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AFA-CWA Legal,
Collective Bargaining Staff Attend Annual Meeting
The AFA-CWA Legal and Collective Bargaining
Departments held a joint annual staff meeting last week at
International headquarters.
CARRIER
UPDATES
AirTran
The AFA-CWA Negotiating
Committee is preparing for another negotiations session with
management. Negotiations are moving into areas which have
associated costs so forward progress has slowed somewhat. The
Committee is rolling out its mobilizing effort and launching a
campaign to raise awareness about the importance of a union
contract and of wearing the AFA pin.
Air
Wisconsin
Negotiations continued in Appleton,
WI, September 10 and 11. The parties were able to reach a
tentative agreement on Section 24- Agency Shop and Dues
Check-off. Negotiations will resume October 20-22 in
Appleton.
American
Eagle
The AFA-CWA Negotiating Committee is in
the process of finalizing opening proposals while establishing
and gearing up the Mobilization Committee.
America West (US
Airways-West)
America West (US Airways-West)
flight attendants are mobilizing behind their Negotiating
Committee which has petitioned the National Mediation Board to
resume oversight of their negotiations under Section 6 of the
Railway Labor Act. Negotiations under Section 6 had been
in recess pending the outcome of negotiations over a merged
agreement between US Airways East and West flight attendants.
Those talks have stretched on for over three years and the West
flight attendants need immediate economic relief. When presented
with this information by the Negotiating Committee at a series
of roadshows in August, many flight attendants eagerly signed up
to be part of the West's VOICE Committee. VOICE stands for
Volunteer Organizers for Information, Communication and
Education.
In mid-September, VOICE Chair Scott
Barnes and International Staff Representative Guy Bosworth held
two initial committee trainings which covered the process for
negotiations under the Railway Labor Act, the importance of
mobilization in support of that process, the basics of any
mobilization campaign, how to communicate one-on-one with their
fellow flight attendants and the importance of solidarity and
organized collective actions in support of negotiations.
The group also spent time brainstorming ideas for solidarity
building activities that could be performed over the next few
months.
The VOICE Committee has doubled in size and
continues to grow as its members begin educating and mobilizing
the West flight attendants in support of their common goal of
economic equality through a ratified contract.
Lynx
Negotiations
continued for a first flight attendant agreement September 15-17
in Denver, CO. The AFA-CWA Negotiating Committee was able
to reach tentative agreements on two sections, including
Employee Assistance and Professional Standards and Filling of
Vacancies, as well as make progress on several other sections.
Northwest
Recently
negotiated Letters of Agreement memorializing certain current
practices have been finalized. The Negotiating Committee just
completed an agreement on the newly negotiated Split Line Flying
Program which will give the flight attendants a much greater
degree of schedule flexibility and allow the company relief on
seasonal staffing levels (see Union Contract Secures Split
Line Flying below). The organizing drive is in high
gear.
Piedmont
 The Piedmont Negotiating Committee
met at AFA-CWA headquarters in Washington, DC, September 21 and
22. The committee spent this time continuing to shape the
bargaining strategies and priorities it will employ when
meetings with company resume on October 13 in Salisbury, MD.
Pictured from the left, AFA-CWA Intl. Sr. Staff Negotiator Mark
Littleton with Piedmont Negotiating Committee members Heather
Rudy, Ray Robinson and Anita Jwanouskos, Chair.
PSA
The PSA
Negotiating Committee will meet with PSA management October 20 -
22, 2009 for a third round of negotiations. During the last
session some progress was made. The MEC is hopeful that
the next session will be even more productive and that more
meaningful sections such as scheduling will be discussed and
agreed upon.
United
On August 7,
2009, United Airlines management and the AFA-CWA Negotiating
Committee jointly petitioned the National Mediation Board for
Assistance. Mediator John Livingood was assigned to the
negotiations. On August 19, 2009, United management refused to
proceed with direct negotiations unless AFA-CWA agreed to
certain preconditions. AFA-CWA would not agree and direct
negotiations ceased.
On September 9, 2009, AFA-CWA
met with John Livingood and presented the status of the
negotiation. United management met with Mediator Livingood the
next day. Mediator Livingood scheduled a negotiation
session for October 27-29, 2009, in Chicago. The parties
will met September 22-24, 2009, to set the agenda for the
upcoming direct negotiation with the mediator.
To date, the parties have
completed a review of 31 of 35 sections of the collective
bargaining agreement. There have been 15 sessions over the
course of 19 weeks for a total of 40 days of direct
negotiations. Only six sections have been closed in
tentative agreements, five of which have been book. The
amendable date of the agreement is January 7, 2010.
US
Airways
Negotiations continued for a single
agreement on August 9-11 in Phoenix, AZ with the discussion
continuing to focus on scheduling issues.
ORGANIZING
UPDATES
TTD Asks NMB to Standardize Voting
Rules
In hopes of aligning voting rules in
union representation elections conducted by the National
Mediation Board with those that exist in most American
elections, the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD)
filed a petition with the NMB, that if approved, would modernize
the archaic 50 percent-plus-one rule so that all those
represented in an election would be able to vote in 'yes-no'
balloting, versus only allowing the 'yes' voters to participate
in balloting. The TTD is awaiting a response from the
NMB.
Compass Flight
Attendants File for AFA-CWA
Representation
Compass Airlines flight
attendants took the first step toward securing a legally binding
contract when a majority of the work group signed cards
requesting a union representation election. AFA-CWA filed a
petition with the National Mediation Board (NMB) for the
election on September 22 on behalf of the 300 Compass flight
attendants. The NMB must review and validate the cards before
setting dates for the election, a process that can take several
weeks. Compass Airlines was formed in 2007 as a Northwest
Airlink partner. Today, it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta
Air Lines with bases in Memphis, Detroit and Minneapolis.
Currently at Delta Air Lines, Northwest and Mesaba flight
attendants are represented by AFA-CWA. Click here for more
information on the campaign.
Voting Continues at USA3000 in AFA-CWA
Representation Election
The over 100 flight
attendants at USA3000 Airlines began telephone and Internet
voting on September 15. Polls will close on October 6, 2009, at
2 p.m. Eastern Time. USA3000 has bases in Fort Myers, Chicago,
Philadelphia and St. Louis. The airline performs charter and
some scheduled flying. More information is available on the USA3000 campaign website.
Union Contract
Secures Split Line Flying at NWA
During
negotiations for the current Northwest flight attendant
contract, the AFA-CWA Negotiating Committee and NWA management
agreed to a re-opener with the aim of creating a Split Line
Flying Program. The original concept was to create more low
lines for junior flight attendants while offering greater
flexibility. However, as staffing conditions and the economic
climate changed, the focus evolved into not only securing more
schedule flexibility, but attempting to save the jobs of our
most junior members.
With the advent of PBS, it was
no longer necessary to 'split' an actual line. Now, thanks to
the program, both reserves and line holders are able to 'split a
line' with PBS. This negotiated improvement has simplified the
process and broadened access for the entire flight attendant
group, giving them greater control over their work life and
increasing their schedule options. More importantly, this
AFA-negotiated program has the potential to protect flight
attendants from furlough and job loss.
It is interesting to note that
Delta flight attendants enjoyed a similar but more restrictive
program for several years. However, shortly after their first
AFA election loss Delta management abruptly eliminated the
program: Without a union on the property, they were under no
obligation to keep the promises they had made. Flight attendants
who had come to depend on this schedule flexibility to
accommodate school, children's schedules and other life choices
were suddenly left scrambling as they tried to maintain their
commitments To date, the Delta line share program has not been
reinstated.
By contrast, the Split Line
provision negotiated between AFA and NWA management will remain
in place until the AFA flight attendant leaders decide it should
be amended or eliminated. Even if the program becomes
administratively burdensome or costly, or if Northwest
management wants flight attendants to fly more hours , they must
have the agreement of AFA. They cannot unilaterally suspend the
program because the flight attendants at Northwest have a
negotiated, legally binding union contract. Without a union,
management has no obligation to maintain the program.
At AFA, we don't just hope that management will
keep their promises; we ensure that they keep them by
negotiating legally binding agreements.
Mobilizing at
Delta
 Newly-elected AFL-CIO President
Rich Trumka (second from left) went to Atlanta last week to
rally support for AFA-CWA in the upcoming Delta election as part
of a ten-day mobilizing push by Delta and Northwest flight
attendants. In conjunction was a Northwest Council 90 meeting
led by LEC President David Carter that featured a
presentation by AFA-CWA Benefits Attorney Mary Lou Savage. To
view the Delta campaign website, click here.
AROUND OUR
UNION
AFA-CWA Representatives from 16 Carriers Attend
Safety Roundtable, Training
Representatives
from 16 AFA-CWA represented airlines met September 14-15, 2009
near PHL at the annual Air Safety, Health and Security (ASHS)
Roundtable and Training to discuss general safety topics and
problems in the airline industry and at the specific airlines.
Some of the topics discussed included continued problems with
oversized and excessive numbers of carry-on bags being brought
on the aircraft, flight attendant recurrent training issues and
discussion on the current health concerns around H1N1.
Additionally, on September 16, a Bed Bug Working Group meeting
was held to better understand these pests, and to begin
developing strategies to address the associated health and
safety problems they pose for flight attendants.
AFA-CWA Staff
Attend Disease Transmission Meeting
AFA-CWA Air
Safety, Health and Security Department Director Chris Witkowski
and OSHA Specialist Dinkar Mokadam participated in a meeting of
technical experts in Washington, DC, on September 17 and 18,
2009 entitled Research
on the Transmission of Disease in Airports and on Aircraft: A
Symposium. Sponsored by the
Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of
Sciences, the symposium featured presentations on research
related to the transmission of disease on aircraft and/or in
airports and provided an opportunity to discuss ongoing work,
share data, and identify research gaps. Chris and Dinkar
submitted written proposals for research into transmission of
diseases on airplanes and in airports, via airborne and contact
routes, which could yield significant benefits to flight
attendants. Click
here to view the proposals.
_______________________________________________
Please visit www.afanet.org for updated
information on how AFA-CWA is working for you and for links to
other useful sites for working families.
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