Greetings,

 

As we stated in our earlier communication, the membership ratified the tentative agreement to extend our contract.  The vote count was as follows

Eligible Voters 2315

For 834

Against 715

% For 53.84

% Against 46.16

Votes Cast 1549


You will see no immediate change to the contract.  We have been added retroactively to the Performance Based Pay program and will remain in the program going forward.  The 2008 PBP payment will be paid in a special check that will be cut on March 31, 2009.  If you are enrolled in the direct deposit it will be processed as such.  Flight Attendants who have been at Step 16 since at least May 1, 2008, will move to the new Step 17 on May 1, 2009.  (This new step was part of the 2006 TA and is not related to the new extension.)  Each pay step will be increased by 1.5% on May 1, 2010, and again on May 1, 2011.  We still have the early re-opener, so even though our contract now has an amendable date of May 1, 2012, we will begin negotiating on May 1, 2011.

The PBS re-ratification vote will be held, as previously scheduled, in the Fall of 2010.  This extension has NO effect on our right to determine whether we will keep PBS.  The only difference is that we will know going into negotiations in 2011 whether we should be striving for improvements to PBS or to our old line-building system.

We thank you sincerely for the lively debate surrounding the proposed extension.  This is the stuff from which democracy draws its strength.  The majority has ratified the extension but we understand that some of you are concerned about the existence of hidden agendas and/or the possible unknown consequences of extending our contract.  We are confident that the contractual stability and compensation improvements we will see over the next several years will assuage your concerns and show this to have been the right move to make at this time.  We can focus on the positive and use the next two years to reinforce our membership’s unity as we prepare for the 2011 negotiations process.

Thanks for all your interest, input and support throughout this process.

Kelle Porter Wells MEC President                  Rick Johnson LEC President SEA
Deanna Hill MEC Vice-President                   Rene Celestin LEC President LAX
Renee Elson MEC Sec-Treasurer                  Cathy Gwynn LEC President PDX
                                                            Stephen Couckuyt LEC President ANC