|
|
Greetings, Frontier Flight Attendants Included in Single Carrier Petition The
National Mediation Board (NMB; the government agency responsible
for representation elections in the airline industry) has
combined our filing for an election at Frontier with the
single carrier determination between RJET and Midwest. The single carrier
determination will now be made with the combined unit of all the
subsidiaries of RJET:
Republic/Shuttle America/Chautauqua, Midwest, Frontier and
Lynx. If AFA could prove it had a showing of interest (defined as already representing and/or signed authorization cards) of 35% of the flight attendants of the entire combined flight attendant workforce, there would be a representation election with two unions on the ballot; AFA and the Teamsters. There will not be an election if AFA is unable to provide the NMB with a showing of interest. That means the Teamsters would automatically be certified as the union for the subsidiaries of RJET, including Frontier.
How Many Cards Do We
Need? Chautauqua, Shuttle America and
Republic have approximately 1,600 flight attendants. There are approximately
920 flight attendants at Frontier, 120 at Lynx and 400 at
Midwest. The total
number of flight attendants at the six RJET-owned airlines is
approximately 3,040.
To ensure there is an election to determine the union for
flight attendants at the RJET-owned airlines, we need to have a
showing of interest from 35% (or 1,100 flight attendants) of the
combined group (of 3,040).
For the purpose of a showing of
interest all the Lynx and Midwest flight attendants are
automatically counted (for a total of 520) because they are
already represented by AFA. The remainder of the showing of interest will
come from signed AFA authorization cards. To ensure an
election, AFA needs an additional 300+ signed authorization
cards from the flight attendants at all RJET-owned
subsidiaries. If
AFA cannot get to that number the Frontier flight attendant and
those at the all RJET subsidiaries will be represented by the
Teamsters. All the
flight attendants will work under the Teamster RJET contract
(according to their recent newsletter) without it being ratified
by anyone at Frontier.
At the
moment, AFA cannot provide a showing of interest because we do
not represent and/or have enough authorization cards. If the
NMB decides to combine the
Teamster's single carrier request with our filing for an
election at Frontier, there will not be a representation
election and we will be forced into the Teamsters. This is not
acceptable. We want
a choice. To ensure
a choice, all Frontier flight attendants must sign a card
now.
How Much Time Do We Have? Not very long. It is up to the
NMB. We expect to
be given less than a month to obtain the cards needed for an
election.
Because time is so critical it is
up to all of us to carry around authorization and make sure
everyone has signed one.
There is an authorization card attached to this
eline. Please print
at least ten of them and carry them with you on your trips. Talk to every F9 flight
attendant you see and ask them to sign a card. Authorization cards can
also be found on our website, www.afafrontier.org. Time is NOT on our side! If you have not already
done so, sign a card and mail it today. We deserve a choice and
we will get one if we work together to obtain the necessary
authorization cards.
F9 for AFA
Coalition of Frontier Flight
Attendants |
