friday, February 5th, and this is Denver Council 9 volunteer Allen Ward, reporting – and, Glenn’s gotta go.

American Airlines Threatening to Train Replacement Workers

At American Airlines, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) has been in contract talks since June 2008.  A recent, focused 11-day negotiating session that began on January 21 failed to yield significant progress. The union had delayed a strike-authorization vote set for as early as January 22, but saw little for their efforts at the bargaining table. Management is seeking broad reductions in labor costs and increased productivity from the flight attendants. APFA is seeking to recover wage and benefit concessions it made in 2003 to help American avoid bankruptcy. Sound familiar?

After stalling and refusing to budge on anything of significance during the 11-day bargaining session, American followed up with a threat to begin training scabs to take the flight attendants’ jobs in the event of a strike. Management at American is betting on an expensive strategy aimed at breaking the flight attendants will to fight rather than putting real money on the table to settle the contract. American executives know that if they can divide the flight attendant workforce and pre-empt an effective strike, it will be far cheaper in the long run than a good contract settlement.

Like our own negotiations, talks at American are in the mediation phase, slightly further along the National Mediation Board (NMB) timeline than we are now. If the NMB agrees the talks have reached an impasse, it would ask both the company and union to agree to binding arbitration.  A rejection of arbitration by either side would send talks into a 30-day cooling-off period. If no agreement is reached by the end of the 30 days, the APFA would be free to strike and American to hire replacement workers. American also is in contract talks with unions for its pilots, mechanics and ground workers.

Uniform Alteration Vouchers Expire February 15

We have received reports that some vendors who have previously provided uniform alteration services have been declining to accept the alteration vouchers issued by Brookhurst. Alteration certificates issued by Brookhurst are valid until 2/15/10 and should be honored. There has been no change to the process by which these alteration certificates should be used and/or accepted by the vendors. If you encounter a situation where a vendor will not accept the voucher, there is a reimbursement available up to the value the company would have paid for item being altered. If you have lost an alteration certificate or it is expired you may still get a reimbursement through the procedure set up by the company. Contact your supervisor for full details. If the issue is not resolved in an expeditious manner advise your Local Council AFA Office immediately.

The original expiration date for all Brookhurst alteration certificates is February 15^th. We expect the company to communicate in the short term regarding the new procedures for uniform orders and alteration with the uniform vendor that will replace Brookhurst.

Haiti Flights

In January we reported that flights operated to Haiti in support of relief efforts were to be flown and operated under the Military Airlift Command (MAC) provisions of our Contract.  In fact, the flights have not been conducted as a result of any contract between UAL and the Military Airlift Command (MAC).  For other than the initial relief flight, anyone who flew one of these trips has had their pay adjusted for the “Additional Compensation” of $2.25 as contemplated by Section 13.B.  However, going forward, if there any additional flights – there are none currently planned – they will be paid and flown as regular international charters since these trips are not MAC flying. 

Local Council Elections

Every three years we elect our Local representatives. You elect your local AFA-CWA Officers including your Local President, Vice President, Secretary and Council Representatives. It is that time once again. The election process takes place with two different ballots. First, there is a nomination process that is open to any Member in good standing. Any Member in the Local Council who receives at least two nominations for a Local Officer position and also submits a willingness to serve in that position will have their name included on the election ballot. The election ballot is then mailed to each Member of the Council and the candidate with the most votes wins the election. The election process for each Local Council takes about 3 to 4 months to complete.

Local Council election cycles have begun in Chicago Council 8, Seattle Council 10, San Francisco Council 11 and Hong Kong Council 26 for a new term beginning July 1, 2010. The nomination process has concluded in Hong Kong and all nominations for Chicago Council 8 were to be postmarked by February 2^nd. Nomination ballots for San Francisco and Seattle must all be postmarked by February 9^th. The election ballot dates for these four Councils are posted on our Local Council election page at www.unitedafa.org. London, Denver, Honolulu, Frankfurt, Washington DC and Boston will elect their leaders in the second half of 2010.

This Union belongs to each one of us and one of the ways we make it work is through participation in our Local Council elections to build our Union as it was meant to be – from the ground up. We encourage all Members to consider serving our Union for the three year officer term and making the commitment by running for Local Council office. 

Elections are not the only time that you can choose to volunteer your time to our Union. Local Councils are always looking for volunteers to help in a variety of Committees. Remember, Unions are not separate from the workers they represent – we are the Union. Check out our website for your election schedule as it becomes available and be sure to exercise your right to elect a flying partner who you believe will best represent you. 

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!