Contents:

• FAA Required Flight Attendants
• AFA Dues for Voluntarily Furloughed Flight Attendants
• Special MEC Meeting
• Martin Luther King, Jr. American Civil-Rights Leader "I Have A Dream"

Recently, three flight attendants, from three different crews, were cited by the FAA for getting off the aircraft at a through stop when the flight was being deplaned or boarded.  FAR 121.393 requires that all required flight attendants be on board the aircraft at through stops when boarding and deplaning is taking place. Please refer to Crew Duties, Section 4, page 8 of the Emergency Manual.  Note: The FAA minimum required complement of flight attendants is mandatory for deplaning and boarding of ALL flights.

Invoices for AFA December dues for voluntarily furloughed flight attendants will be sent during early February.  The reason for the lag has to do with the mechanics of the payroll deduction system and when the Company sends AFA the money for payroll deducted union dues.

An example: Later this month, the Company will send AFA the dues money deducted from January 15th checks.  Dues deducted from the January 15th checks actually represent dues for the month of December - that always lags a month behind.  So for those of us on voluntary furlough who have no paychecks for January, it follows that we have not yet paid for December dues.

AFA is required to close the books for January after the month closes. So in early February, after the January books close, AFA can determine who must be billed for December dues.  Therefore invoices for December dues will go out in February, invoices for January dues will go out in March, etc.

In lieu of waiting for an invoice from AFA you also have the option of pre-paying your dues obligation.  Since members taking a voluntary furlough are considered to be on a leave of absence in lieu of furlough and leaves of absence are active for the first 90 days, those on voluntary furlough have a 3-month dues obligation. After 90 days, the member taking a voluntary furlough becomes inactive and has no further dues obligation until returning to active status.

To pre-pay the 3-month dues obligation, you may send a check payable to AFA in the amount of $117 to:

Association of Flight Attendants
Membership Services
1275 K Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-4090.

Please indicate your employee number and that you are pre-paying for the voluntary furlough months of December 2001, January 2002 and February 2002.

If you have any dues questions you may call the AFA Membership Services Office 1-800-424-2401-Ext 860

In accordance with the AFA Constitution and Bylaws Article VII D.2. a special meeting of the MEC is called for February 6 & 7, 2002. The meeting will be called to order at 1:00 p.m. and will be held at:

AFA International Office
1275 K Street NW, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 

The following Issues will constitute the agenda for this special meeting of the MEC:

• SAP Issues
• DCA Ground Limo to BWI
• Baltimore Base Closing
• Jumpseat Procedures
• FAA Security Regulations 2002
• Election of MEC Benefits and Insurance Chair
• Regional Jet Flying
• Discussion on Reserve Chair
• Delta Campaign Vote
• AFA 2002 Budget Discussion
• RON Hotel Issues
• Flight Attendant Medical Premium Increases for 2002
• Labor Soft CyberJaz Grievance Database Report and Discussion
• Scheduling Issues

Note: The January 16, 2002 MEC meeting did not have a quorum present therefore the meeting was not called to order.

In Solidarity,

Karen Lascoli, MEC President
US Airways Association of Flight Attendants

Martin Luther King, Jr. American Civil-Rights Leader 1929 - 1968

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."   Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We must work unceasingly to uplift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a higher plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness" -Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each year on the third Monday of January, schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a time for the nation to remember the injustices that Dr.  King fought.  A time to remember his fight for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all races and peoples.  A time to remember the message of change through nonviolence...

Read more...http://www.mlkonline.com/

"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation.  This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.  It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.  But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free."...

Read the "I Have A Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr, at http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html

For other speeches and written works...

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project at Stanford University is a major research effort to assemble and disseminate historical information concerning Martin Luther King, Jr. and the social movements in which he participated: