What Your Union Dues Provide: A Grievance Review

Your AFA Grievance Committee continues their work of protecting the language of the contract, ensuring fair treatment of flight attendants in disciplinary issues and filing grievances when required in order to do so.

The Grievance Committee is composed of members who assist and represent their fellow flying partners. The Committee's primary responsibility is to provide representation to our members in mandatory meetings with US Airways management.  We also provide advice on contractual issues as well as the filing of grievances. 

Year over Year Compilation:

In 2007  - 58 grievances were filed (under previous MEC officers)
In 2008  - 92 grievances were filed
In 2009 (to date) - 92 grievances have been filed

27 Reserve Contractual Grievances have been filed this year
39 Disciplinary Grievances have been filed this year
8  Contractual Grievances have been filed this year.
18 Scheduling Grievances for Line Holders have been filed this year.

Of those filed in 2009 to date, 

• 30 have been settled providing the flight attendant with the requested remedy; 
• 18 are awaiting the first step of the process;
• 5 are awaiting the second step of the process; 
• 8 have been withdrawn;
• 13 are going to settlement conference (awaiting confirmation from management due to organizational changes in Inflight Services;)
  17 are going to arbitration;
  
  Keep in mind that this figure does not include the 25 or more contractual violations that were settled prior to the filing of a grievance.  The AFA Grievance Committee works to settle issues prior to formal filing when possible. This philosophy is beneficial for both the flight attendant and the Company and provides for efficiency to getting issues resolved quickly. In addition, the AFA Grievance Committee will attempt to settle a violation that has monetary consequences as quickly as possible.

The following contractual grievances were filed this year:

• 14.5 Duty Day    Status:  Settlement Conference October 22, 2009
• Auto Calculations (Trip Rigs) Status:  Settlement Conference October 22, 2009
• Boarding Time    Status: Step One’s October 28, 2009
• ISER Automation   Status:  Settlement Conference October 22, 2009
• VLOA Vacation Prorate   Status:  Step Ones October 28, 2009

The AFA Grievance Committee has also scheduled a 2007 grievance for arbitration on November 30th, and recently struck for an arbitrator in two additional grievances, which will be heard in 2010.

Protecting Flight Attendant jobs:

The most important function of the Committee involves the hard work of returning terminated flight attendants to the line. Among the six flight attendants the AFA Grievance Committee was able to bring back this year, two of them are returning from 2007; two of them are returning from early 2008; and two are from early 2009.

The flight attendants on this committee are hard working individuals who believe in truly helping the membership through Grievance work. These are individuals who often receive little recognition yet who feel the reward for their work is the return of a job or the satisfactory remedy of an issue that affects the entire group. AFA officers encourage you to thank these individuals for their work when you see them on the line. 

Should you need assistance from the Grievance Committee in the future, remember: It is important to call the Grievance Hotline as soon as possible after confirming a time and date of your meeting with the Company.  We request that you provide at least 48 hours notice on the Hotline prior to your meeting to allow adequate time to assign a Grievance Representative for your meeting.

2010 Vacation Bid E-mail/Fax Verification