With the largest aviation worker constituency in Minnesota, Rep. John Kline has taken a position that works against the very people that elected him into office. Last week Rep. John Kline along with Rep. John Mica (R- 7th District, FL) sent a letter to the NMB opposing a change in voting rules that would eliminate a decade's old undemocratic process of deciding representation issues. Rep. Kline is aware that he has a large number of aviation workers in his district and yet decided to work against their better interest. We urge all members and their families that live in Rep. John Kline's district to call his office at 952 808-1213 and express your disappointment. When you reach the Congressman's office you may use the following script:  

“Hello, my name is _________ and I am a flight attendant with the new Delta (and a constituent). Please let the Congressman know that I am very disappointed in his decision to work against my best interests in opposing a voting rules change in the NMB. Unlike the Congressman, I believe that it is time aviation and railway workers are allowed the same democratic method used by other unions and general elections in our country. It is disheartening to find that Rep. Kline is not representing me on this very important issue.” 

For those of you in Rep. John Mica's district in Florida, you may use the same script and call his office at 904 810-5048. For all other members you may call the DC offices as follows: Rep. John Kline 202 225-2271 and Rep. John Mica at 202 225-4035. 

Please visit the NWA-AFA Government Affairs Web page HERE for more information.

~Submitted by MEC Government Affairs Chairperson Albert Garcia 

The Pegasus Project's "Heroes of the Heart" Online Holiday Charity Auction is open and there are some terrific items for you to bid on this year.  New items are added to the auction catalogue regularly, so check back often. You can become a Hero of the Heart to critically ill or injured Flight Attendants by participating in The Pegasus Project's "Heroes of the Heart" Online Holiday Charity Auction, by clicking on the "Pegasus" logo or HERE. 

The work Pegasus does is vital to our nearly 50,000 member AFA-CWA community of Flight Attendants. Whether battling breast cancer, HIV, or other life-threatening illness or injury; the Pegasus Project is there to provide a financial lifeline to Flight Attendants who are facing the most difficult time in their lives.  Pegasus needs your support and ask that you participate in one of the following ways:  Donate.  Be a Sponsor. Tell Your Friends.

Following your feedback, Delta management has agreed to extended the enrollment window to November 17th for all active and inactive flight attendants.  Additionally today they responded HERE to some of your questions, which AFA compiled and posed on your behalf.  IT IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ENROLLMENT, THAT YOU CONTACT DELTA BENEFITS AND RECEIVE A CONTACT NAME AND CASE NUMBER.  You may want to enroll early due to ongoing issues/glitches.  Please feel free to also copy your local AFA representatives or mec@nwaafa.org, so we can keep track of any continuing issues. 

Please note that Delta management has refused AFA's request to sign a legally binding Letter of Agreement, after they stated that the subsidized retiree medical would be offered to all pre-merger NWA retirees in 2010.  Our contract states we must be signed up for the contractual (PPO B) plan on the date of retirement.  In light of their refusal to codify this promise into a LOA, if you elect any non-contract plans for 2010 be aware that you are waiving your legal right to subsidized retiree benefits for 2010 and other provisions of Section 29 - Insurance. 

Delta Benefits had no update about their negotiations for better network coverage in certain areas (e.g. Michigan).  Regarding the issues that some retirees are having with their VEBA, Delta has stated that this was a programming glitch and it "should be fixed by Monday".  For those who are on leave and having problems with enrollment, they are attempting to address this, but we encourage you to continue contacting Delta Benefits so they realize the extent of the problem.  There is reportedly also a glitch in the programming with the Long Term Disability Insurance elections and management states that it should be corrected shortly. 

Management has responded that they haven't received many reports from you directly about some of the concerns that we've sent in for you (regarding the enrollment process, Deltanet, availability of informational resources, lack of answers at UHC call center and 1800MyDelta, etc.).  Delta Benefits has asked for specific information so they can investigate this (employee name, ID#, date and time they called UHC/MyDelta).  If you could contact Delta Benefits directly and copy AFA in, that will help them to address some of your concerns, as well as provide a tracking mechanism for our records.

~Submitted by MEC President Janette Rook

Bed bugs! Just two little words that will make you want to start scratching all over.  Your MEC Hotel Committee recently participated in a Flight Attendant Hotel Committee Conference where we learned all we ever wanted to know (and some things we didn’t...) about this problematic little bug.

For our complete report on bed bugs and more, visit our page on the MEC Website at http://www.afahotels.org/. 

Remember when you have hotel issues – including bed bug bites – document the situation and send an online report to our MEC Hotel Committee via the website at http://www.afahotels.org/. 

~Submitted by Terry Dent, MSP AFA Hotel Committee Chair 

The International Youth Exchange Program is currently accepting applications for the 2010 summer exchange program. This is a unique program for airline employees’ children, ages 14 - 18 years of age, who are matched with other airline youth world wide for a two week exchange in each home.  For more information please visit http://www.intlyouth.org/.
 

Section 6.G. of the Flight Attendant Agreement says that line adjustment requests that affect the last seven (7) days of the current month shall not be awarded during the period in which the monthly PBS bid award for the next month is being processed.    While this rule is still effective, there are some scenarios that will allow a trade to be processed during this period.  During the Bid Lock, the following trades can be made:

• A trip with rest that carries into the next month can be dropped
• You can trade a trip that has rest on the last day of the current month, or rest that carries into the next month as long as the trip being picked up has rest that ends the same time, or earlier than the trip you are dropping. 

You cannot drop or pick up a trip that carries out block hours into the next month during Bid Lock.  Click HERE for a complete list of PBS Bid Lock exceptions and rules.