AFA - CWA US Airways MEC E-Line - "Staying Informed"

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The AFA Newsletter for US Airways Flight Attendants

    In this Issue

 

July 18, 2007

Dear Members,
  • NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
  • RESERVE
  • US AIRWAYS FILES FOR PHILADELPHIA-BEIJING SERVICE
  • Accessing The Hub

  • AFA Local Numbers

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

1- This weeks negotiating session:

The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) and the Company will meet in session July 18-21 in CLT. The JNC and the Company will be working on two open proposals- Deadhead and Lodging, Transportation and Flight Attendant Rest Facilities (crew rooms).

The JNC passed our Deadhead proposal to the Company at our last session in June in PHX.

Our proposal includes but is not limited to the following components:

  • Full pay and credit for all Deadheads.
  • All deadheading Flight Attendants, scheduled and unscheduled, will be provided Crew Movement Must Ride Authorization.
  • All unscheduled deadheads will be on the next scheduled Company or wholly owned flights, unless seats are available on a non-wholly owned US Airways Express flight that arrives sooner.
  • A Flight Attendant must wear the normal non-revenue attire applicable to the class of service or be in uniform (current contract requires uniform for all domestic deadheads).

The bulk of the proposal is current contractual language or practice with the most obvious difference being the 100% pay and credit for a deadhead.

We will receive the Company's counter to our proposal tomorrow. The JNC will present our Lodging, Transportation and Flight Attendant Rest Facilities proposal to the Company tomorrow as well. For obvious reasons that proposal will not be discussed in this Eline.

2- Negotiations Recap:

To date we have reached tentative agreements on seven (7) sections:

  • Charters
  • Filling of Vacancies
  • Union Security/Dues Check-off
  • Voluntary Contributions (FLIGHTPAC AND PEGASUS)
  • Probation
  • Medical Examinations
  • EAP

We have done extensive work on the following sections:

  • Moving Expenses
  • LODO
  • Safety, Air Security and Health
  • Grievance
  • System Board of Adjustment
  • Reduction in Personnel
  • Missing, Internment, Prisoner or Hostage Benefits
  • Training
  • General
  • Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF)
  • TDY
  • Leaves of Absence
  • Uniforms

The above sections have been "tabled" for further discussions. In some instances there are very few substantive differences between the two parties, in others there remains a great divide and in others the only open issues pertain to scheduling issues.

We have "agreed to" provisions in all of the above sections that contain improvements to both contracts. Previous Elines have detailed most of those provisions. Tabled sections will be revisited as the negotiations progress. In some sections the JNC and the Company have traded as many as ten proposals without being able to reach a Tentative Agreement on the section. The JNC will hold our position until we see substantive improvements in other areas of the agreement.

We have very few so called "non-economic" sections to negotiate before we get to what I would call the "big seven"- Scheduling, Hours of Service, Sick, Vacation, International Flying, Reserve and Compensation.

The JNC will be conducting a poll/survey of both memberships for their input with respect to these sections. Both the East and West agreements contain very different language and provisions in the aforementioned sections. These sections contain the bulk of quality of life issues, work rules and pay. It is the intention of the JNC to reach a Tentative Agreement that improves the existing agreement and exceeds industry standards. The agreement we are working under is an agreement ratified under the threat of abrogation and is clearly not reflective of either the financial soundness of the Company or some of our primary competitor's agreements.

RESERVE

There is simply no other way to put it- the Reserve system is beyond horrible. There is no one who knows that more than the members of Master Executive Council. All of your Local Presidents and the MEC Officers know the havoc and difficulties the Reserve population endures. We know this because all of us deal with Reserve issues every day. We know this because we all receive emails and phone calls from angry and frustrated Reserves.

The simple fact is this- we are working under a ratified agreement. The Company has no incentive to change the Reserve system outside of single agreement negotiations. The MEC has worked very hard to make as many changes as the Company would agree to after the FAA 24/7 ruling. We have been successful in some areas but not in as many as you (or us) would like. I have heard from two Reserves in the last few days that both made the same comment, "you are not going to change anything because you are not a Reserve and it does not affect you".

Nothing could be farther from the truth. If the MEC could change the system tomorrow we would. There is nothing for the MEC or the JNC to gain by not changing the Reserve system.

Human nature is what it is-people often only care about what directly affects them. Leaders of any kind, political, civic or Union can't, or at least, shouldn't think that way. I can assure you that I don't think that way and I am sure no one else on the MEC thinks that way. The reason is in the first line of this paragraph-by virtue of our jobs as leaders, the Reserve system does directly affect us.

Every time a Reserve calls one of us we are directly affected.
Every time a Reserve sends one of us an email we are directly affected.
Every time a Reserve talks to one of us on a flight we are directly affected.

There is no Lineholder against Reserve mentality on either the MEC or the JNC. Both groups have concerns that we need to address. Both groups have concerns that WE WILL address.

US AIRWAYS FILES FOR PHILADELPHIA-BEIJING SERVICE

US Airways has filed an application with the Department of Transportation to provide year round daily service from Philadelphia to Beijing, China beginning in March 2009.

The Company press release stated the new service, if approved, would be flown by Airbus 340 269 seat aircraft.

As per our Flight Attendant Agreement I will be making a formal request to begin the negotiations for rates of pay, rules and working conditions with respect to the new route and equipment as well as the interior design plans of such equipment.

You can read more about the Company's announcement and plans by visiting the US Airways website at:

http://usairways.com/awa/


Thank you,

Mike Flores, President
The US Airways Master Executive Council
AFA-CWA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessing The Hub:

http://thehub.usairways.com 
Logging in the first time your user name is u0(zero) and your five digit employee number. Your initial password is the first five digits of your social security number. Questions about the Hub? Please contact the EDS Help Desk at 336-744-6000 for assistance. More information can also be found HERE.

AFA Local Numbers

Council 40 PIT 724-695-3329
Council 41 DCA 703-212-8090
Council 69 BOS 781-289-8454
Council 70 PHL 215-492-0840
Council 82 LGA 315-736-3483
Council 89 CLT 704-527-0325

New Hotline Number Toll Free: 866-USA-AFA2
US AIRWAYS Benefits Information 800-872-4780

Reply to Inflight: askinflight@usairways.com


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