Greetings,

MEC Grievance Chair Update February 2009

By: Debora Sutor

MEC Case #22-99-2-12-07 Pay For Open Time Arbitration Decision

This grievance challenged the company’s action of requiring a flight attendant to accept a replacement OT trip in order to receive compensation, when the Swaps/Drops Dept. had first awarded an OT trip and then taken it away.  Sometimes, the OT was taken from a Flight Attendant when it should not have been, sometimes it was taken because it had been awarded to the wrong Flight Attendant, and sometimes it was taken because of legalities and should not have been awarded to begin with. Nonetheless, past practice has shown that a lineholding Flight Attendant need only be awarded the time, in order to receive credit for the trip. In the past if a trip was removed, whether rightfully or wrongfully, the Flight Attendant would still receive credit for the trip and he/she was not required to accept any substitute flying in order receive such credit.

The Association became aware that the Company had begun a new policy that required Flight Attendants to accept substitute flying in order to receive compensation, when OT had been taken from them. The Association believed this new policy to be in violation of Section 4.F. and of a long standing past practice upon our property. An MEC grievance was filed on February 13, 2007. It was denied on March 23, 2007 and was petitioned to the System Board of Adjustment on March 27, 2007. The Arbitration hearing was conducted on May 7-8, 2008. A final ruling was rendered by Arbitrator Steven Briggs on January 20, 2009.

Arbitrator Briggs did not uphold our grievance. However, he did narrow the issue and ruled that his decision applies only to those situations where Flight Attendants have been mistakenly/wrongfully awarded open time and subsequently had it taken back by the Company.

There were still unanswered questions which the Association sought to have answered via this grievance. 

1.  If a Flight Attendant is correctly awarded Open Time but the time is removed in error by Crew Scheduling, will that Flight Attendant be pay protected without a requirement to accept any substitute flying?

2.  If a Flight Attendant was not awarded Open Time she/he requested but was legal and available for the flying, will that Flight Attendant be pay protected without a requirement to accept any substitute flying?

3.  If a Flight Attendant was not awarded Open Time she/he requested, but for which she/he was legal and available for the flying, yet another Flight Attendant has already worked the flights, will both Flight Attendants receive 100% pay - one for having flown the flights and the other for being pay protected at the rate of 100%.

In addition, the Arbitrator set up no parameters surrounding the requirement to pick up open time. He has left us with numerous questions such as:

4. What if there is no open time available?

5. Does the open time picked up have to all within the same footprint of the original trip sequence?

6. What if there is insufficient time to pick up substitute open time?

7. What is open time is blocked?

8. Is the arbitrator saying that as a result of his award that Flight Attendants required to pick up the substitute time have "super seniority"?

When the Association raised these questions with the Arbitrator, rather than providing an answer, directed the parties to work these details out amongst ourselves. As a result, Richard Wrede (AFA Staff Attorney), Carol Harper (System Board Member) and myself met with Linda Kunz (Vice President Flight Service)and Stephanie Babish (Employee Relations) on Monday February 16, 2009 to discuss the outstanding issues of the award.

Linda Kunz notified us that she intends to compensate Flight Attendants, without requiring them to pick up substitute flying, whenever they were the rightful owner of the flying. (Numbers 1-3 listed above)

With regard to numbers 4-8 above, Linda further advised she recognized that the requirement to pick up substitute flying may have the effect of providing “super seniority” to some Flight Attendants. To this end, the Company will no longer require a Flight Attendant, “wrongfully awarded” Open Time, to pick up substitute flying, nor will they be compensated.

This still leave us with a question about what happens to those Flight Attendants who were wrongfully awarded OT and subsequently had it taken back when there is insufficient time to pick up other OT, there is no more open time available or if open time is blocked. We discussed a couple of options with the Company but reached no definitive settlement. We will meet and confer with the Company again and if we are able to reach any compromise, we will let you know. For now, the easiest thing to remember is that if you were the rightful owner of the OT, you will be compensated. If you were not the rightful owner, you will not.