13 March
2009
FLIGHT ATTENDANT UNIONS – A
FORCE FOR CHANGE FOR OVER 60
YEARS
As many of our flying partners
can attest from their own experiences, flight attendant unions
have been on the forefront of many efforts for equality and
fairness over the years.
May 15, 1930, marked
the beginning of the flight attendant profession. On that
date, the first female flight attendant, Ellen Church,
began work as a "skygirl". Thus began a profession where
young women were forced to retire at the age of 32, remain
single, and adhere to strict weight, height and appearance
requirements. These
ridiculous standards led a group of five brave flight attendants
to form the Air Line Stewardesses Association, the first labor
union representing flight attendants, on August 22,
1945.
Today, that union is named the Association of
Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO. Through the years, AFA members
have fought for and won a number of major changes in our
industry that have led to safer airplanes and have transformed
our profession. Flight attendants are now trained
professionals, responsible for the safety of the passengers in
the airplane cabin. Here are a number of our major
victories throughout the years: http://afanet.org/default.asp?id=37.
To watch a video about the proud history of our union,
click here: http://afanet.org/default.asp?id=919.
NWA Flight Attendants are proud of our participation in
over 60 years of collective bargaining and in the struggles for
fairness that were often spearheaded by flight attendant
unions.
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS FROM THE NEW DELTA MEET
WITH SENATORS
Flight attendant advocates from both the Delta and
Northwest flight attendant ranks came to Washington DC this past
week and met with over 30% of the Senate on Capitol Hill. "Today
on the Hill and from this point forward, we are not red or blue,
we are all part of the new Delta flight attendant family", said
AFA MEC Government Affairs Chair and SFO based flight attendant
Albert Garcia, addressing the group prior to their visits on
Capitol Hill. In that spirit of camaraderie as flight attendants
from the "New Delta," the group asked Senate offices to urge the
Obama administration to nominate a new National Mediation Board
(NMB) as soon as possible. "It is our desire to move forward
with our election for representation so that our combined group
of professional flight attendants can then begin to negotiate an
industry leading contract with our employer", said Danny Valdez,
ATL based flight attendant. For stability and consistency, we
believe that such an election procedure cannot begin, until
there is a new member of the board appointed and confirmed. We
are confident that the administration will appoint a new member
to the NMB soon and that this nominee will then be confirmed by
the Senate quickly.
HEARINGS TO BE HELD IN MINNESOTA REGARDING
OUTSOURCING
On
Monday March 23RD the Minnesota legislature will hold a hearing
to discuss legislation that will prohibit Delta from outsourcing
certain Minnesota jobs while an agreement exists between the
Metropolitan Airport Commission and Delta Air Lines. The AFA-CWA
has been invited to testify on behalf of our members and your
Government Affairs Committee will present testimony. We
encourage all flight attendants to attend and show support. The
hearing will be held at the State Capitol in St. Paul at 4:30 pm
in Room 220. For a copy of the bill being proposed and discussed
please go to www.nwaafa.org/committees/govaffairs.
WE DESERVE A WORLD CLASS CONTRACT AT THE
WORLD’S LARGEST
AIRLINE
Your MEC Member Engagement
Chairs Angela Brewer and Jarrod Anderson have been working hard
on the campaign for representation at the "New Delta." This week
we traveled to Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C. where we met
with AFA President Pat Friend, VP Veda Shook, CWA President
Larry Cohen, AFA-CWA International Staff, Campaign Organizers
Mollie Riley and Danny Campbell, our (C3) Campaign Coordination
Committee, Government Affairs and over 70 Regional and State
flight attendant volunteers from both Delta and Northwest, to
identify our strengths and weaknesses within our campaign and
map out our final road to victory!
DAL and NWA flight attendants
participated in a democratic vote and reached a decision that
from this day forward, our primary goal will be to achieve a
contract worthy of the flight attendants at the world's "Premier
Global Airline!" Our plan to achieve that goal requires
participation from all of our members. We must voice our
opinions as to what is most important to us in a new joint
contract. Once we are ready and have collected all opinions, we
can file for an election, win representation at the "New Delta"
and work closely with management to negotiate "World Class" pay,
benefits and work rules for our group that will prove to world
that Delta Air Lines is the world's leading flight attendant
employer.
We are currently looking for volunteers to
help us collect this important data in all areas of the country.
Your participation can be tailored to your own schedule and
availability, but your action is imperative. Remember, the sooner we
finish building this important foundation, the sooner we can
vote and begin negotiations! Please contact your Member Engagement office
today at 952-241-4107 or e-mail us at impact@nwaafa.org or by visiting www.deltaafa.org to do your
part!
NEW SLIP LEAVE PROGRAM ANNOUNCED - TO BEGIN MAY 1ST
AFA is pleased to announce a new
SLIP program for 2009 that is designed to address the current
surplus of flight attendants and avoid the potential need for
involuntary furloughs.
A similar program will reportedly be offered to Delta
flight attendants as well.
The SLIP leaves will begin May 1st and there are 4
different choices: 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month
leaves. These will
be awarded in seniority order by base. The new program is basically identical to the
SLIP leaves offered in 2008 – with company subsidized
medical, dental, life, and pass travel benefits. Bidding will begin on
March 13th and end March 27th.
Individual state laws determine eligibility for
unemployment compensation. In most states, employees on a SLIP
leave have been eligible following the state’s waiting
period. In some cases, most noticeably in Minnesota, some flight
attendants have been denied unemployment benefits. To access
unemployment information by state, log on to the following Web
site: www.dol.gov
and visit the Resources
tab on the NWA AFA website: http://nwaafa.org/resources/employment. AFA will continue to
lobby hard with our members in Minnesota, to press the
state legislature to change the law regarding unemployment
compensation for our MSP- based members who take a SLIP leave,
in lieu of furlough of a junior colleague. A new SLIP Q&A was
posted on ATLAS today.
JOINT NWA
& AFA SCHEDULING SURVEY RESULTS
Some of you may remember taking a scheduling survey in a
few months ago. We would like to thank the 2000 of you who
participated and let you know it has not been forgotten.
The results have been compiled and we have reviewed
these results at the most recent NWA/AFA Scheduling Committee
meeting.
This valuable information will be used
to conduct studies to see if pattern construction changes can be
made to better meet the pattern requests many of you have
indicated you desire. Over the next several months,
through the studies we will evaluate the effects on the
operation, crew satisfaction and costs. We’ll keep
you updated through the Scheduling Committee as we have more
details.
To view the
results of our joint NWA/AFA scheduling survey please visit the
NWA AFA Scheduling Committee page here: http://nwaafa.org/docs/NWA_AFA_Joint_Scheduling_Survey_Results.pdf or ATLAS. – MEC Scheduling Committee Chair Greg
Frattini & Reserve Committee Chair Karen
Jay
A LANGUAGE OF DESTINATION COMMITTEE
MESSAGE
There has been a lot of talk among
our LOD flight attendants that our union is anti-LOD. That
could not be further from the truth. It is precisely
because the union understands the growing needs of the LOD
flight attendants, and the important issues they face since the
implementation of the LOD program, that the LOD Committee was
formed. Our committee is here to assist LOD flight
attendants to resolve current problems, as well to collect input
for negotiations for improved contractual provisions in the
future. Please recall that our union negotiated the LOD
program to preserve jobs for all of our members and to help stop
outsourcing. In addition, fellow crew members often
appreciate the presence of an LOD flight attendant when they can
rely on their language skills to communicate in a tough customer
service situation or even more importantly - in an
emergency.
By the same
token, the LOD Committee would like to speak out strongly
against the idea that LOD flight attendants are averse to union
representation. On the contrary, there are many LOD flight
attendants who are campaigning hard for the AFA, and who also
volunteer to hold union positions that otherwise would have been
left vacant. There is so much at stake at this crucial
time in our profession. If we are to succeed in our drive
to keep our right to future collective bargaining at the world's
largest airline, we have to make this stand together. The
LOD Committee stands by all flight attendants in our fight for
union representation, a fight for a viable contract, a fight to
save our careers. – Submitted by LOD Committee Chair
Jeffrey Ferrer
RESERVE
PAYROLL
PROBLEM- AM/PM
There is a potential problem with
reserve guarantee payout for the February paychecks that were
paid this morning.
Apparently flight payroll flight.payroll@nwa.com was not notified
of the new am/pm reserve codes and the system did not recognize
them as payable (RA,RB,RI,RJ.) Payroll is looking into this right now. They said they would
phone AFA if they find anything and will work out an immediate
settlement if necessary.
Contractually, any discrepancy over $50 should result in
a separate check being sent to the flight attendant.
ON PREMISE
RESERVE
As
announced early this week, the Company plans to activate the
long dormant and never used OPR language in Section 7- Reserve of
our contract: http://nwaafa.org/docs/rsv/NWReserveOPR.pdf. Knowledge is power – please familiarize
yourself with the provisions. The Company would like to start OPR on May
1st if the programming is complete. AFA will meet with the Company regarding the
specifics (affected bases, numbers, required facilities and
amenities, etc.) and report this information at the earliest
possible time.
INTEGRATION SAFETY NEWS
AND UPDATES
New Carpet 'Padding' Removed in
Aisles: Your MEC Air
Safety, Health &
Security Committee has been updated on the progress to
remove the aisle 'padding' in WBC which has been causing
difficulties in maneuvering beverage and meal carts. To date, ships 3358 and
6315 have been completed, with 3351 and 3352 scheduled
next. Until the
project is completed, please exercise caution in maneuvering the
carts through the aisles and write up any specific
problems.
Minimum Crew
Violations: Once again, we've been
reminded to ensure no passengers have been
left onboard after deplaning. As the Company reminds us, "it is every
flight attendant's responsibility to check for remaining
passengers prior to leaving the aircraft.” Your MEC ASHS Committee
has suggested a more workable procedure to reconfirm all
passengers have deplaned, which is currently under
consideration.
Status of Memory
Joggers: In the March 10th memo
discussing 'integrated' policies and procedures, the
Company stated that it was their plan to remove all Memory Joggers from NW
aircraft. Your MEC
ASHS Committee has strongly advocated for their retention, in that
they provide an invaluable resource to quickly access emergency preparation
procedures. The
Company is planning a new emergency checklist effective June
1st, with Delta Inflight very interested in placing the new
checklist on all aircraft.
Until a final decision is reached, the Memory Jogger
"holders" will be retained - however, not the Joggers
themselves. We
continue our strong insistence that the Joggers remain in place
until such time as the new checklist is implemented. More to come on this and
other upcoming changes!
-- Submitted by MEC Air Safety Chair Jeanne
Elliott
CONTRACT GRIEVANCE – AMSTERDAM NH
HOTEL
MEC Vice Chair Patricia Reller
filed a grievance this week on behalf of the MEC Hotel Committee
Chair, Anne Odenwald.
The grievance cites the Amsterdam NH hotel for
consistently failing to address issues of noise, lack of service
amenities and general poor housekeeping practices. We would like to thank
those flight attendants who have been diligent in reporting
these violations.
Please continue to do so - we will continue to add your
examples to the grievance as it works its way through the
grievance system.
EARLY OUT LIST – POSTED
ONLINE
For
the EO list click here:
http://nwaafa.org/events/earlyout/. You
will have to sign up to access this password protected part of
the site. You can register here: http://nwaafa.org/index.php/member/register/. If you are having any
registration issues contact our MEC Webmaster Neal McMahon nmcmahon@nwaafa.org.
Congratulations and best of luck to our friends and
colleagues.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR -
DELTA HIRING
Q: "Why is Delta hiring Japanese
speakers, when both NWA & DAL are
overstaffed?"
A: The job posting for
these openings can be viewed on Delta's
career page: https://delta.greatjob.net/jobs/EntryServlet. Delta has significantly
different company policies regarding the hiring of LODs before,
during, after a reduction in force and realignment. Please visit the Delta
Policy Manual page at www.nwaafa.org, or the Human
Resources Handbook on Deltanet, or click here to read more about
Delta’s Reduction & Realignment Exemption Policy for
LODs: http://nwaafa.org/docs/policy/DL%20Reduction%20and%20Realignment%20Exemption%20for%20LOD.pdf. For our contract
language that outlines our seniority-based Reduction in Force
and Recall provisions, please read Section 14 http://nwaafa.org/contract/section14/ of
our collective bargaining agreement.
We will continue to press Delta for
more information about their complete and
current policies. A response from Delta's Joanne
Smith indicated that most of the reduction in
force and recall policy documents have been removed recently
from Deltanet - for a re-write/revision by
management.
A WEEK IN REVIEW – NEWS THAT
AFFECTS US
Atlanta Journal
Constitution
3/9/09: "Warrior in Delta’s airport
fight has worked both sides" http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2009/03/09/airport_delta_boatright.htm.
MSP Star Tribune
3/10/09:
"Delta Air
Lines reducing international capacity by 10 percent starting in
September"
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/41019627.html?elr=KArksUUUU
CNN
3/11/09: "Delta one of top airlines to get an
'F' in report"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/03/11/airlines.report.card/.
Reuters
3/11/09: "U.S. airlines in precarious sweet
spot" http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE52A44P20090311
AROUND THE SYSTEM - BRING A
COLLEAGUE. GET MOTIVATED. GET INVOLVED.
The MEC meeting
schedule and
the Local Meeting schedule
are found under the “Events” tab at www.nwaafa.org. Delta
Flight Attendants will be invited to local union meetings
throughout the country in the coming year, and there will be
mixers and trainings planned and posted at www.deltaafa.org as
well.
GOT MERGER QUESTIONS? GET ANSWERS!
You are always welcome to contact
your AFA-CWA Local officers, whose contact information is found
at nwaafa.org.
Another way to get accurate answers to merger questions
is to email Questions@nwaafa.org. A
variety of information sources are available to our members,
including the quarterly MEC newsletter
all call, local union bulletin
boards, the recorded weekly Hotline message, and of course our
websites. Visit www.nwaafa.org and www.deltaafa.org for information, as well as to sign up for e-news and
to view archived MEC Hotlines and
campaign information.
DON'T FORGET TO WEAR
YOUR UNION PIN!
Click HERE or visit www.afanet.org for information about AFA-CWA union structure
and the history of the AFA-CWA. Dues &
Member Q&A can be viewed here: http://nwaafa.org/resources/dues/.
