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AFA US Airways MEC E-Line
for May 25, 2003
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this E-Line |
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The Affiliation Committee and Finance Committee will be attending our MEC meeting in Pittsburgh at the Sleep Inn on July 23, 2003 at 1:30 PM. All members in good standing our encouraged to attend.
Affiliation Frequently Asked Questions
We have experienced unimaginable changes in our industry and our careers over the past two years. To help control dramatic financial losses, our airlines have furloughed 10,000 AFA member flight attendants since September 11, 2001. Members at many AFA represented carriers have been forced by these circumstances to accept significant concessions in their contracts.
As the industry continues down this uncharted path, no one knows when or if it will bounce back. A temperamental economy, continuing military operations in the Middle East, and the lingering threat of terrorism make predicting a recovery in the airline industry impossible.
The effect on our union cannot be ignored. Nearly 10,000 members have been furloughed and as a result, AFA's dues base has been reduced by millions. Elected leaders have made a number of staffing and program cuts to ensure that AFA continues to operate within its reduced budget. Slashing MEC and LEC budgets further and terminating key staff members will significantly weaken AFA in a time when our members need the strongest union possible.
The AFA Finance Committee, appointed by the AFA Board of Directors, has explored all options available to our union. While management at most airlines attempts to fix their organizations on the backs of workers, we have looked at every angle to meet our financial challenge.
In doing that, we have found an opportunity that would enable AFA to gain more resources, provide members with enhanced services, and give us more power at the bargaining table and on Capitol Hill - which will be vital when the concessionary contracts become amendable (all at about the same time) in the next several years.
That opportunity is through an affiliation and merger with a strong AFL-CIO union that would enable AFA to maintain our autonomy, structure and control over the flight attendant agenda, while gaining access to the power and resources of a larger union. After considerable research, the union identified as our best affiliation and merger partner is the Communications Workers of America. With over 700,000 workers, CWA offers a professional membership base and culture that is compatible with ours. CWA also offers AFA and its members a chance to increase our power, while maintaining our identity, structure and strong voice for flight attendants.
The question of whether or not to affiliate will likely be brought to a vote of the members later this year. Your decision will guide our union's future. Please take the time to get informed. These questions and answers are drawn from conversations between leaders and with line flight attendants. If you have more questions, please visit
www.afanet.org/affiliation. If you don't see the information you are looking for on-line, click on "Question about Affiliation?" and an answer will be provided to you.
Current Status
Is affiliation a done deal? Does my opinion matter?
· Affiliation is not a done deal.
· The Board of Directors will be voting on the issue of affiliation at AFA's annual meeting in late October.
· If the Board approves affiliation with CWA, you will likely be casting a vote on affiliation in November of this year.
· Thus far, elected AFA leaders have taken the preliminary steps to position the union to take advantage of the benefits affiliation offers members.
· These steps have been taken to prevent serious cuts that would leave members with fewer services and a weaker union.
How We Got Here
Why are we considering affiliation?
· Initially, affiliation was investigated solely because of the dramatic loss of AFA members and the resulting loss of dues income over the past two years as the industry's financial problems increased.
· But as we investigated the options available to our union to address the financial challenges, making further cuts that weaken our union and hurt our members would be wrong.
· We began to realize that the benefits affiliation offers to AFA members enable us to actually strengthen our union in the face of the challenges of a changing industry in the long term.
What is the financial state of AFA?
· 10,000 AFA members have been furloughed since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
· Since involuntarily furloughed flight attendants no longer pay dues and voluntarily furloughed members pay dues for the first three months of their furlough (although they remain on the recall list), the furloughs have reduced the amount of annual dues revenue by about $4 million since 9/ 11.
· We have a balanced budget, but to achieve that we've already left 10 staff positions unfilled because of a loss in dues income.
· We've cut the number of attorneys and negotiators on staff, not hired new ones where they are needed to represent members, cut communications staff positions and administrative staff jobs.
· No area of our budget has gone untouched-the Board of Directors has cut the funding for the local councils, MECs and International Office.
If Cuts Continue
What do those cuts mean to flight attendants on the line?
· All of the cuts have resulted in fewer AFA representatives and lawyers to assist members in need at every level of our union.
· At the same time, members' needs have increased as bankruptcy and financial strains have forced flight attendants to bargain concessionary contracts to help save their carriers.
· Airline management knows these cuts have hurt our union and they are taking us on by violating our contracts and unfairly disciplining flight attendants.
· If the cuts continue, management will continue to turn up the pressure and take advantage of our weakness in an attempt to make us irrelevant.
· We won't be able to fight back when management violates our contract or when we're negotiating a new agreement.
· Between now and the end of the decade, every single AFA contract will become amendable and need to be renegotiated, including the contracts at United and US Airways, which will become amendable at virtually the same time.
· Many of these negotiations will be especially contentious because we will be negotiating off of concessionary contracts that management will want to keep at the current substandard level.
Have the cuts ended?
· The airline industry is very hard to predict.
· Even as we seem to hit a period of growth, things go back down.
· And the wild cards out there - instability in the Middle East and North Korea, terrorist threats, spread of SARS - make it impossible to predict if the cuts have ended.
· Because we don't know if the cuts have ended, we are only able to make changes within AFA that end up being short-term fixes.
· The problem with using cuts to our staff and budgets as the solution is that the cuts mean fewer services for members and less power at the negotiating table.
· Even if the furloughs have ended, the airlines' financial recovery will take years and our contracts and resources will be under constant pressure to meet the needs of the membership.
Options Available to AFA
What are our options?
· The AFA Board of Directors appoints a Finance Committee to analyze the financial state of our union, find options, and make recommendations.
· After assessing the state of the industry and AFA's financial position, the Finance Committee presented the Executive Board with a range of possible solutions: deplete the reserve fund, cut AFA down to a skeleton operation, increase dues, or affiliate with another strong AFL-CIO union.
What happens if we deplete our Reserve Fund?
· The Reserve Fund is important because it gives our union the ability to borrow money in an emergency.
· By definition, taking money from the reserve fund would only be a short-term fix.
· It would not eliminate the need to make future cuts if there are more furloughs, and these funds would not be sufficient to allow us to restore services and staff that have been cut.
· In addition, it would eliminate our union's financial foundation and security.
· Using up the reserve fund also fails to correct other big problems - diminished ability to enforce contracts, diminished power at the bargaining table, and less power on Capitol Hill.
What happens if we cut member services?
· With the budget cuts AFA has already made, we are already running a bare bones operation at the LEC, MEC and International levels.
· Cutting more would cripple our union by reducing our ability to enforce and negotiate contracts.
· In addition to losing our power at the table, we would also be forced to cut or significantly weaken entire programs. Through the years these programs have helped us change discriminatory laws, enhance our bargaining power, increase health and safety in the aircraft cabin, and provide a world-wide network of support for members during tough times.
· The skeleton approach would begin a downward spiral of our union toward weakness and irrelevance at a time when our members require more services and a stronger voice in support of flight attendants and our issues-at a time when airline management is taking us on more than ever.
· Our right to collective bargaining, our right to strike, and our right to vote on contracts-the very reasons workers join unions-are under attack.
· We would be nearly defenseless at a time when the financial conditions of our industry have re-opened the debate on allowing foreign carriers to compete directly on domestic routes.
· We must find a way to manage the changes now facing our union, without destroying what we have built.
Could we raise dues to fix the problem?
· Union dues were set at $39 per flight attendant, per month, in 1993 and have not increased.
· While the AFA BOD has discussed a dues increase virtually every year, for a number of reasons the Board did not vote to increase dues.
· Since there hasn't been a dues increase in ten years, our buying power has decreased significantly.
· Today, it costs $49.66 to provide the same amount of services that your $39 bought in 1993.
· To ensure long-term stability, the Finance Committee estimates we would need to raise dues by about $9 a month, and even then we would need our membership base to remain at current levels and grow in the future to begin to regain the strength we've lost.
· As is pointed out by leaders and members time and again, our members cannot afford an increase in dues right now, as over two-thirds have been forced to take wage, benefit and work rule cuts that have dramatically cut into their earnings.
Would affiliation fix our financial problem?
· While airline management looks to fix its financial problems on the backs of workers and through serious cuts, we have an opportunity to expand our power and resources in this financial downturn.
· On top of receiving a cash infusion from the partner union, we could fix our dues at their current rate of $39 a month for the next several years as part of the affiliation agreement.
· As the partner union assumes many of the costs of the AFA International Office, we would likely be able to increase - or at least restore them to their original levels before the cuts started hitting -- the budgets at all levels of our union.
· We would also be able to maintain ownership of our assets and our Reserve Fund, and would diversify the dues and membership base such that in bad times for our industry, we have the financial support of 700,000 other workers to remain strong.
· While our industry is known for its unpredictable ups and downs, the attacks on September 11, coupled with poor management, the war on terror and SARS, have plunged the airlines into their most difficult position in history. Affiliation is the only long-term solution that makes us stronger and can help us to weather the problems in the industry more effectively.
Benefits of Affiliation
What are the long-term benefits of affiliation?
· A partnership with CWA would provide AFA and our members with more power at the bargaining table, more services for enhancing our members' lives, and long-term stability.
· CWA is a union of over 700,000 workers. A membership base that size will provide us with the strength and resources to weather unpredictability in the airline industry, and with additional clout and power on Capitol Hill.
· CWA has a strong commitment to providing all CWA affiliates and locals with access to their extensive financial and membership resources.
· CWA has a large Members' Defense Fund that supports mobilization efforts in collective bargaining campaigns (including CWA's use of the Defense Fund for developing television, radio and newspaper ads to enhance workers' power in contract campaigns).
· Access to the Defense Fund will be vital in a few years as contracts at United, US Airways, and a number of other AFA carriers all become amendable at virtually the same time as a result of concessionary contracts recently negotiated.
· AFA would be able to retain our full name, identity, autonomy and structure.
· While CWA represents airline workers, AFA would go into this merger as one of the most experienced airline industry unions in the country, and CWA recognizes that and expects that we will drive the flight attendants' and airline agenda with that expertise.
· AFA representatives were left with the perception that CWA's culture is a very good fit for flight attendants and our Union as CWA represents other professionals in telecommunications, journalism, broadcasting, high tech, and health care, and has a very strong presence on Capitol Hill.
· CWA also has a record of successful, recent mergers. Each of their recent affiliation partners has been given extensive autonomy and preserved their identity.
Will we still be able to control the flight attendant agenda?
· Retaining our autonomy, structure and our ability to set and act on the flight attendant agenda are guiding principles for AFA in the affiliation process.
· As part of the final affiliation agreement that you will be voting on, AFA is committed to retaining authority to set the goals and priorities of our Union, develop and move the flight attendant agenda, and retain our flight attendant specific publications and communications.
· As an affiliate of CWA, AFA will still only represent flight attendants, will continue to be the leading voice on flight attendant issues. We will have the additional resources and clout that CWA's 700,000-member union brings.
Affiliation & Merger Process
Who decided that affiliation was our best option?
· The AFA Executive Board agreed to move forward with affiliation discussions after a report by the AFA Board of Directors' Finance Committee determined that the opportunity to expand our resources and power in a time of financial trouble was an important avenue to explore.
· The Executive Board appointed an Affiliation Committee comprised of six MEC presidents to investigate the possibility of affiliation.
· The Affiliation Committee began discussions with a number of potential partner unions and presented their findings to the Executive Board. The Affiliation Committee unanimously selected CWA as the best merger partner.
· On April 1, the Executive Board passed a resolution to begin immediate discussions with CWA in an effort to complete a full merger document to bring back to the full Board of Directors and our members later this year.
Why consider affiliation now?
· AFA has already made significant cuts to our union.
· Our resources are low and our power is threatened.
· We have an opportunity to strengthen our union through affiliation now, before we get into a position of true weakness if further cuts become necessary.
· Negotiating a merger agreement, like negotiating a contract, should be done from a position of strength.
· Negotiating this agreement while we are still relatively strong is the best course of action so that we bring a stronger, larger structure and resources into our partner union, while remaining dedicated to the flight attendants at AFA.
What happens if the industry starts to turn around?
· We all hope to see an upturn in bookings as we enter the busy summer travel season.
· Any good news for the industry would be good news to our members and AFA.
· There is no evidence of a turn around significant enough or swift enough to rehire all of the flight attendants we have lost and restore AFA's financial strength.
· Hoping that airline management won't strike at us with all of their might while we're low on resources and members is not a good strategy for protecting our contracts and our profession.
· The benefits offered by affiliation with CWA now - significantly increased resources, strength at the negotiating table and clout on Capitol Hill, while maintaining our identity and ability to drive the flight attendant agenda - are clear and long term. Management will see our increase in strength.
What's the next step in this process?
· The Executive Board formed an Affiliation Committee to negotiate a term sheet with CWA outlining the principles that would be the foundation of an affiliation and merger.
· Those principles have been approved by the Executive Board, which has now directed the International Officers to negotiate a full affiliation agreement with CWA based upon the term sheet.
· The full agreement will be presented to the Board of Directors at their annual meeting in late October.
· We expect the Board will agree to send the tentative agreement out for a membership vote.
What criteria did AFA use to choose a partner?
· The Affiliation Committee determined that maintaining our identity as the Association of Flight Attendants - the leading voice for flight attendants in the world - is vital to making any affiliation successful for our members.
· Any potential affiliation partner must enable AFA to maintain our identity, autonomy and democracy and increase our power and the services we provide our members.
· This means AFA must have exclusive jurisdiction of all flight attendants, flight attendant negotiations and contracts under any affiliation agreement.
· The ability to maintain our member-driven democratic structure and our current officer election process.
· We must have a seat at the table of the highest governing board of the partner union, appropriate representation in the governance process of the partner union, access to the resources of the affiliation partner's national office, and full rights to additional member benefits: strike/relief/defense funds, member benefit funds, and access to collective bargaining and campaign resources that enhance our power at the bargaining table.
· The final element that Committee members and Officers determined was the need for a potential partner union to have a culture and member base that fit the identity of our unique membership.
· CWA met and exceeded all of those requirements.
What were the committee's concerns about affiliation?
· AFA has a long tradition and history of representing only flight attendants. By becoming a part of a larger union we must ensure AFA does not lose our ability to get flight attendant voices heard.
· To address those concerns, the committee talked to other unions that represented a single work group prior to affiliating with CWA. Those unions told us they have continued to be able to fight for their workers and that the power of CWA has increased their ability to be successful at the bargaining table and on Capitol Hill.
· CWA also recognizes the importance of maintaining a union's history and traditions, which has been demonstrated in their past successful mergers..
Which unions did we consider?
· Six unions that have current members in the airline industry, or a history of negotiating mutually-beneficial affiliation agreements, were asked to make presentations to the Affiliation Committee and the International Officers.
· The Air Line Pilots Association and the American Federation of Teachers clearly stated that, after careful consideration, they did not see how being an affiliation partner with AFA would benefit either membership.
· The International Association of Machinists has a large, diverse membership and vast experience working under the Railway Labor Act. While the IAM represents large numbers of airline workers and has considerable financial resources, the IAM also has a reputation within the labor movement, and at many of the properties where we both represent members, of being a strong union, but one that is willing to shun other labor groups and workers at key moments in bargaining. Many current AFA members at some of our largest carriers have negative feelings about the IAM as a result of their direct experience on the job and in bargaining. The Committee and Officers also noted that the IAM's style of limited communications with their members during intense struggles is in conflict with AFA's philosophy.
· The International Brotherhood of Teamsters suggested that AFA would become a division within their airline division and current Teamster flight attendants would be put under the AFA Division structure. The Teamsters, while undeniably a powerful union, have an inherent image problem among our members. By including us in the Teamster Airline Division, we would lose our identity as AFA and our autonomy.
· The Transport Workers Union represents flight attendants at Southwest Airlines and thousands of other aviation workers. TWU outlined a general structure, in which AFA locals would be blended into the TWU's current Air Transportation Division, jeopardizing AFA's identity and autonomy. This is a critical point because TWU has no staff attorneys for negotiations or arbitration assistance. TWU also would not commit to AFA representation in the union's highest governing body. Political action and TWU's presence on Capitol Hill do not seem as developed as AFA's or other prospective union partners. TWU mentioned only one experience with affiliation, and that group has been completely assimilated into the TWU's Airline Division.
· The Affiliation Committee voted unanimously that the presentation by the Communications Workers of America was the most compatible with AFA. CWA is a union of over 700,000 workers in the public and private sectors including telecommunications, journalism, high tech, health care and airlines. CWA has a successful history of negotiating solid affiliations agreements that allow affiliating partners to maintain their identity and structure.
Why CWA
Why did the Affiliation Committee choose to move forward with CWA?
· CWA was the only union that satisfied all the necessary criteria set by the Affiliation Committee.
· CWA representatives came to the presentation and said, "give us a list of what's important to AFA in an affiliation."
· That kind of sensitivity to our needs was very important to the Committee in making its determination.
· CWA Officers said AFA would retain its autonomy in decision-making, name, identity, structure (including governance and dues), assets and staff.
· CWA has entered into a number of successful affiliation partnerships with other AFL-CIO unions, and CWA representatives stressed that through those affiliations, they have learned the importance of preserving the history and accomplishments of the incoming union.
· Each of their recent affiliation partners has been given extensive autonomy, preserved their identity and maintained control over the issues that affect their workers.
· The AFA Affiliation Committee and Officers also identified the professional culture of CWA, its representatives and membership as likely to be compatible with AFA and our flight attendants.
· CWA's recent success with the newly-organized customer service workers at US Airways is evidence of their long-term commitment to airline workers in general.
If AFA is in such bad financial shape why would CWA want us - what's in it for them?
· CWA will gain AFA's expertise and reputation in the airline industry.
· Our proven record in negotiating the best contracts in the industry, our successes on Capitol Hill and fighting for workers' rights could help CWA attract other aviation workers to the union and strengthen their voice in the airline industry.
· The more members a union has, the more powerful it becomes, and the more it can accomplish. CWA believes that our merged organization will be even more effective in helping to maintain professional standards and improve working conditions for all of our members.
· Together, we become more powerful on more issues.
Why would we choose a union that doesn't have a lot of airline experience?
· AFA has attorneys, negotiators, safety and health experts and legislative representatives with more experience in the airline industry than virtually all other unions.
· We believe that experience must translate into AFA continuing to control the airline and flight attendant agenda of any union with whom we partner.
· The other unions with whom we discussed affiliation would not guarantee that AFA would control the airline or even the entire flight attendant agenda.
· CWA covets our airline experience and expects AFA to provide it with the leadership they need on airline issues.
What if things don't go as planned in the merger process?
· CWA has agreed to an opt-out provision if the partnership isn't providing the benefits envisioned by either party.
· All of the affiliation agreements CWA has negotiated recently have included similar opt-out provisions, but none of the affiliates have exercised their right to opt out.
After the Merger
Benefits to members of a merger with CWA
What benefits will members see from our merger with CWA?
· You'll see AFA's voice get louder each and every time we have a public event as CWA members join us in taking on management and Capitol Hill.
· That will translate into more power at the bargaining table and legislative victories that will improve our safety and health on the job and rights at work.
· You'll notice our increased ability to take on management in negotiations as we gain access to CWA's Member Defense Fund, which will significantly enhance the effectiveness of the public relations part of our CHAOSTM campaigns by providing additional resources that will enable us to utilize newspaper, radio and television ads, if necessary.
· Your elected leaders will have access to more training and resources, which will improve contract enforcement and representation in confrontations with management.
· You will see CWA target resources to organize flight attendants at airlines that are dragging down the standards in our industry, like JetBlue, Frontier and SkyWest, because management keeps those unrepresented flight attendants at the bottom of the industry.
Will we be included in CWA's strike and mobilization funds?
· CWA has two funds to assist members during negotiations.
· AFA will have immediate access to the Member Defense Fund, which provides funding to enhance contract campaigns through the use of things like radio, television and newspaper advertisements to help us get our message out.
· CWA has a second fund that supplies benefits to striking workers. AFA members will not have immediate access to the strike fund because it would require about a $4 increase in dues to match the contributions made by other CWA members.
· But the strike fund is there, and the AFA Board will be able to make a decision in the future about whether we want to become part of this substantial fund.
Maintaining our identity as AFA
When would a full merger take place?
· The term sheet provides for a transition process, called an "Affiliation Period," in which AFA and CWA will work together to provide for a smooth merger process that keeps with the principles outlined in the term sheet stating that AFA will retain full autonomy in creating and driving the flight attendant agenda.
· The specific length of that period is still to be determined, and will be part of the full merger agreement voted on by the BOD and members later this year.
Will AFA still exist after the merger?
· Yes.
· AFA will retain our name and public identity, logos, trademarks, web sites, publications and other attributes. Upon implementation of the Affiliation Agreement, AFA will identify itself as an affiliate of CWA (AFA-CWA).
· AFA will also retain our current internal structure (LECs, MECs, Executive Board, Board of Directors and International Officers). The AFA Board of Directors will retain the sole authority to amend AFA's Constitution and Bylaws.
· AFA will continue to be governed in accordance with the terms of the AFA Constitution and Bylaws.
Who represents us after the merger, if this merger is approved and becomes reality?
· You will continue to be represented by AFA, but AFA will now be a part of CWA.
· After the merger, AFA will be identified as AFA-CWA.. AFA members will receive the benefits of our resources being combined with those of a larger union, while still being represented by the strongest flight attendant union in the world.
What happens to my AFA contract?
· Your AFA contract will remain in full force and effect after a merger.
· AFA will continue to retain bargaining rights at your carrier.
What changes will I see as a line flight attendant?
· Other than the benefits of a stronger union and -CWA added after AFA, your relationship with your union will not change.
What will happen with our LEC and MEC and International Officers?
· Your elected leaders will keep their respective positions at all levels.
· They will also hold positions on CWA boards, including serving as delegates to the CWA Convention, which is held annually, similar to AFA's BOD meetings.
· AFA's International President will have a seat on the CWA Executive Board and will receive CWA's full support in maintaining AFA's seat on the AFL-CIO Executive Council.
What happens to members who hold elected or appointed positions with state or local AFL-CIO branches?
· Where AFA members hold elected or appointed positions on AFL-CIO central bodies or state federations, CWA will make every effort to assist the AFA member in retaining her/his position in addition to other positions held by other CWA members.
Will other CWA members get to vote for AFA officers?
· No. Only AFA members will elect AFA's leaders.
Can CWA increase our dues?
· No. AFA will retain the exclusive right to determine its own dues and initiation fees throughout the affiliation process.
· AFA's current dues rate is $39.00 per month.
· This amount is consistent with CWA's dues requirement.
· Dues for AFA-CWA members will remain at $39 per member per month for 48 months from the date of the merger, unless the AFA BOD votes to change the dues.
· After that, AFA will continue to retain control over setting the dues, however the dues must be at least equal to the average monthly dues of CWA members.
· AFA's current dues of $39 per member per month is approximately equal to the current CWA average.
Maintaining control over the flight attendant and AFA agenda
Who will control AFA's agenda after the merger?
· AFA will control the flight attendant agenda.
· CWA is excited to gain AFA's expertise and tradition of strong representation of flight attendants and workers in the airline industry.
· CWA expects AFA to continue to lead in determining the future battles we deem important.
What happens if CWA organizes other flight attendant groups?
· AFA will have jurisdiction over all flight attendants and flight attendant bargaining units within the CWA structure, both current and those organized in the future, including non-majority or open source representation.
Historical perspective
Does CWA have experience with affiliations and mergers with other unions?
· Some very prominent unions have affiliated with CWA in recent years - The Newspaper Guild, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, and the IUE.
· Those unions have reported that their affiliation and merger process with CWA has gone smoothly and they couldn't be happier with the results.
Has any union backed out of a merger with CWA after starting the affiliation process?
· No.
Does affiliating mean that we have failed?
· The airline industry has changed more than any of us could have possibly imagined.
· We are facing new challenges, but we also have new opportunities.
· Affiliation and merger with CWA gives us a way to keep AFA's successes and traditions alive while we make our union stronger and continue to provide our membership with the best representation possible.
· This is simply a new chapter in the evolution of AFA.
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