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Dear AFA-CWA Member,
Within our homes we set priorities
related to housing, food, transportation, education, etc.
Within our union, we also set priorities, which include
negotiating and defending contracts, educating our members and
leaders, and otherwise supporting members in any way we are
able. Setting priorities means deciding where to allocate
resources. This edition of Inside Edge focuses on
setting funding priorities within the Union.
In a previous edition of Inside
Edge, we discussed our Board of Directors (BOD) meeting and
the decisions that were made by our highest governing
body. We posted a recap of this meeting showing all of the
agenda items as well as resolutions, including our 2009-2010
Approved Annual Budget, at www.afa-bod.org. A new
link on that webpage titled “2009-2010
Dues Pie Chart,” illustrates how your dues dollars are
allocated.
The pie chart shows that 78% of your dues dollars
revert directly back to you, our highest priority. You can
see that LECs (Local Executive Councils) and MECs (Master
Executive Councils) combined comprise 35% of the total
budget. These funds are used by Local Presidents and MEC
Presidents to provide representation where it is needed most
– at your base/domicile and your airline.
The chart also shows that
Negotiations and System Board (i.e., MEC Grievance Committees),
along with legal support, comprise another 33% of the
total. These funds are used by your elected Negotiating
Committees to negotiate better wages, work rules, and benefits,
as well as support your elected MEC Grievance Committees, which
pursue grievances to defend these negotiated contracts and
members’ jobs. (NOTE: The 15% to Legal Services is
allocated towards professional negotiators and external
consultants/lawyers who assist our AFA Legal Department in
negotiating and defending contracts.)
You’ll see that we have
allocated another 7% towards Staff Support, Training,
Programs & Services, all of which provide direct services to
members or their elected LEC and/or MEC Officers. Finally,
we have allocated 4% towards the CWA Union Defense Fund and our
affiliations within the labor community.
The other side of the pie chart shows
that the International Office is funded with 22% of the total
dues dollars. At times, we hear that this is
“...overhead that should be allocated back to the
Locals.” The majority, however, feel that the
services provided by the International are critical to our
careers.
For example, a sizable portion of
this funding is allocated to our Government Affairs and Air
Safety, Health, and Security Departments. These two
departments work diligently to identify issues pertaining to our
work lives, and then advocate through governmental channels to
achieve changes that make our jobs safer, more secure and
advance our profession. Another good example is the work
of the EAP/Professional Standards Department that provides
critical services to our members who are experiencing difficult
times.
I hope this brief overview helps to
“connect the dots” between decisions made by your
elected leaders pertaining to priorities and how these
priorities are funded with your dues dollars. If you are
interested in reviewing the details of any of these, the AFA BOD website includes Agenda Item #1, which has the entire
Approved Budget under the Status tab.
If you have any questions or comments
about the funding priorities of our union, please feel free to
reply.
In solidarity,
Kevin P
Creighan
International Secretary-Treasurer
Association of
Flight Attendants – CWA, AFL-CIO
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Upcoming
Editions of the Inside Edge
We're always
open to your suggestions for topics to include in upcoming
editions. Currently we are planning to write about dues
obligations and billing; local officer elections; LEC & MEC
structure and decision making; retiree issues; and more.
Let us know if you would like us to address specific aspects of
these topics or any other topic.
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