MARK BIGELOW, AFA GENERAL COUNSEL FOR ARBITRATION PASSES AWAY

Mark B. Bigelow, Esq., the AFA General Counsel for Arbitration has passed away after a difficult battle with cancer.  Mark had 26 years of service to so many AFA carriers in arbitrations and grievances having become an attorney for the Association of Flight Attendants on April 4, 1983, later becoming Manager and Supervising Attorney for the AFA-CWA office in Chicago, and then Associate General Counsel for Arbitration.  Even though Northwest flight attendants would probably know him best for his outstanding success with our '70 Hour Minimum Line' arbitration, he had a long and distinguished career that was filled with many lesser known decisions that became victories for thousands of flight attendants.  One of his most notable victories was at United Airlines, where Mark won the largest monetary award in AFA history - and one of the largest labor arbitration awards of any kind - when he prevailed in the UAL wage arbitration case.  That one victory, in a case of truly daunting complexity, put over $47 million dollars into the pockets of United flight attendants.  This year, our AFA Board of Directors bestowed upon this dear friend and colleague, Mark B. Bigelow, an honorary membership in the AFA-CWA, with he and his family listening via telephone from their home.  April 4, 2009 marked the completion of Mark's twenty-sixth year as a trusted counselor, mentor, fighter, compassionate advocate and friend to AFA members, officers and staff.  The Northwest MEC honors Mark and will long remember his service to our members and our union.  Click here to view entire AFA-CWA Resolution.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Q:  I will be going on a SLIP leave starting May 1.  Do I have to pay my dues while I am on leave?  How will the leave affect my ability to vote if the election takes place before I return from my leave? -- A Concerned DTW Flight Attendant

A:  The recent Special Leave Incentive Program (SLIP) offered by the Company means many voluntary participants would be off-line for various amounts of time.  Based on Article XI Dues, Initiation Fee and Assessments of the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws, payment of dues shall be required from all members that are on active status during a month or any portion thereof.  After the first ninety (90) days of removal from service while no longer receiving compensation through a carrier for disability leave, payment of dues shall not be required.  As for elections, AFA-CWA’s C&B states in Section IX, Union Voting Procedures, that a member shall be eligible to vote if that person's good standing status, as of the count date of the ballot, has been verified by the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union.  Our upcoming representation election is governed by the National Mediation Board.  According to NMB’s representation manual and its procedures, all employees who are employed as of the last day or payroll period prior to the receipt of the application by the NMB are eligible to vote.  See NMB’s other frequently asked representation questions and answers HERE or by going to http://www.nmb.gov/representation/faqs-ola.html.

MEC GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE UPDATE

On Friday April 3, MEC Grievance Vice-Chair, Patricia Reller filed two grievances on behalf of the membership.  The first grievance cited the company's failure to provide two sets of wing/name bars.  The grievance cited a minimum of 35 years of past practice and sought as the remedy that the company provide another set of wing/name bars to the pre-merger NWA flight attendants.

Four days later Sandy Gordon, V.P. - IFS Operations and Training, announced on the DeltaNet IFS portal the following statement: "based on your feedback and our desire to remain in compliance, Delta will provide each flight attendant with an additional pair of wings."  Sandy did not stipulate pre-merger NWA flight attendants so does this mean the Delta flight attendants too will enjoy one of our contractual benefits?  It seems so.

The second grievance cites Delta's policy stating that a jacket, a dress, or a vest must be worn when working in Business Elite.  Additionally, women have three choices, a dress, a jacket or a vest.  Men have two choices between a vest and a jacket.

The grievance states that when Northwest required specific garments to be worn in First and Business class, they were part of the initial ensemble and were already provided to the employee free of charge.  In addition, the company paid the cost of dry cleaning the garment.  This grievance has been denied and an appeal is pending. 

On a closing note, the company has denied the AMS Hotel grievance and has stated that the hotel is safe and clean and compliant to contract language.  The appeal on this grievance is also pending.

Your MEC Grievance Committee will continue to update you on these two issues in future hotline messages. -- Submitted by MEC Grievance Committee Vice-Chair Patricia Reller

REPORTING PROCEDURES AND PASSENGER BOARDING TIMES

In reference to pages 6.25 and 6.26 of our contract, the Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic check-in time is one and one half hours before departure.  Charter check-in times may be as early as two hours prior to departure.  For all other flights report as instructed, but not earlier than one and one half hours prior to departure.  If unsure of the correct check-in time, call Crew Scheduling and/or check your FA Manual (205.1.1).  Remember: check-in time for DH segment is the same as a regular pattern.

A flight attendant is required to be onboard the aircraft at least 10 minutes prior to boarding if you are starting a trip at base/layovers, unless delayed by the previous inbound flight.  You must be onboard 15 minutes prior to boarding time to be included in bidding.  Boarding times vary by aircraft.  On international flights, wide-body aircraft generally require boarding times that are 55-60 minutes prior to scheduled departure while narrow-body aircraft are 40-50 minutes prior.   Please consult your FA Manual for specific boarding times.

Page 6.26 of our contract also outlines Reserve Report Procedure.  A reserve flight attendant who is given at least 2 hours of notice prior to the required report time shall be required to report at the designated location no later than the required report time.  If a reserve flight attendant is given at least two hours but less than three hours notice prior to scheduled departure, they must make every effort to report at the required report time and shall report on time for scheduled departure.  When a reserve flight attendant is given less than two hours notice prior to scheduled departure time, they must make every effort to report at the required report time and make every effort to report on time for scheduled departure.  He/she may elect to proceed directly to the departure gate without reporting to the Inflight Services Office.

With our current merger environment, our inflight operation policies, procedures, and equipment seem to be ever-changing.  Should you experience any violation on reporting or passenger-boarding times throughout the system, particularly on Trans-Pacific, Trans-Atlantic, or Interport flights, please document and report the incident to your local union office.

MEET THE NEW DELTA FAMILY

The Delta Ramp Workers Organizing Committee blog showed the compensation of the old Delta family versus the new Delta family.  It is shocking to see the sky high salaries and compensation being taken by airline executives during a time when the airlines themselves have been struggling to get off the ground as they fight off bankruptcies and force workers to take drastic cuts in their wages and benefits.

2006 Compensation for OLD Delta Family
Gerald Grinstein - Chief Executive Officer - $343,402
James M. Whitehurst - Chief Operating Officer - $417,370
Edward H. Bastian - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer - $443,369
Glen W. Hauenstein - Executive Vice President, Network Planning & Revenue Mgt - $388,882
Joseph C. Kolshak - Executive Vice President, Operations - $386,675
Paul G. Matsen - Formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer - $549,894

2007 Compensation for NEW Delta Family
Richard H. Anderson - Chief Executive Officer - $11,296,759
Edward H. Bastian - President and Chief Financial Officer - $10,298,340
Michael H. Campbell - Executive Vice President, HR, Labor and Communications - $6,380,261
Glen W. Hauenstein - Executive Vice President, Network Planning & Revenue Mgt - $7,333,300
Lee A. Macenczak - Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing - $5,939,836
Gerald Grinstein - Retired Chief Executive Officer - $357,941
James M. Whitehurst - Former Chief Operating Officer - $15,451,426

See how Delta Executives’ compensation for 2007 compares with other Georgia Executives HERE.

RESEARCH SHOWS NWA RANKS FOURTH AMONG MAJOR CARRIERS

An annual study on airline performance was released this week.  This study ranks airlines according to four major categories of commercial aviation based on Department of Transportation statistics.  The four categories are: customer service complaints, mishandled baggage, on-time arrivals, and denied boardings.  In 2008, Northwest was one of the few airlines that improved in all four categories.  Northwest Airlines ranked just behind Hawaiian, Air Tran, and Jet Blue.  In comparison, Delta Air Lines fell behind on its rankings from number 10 in 2007 to number 12 in 2008 with improvements in only baggage handling and denied boardings.  The study shows that all airlines did better overall in 2008 than 2007.  An article about this survey mentions one possible factor that helped Northwest was that after the merger with Delta, Northwest employees took pride in their airline’s legacy and focused on ending Northwest’s run on a positive note.  View the article in its entirety HERE.  The research sponsored by University of Nebraska at Omaha and by Wichita State University in Kansas can be found by going to www.aqr.aero or HERE 

A WEEK IN REVIEW – MORE INDUSTRY NEWS

Other NWA, DAL, and airline industry news this week include:

Atlanta Journal Constitution 4/06/09: “Delta’s passenger traffic drops 12.6 percent” http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2009/04/06/delta_traffic_drops.html 

USA Today 4/05/09: “Airlines, unions brace for bumpy labor talks” http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2009-04-05-airlines-labor-contract-talks_N.htm

Atlanta Journal Constitution 4/09/09: “Delta flight the most frequently delayed in country” http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2009/04/09/delta_late_flights.html

MSP INT’L FILM FESTIVAL -- THE RED TAIL

The 27^th annual Minneapolis International Film Festival will take place at the St. Anthony Main Theatre from April 16 through April 30.  Under the Minnesota Made category, a film entitled The Red Tail documents the trials and tribulations of 4000 Northwest Airlines union workers and how the workers were laid off by NWA and had their jobs outsourced.  The documentary follows Roy Koch, a laid-off NWA worker, to Hong Kong to meet his replacement only to find that in a surprising twist, his replacement is also being threatened by outsourcing to yet another cheaper labor market.  A sneak preview will be held on April 23 with an after party at The Red Stag.  For more information on tickets and show time, please go to http://www.mspfilmfest.org/MMIX/content/tickets .

NWA-AFA OFFICIAL UNION INSIGNIA

During a recent visibility event in Amsterdam, flight attendants asked about the current union insignia.  Our Master Executive Council, during their meeting in February, unanimously passed an official Union Insignia Resolution to include a purple ribbon worn behind the AFA-CWA pin.  Please proudly wear your official union insignia with your new uniform as we work to define a new chapter in our careers that include union representation and a contractually binding premier pay and benefit package.  If a supervisor requests that you remove the ribbon, please always comply with management’s directives.  Be sure to document the occurrence and contact an NWA-AFA union office immediately.

AMENDED SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR MEC PRESIDENT POSITION

NWA-AFA Master Executive Council will be holding an election on April 17, 2009 to fill the open position of MEC President.  If you are interested in being considered for MEC President, please send a letter of interest with a resume to Karen Chapdelaine, Association of Flight Attendants, Master Executive Council, 8011 34th Avenue South, Suite 220, Bloomington, MN 55425, or email to kchapdelaine@nwaafa.org.  For a complete description of the duties of MEC President, please refer to the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws Article VII, C.2. (a).  The amended deadline for all submissions is 9:00 a.m. CDT, on April 17, 2009.