• MEC MEETING RECAP
• MANAGEMENT MISTAKES VS. FLIGHT ATTENDANT MISTAKES

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• AFA Local Numbers

MEC MEETING RECAP

The MEC held its’ spring meeting May 1-3 in Pittsburgh. The main topics of the meeting were:

• Allocation of the 2007-2008 MEC Budget
• Member Forums
• Agenda item to change Contract Section 16.G
• Negotiations update to the MEC

Allocation of the 2007-2008 Budget-

The AFA-CWA fiscal year runs from June 1 through May 31.  Within AFA each airline MEC is allocated a budget based primarily on the amount of dues paid by the member of each individual airline. The US Airways MEC was allocated $257,627.00 for the 2007-2008 fiscal year (a six percent decrease from the 2006-2007 budget. That amount, divided by our current dues paying members (4472) equates to $4.80 per month, per member.

While $257,627 may seem like an enormous sum of money to some, in reality, it becomes very challenging to provide the services we do with that amount of money. The MEC budget pays for the administration of the MEC office and some Flight Pay Loss for the MEC officers as well as the MEC committees listed below.

1. Communications
2. Crew Accommodations
3. EAP
4. Legislative Affairs
5. Retirement and Insurance (Benefits)
6. Reserve
7. Safety
8. Scheduling
9. Uniform

In addition to the AFA MEC budget, the AFA has negotiated two hundred sixty-three (263.00) hours of Company paid Flight Pay Loss to be paid monthly to the MEC.

I have posted the 2007-2008 MEC budget below. As you can see adjustments were made to adequately reflect the needs of our committees and members. For example, the Uniform committee was adjusted down from $10,000 (2006-2007) to $1,000 (2007-2008) because the new Uniform design and development has been completed. The Reserve Committee budget was increased in order to provide more service for our Reserves. Other committees were also adjusted as a result of the 6% decrease in our budget and other factors. In the end, the Union has to live within its’ means and the approved budget accomplishes that necessity.

Member Forums-

Two Member Forum sessions were held and the MEC would like to thank all those members who participated. The Member forums allowed members to express their ideas and concerns to the members of the MEC.

Agenda Item to change Contract Section 16.G-

Contract Section 16.G, negotiated as part of the 2004 Flight Attendant Agreement, pertains to the seniority rights of Flight Attendants who transfer to non-flying or to supervisory duties. For Flight Attendants who transfer to supervisory duties, full time training instructors or to administrative positions within the InFlight department Section 16.G freezes such Flight Attendants’ seniority for competitive bidding ninety (90) days after the effective date of the transfer. While one could argue the intent and the merits of the language that was implemented as a result of the 2004 agreement one can’t argue the fact the language restricts the ability to retain and attract Flight Attendants in these positions.

As a result, in order not to lose seniority, Flight Attendants in these positions have chosen to return to the line.  The current contract severely limits the pool of Flight Attendants applying for these positions. In an effort to retain and attract Flight Attendants in these positions I brought forward an MEC Agenda Item to change the provisions of the contract with respect to seniority for Flight Attendants transferring to non-flying or supervisory duties. As with any Agenda Item, the full MEC weighs the merits of the item through debate.

The MEC concluded the provisions of section 16.G were in fact detrimental to the members. The MEC believes it is important to have as many Flight Attendants as possible in line supervisor, training instructor and InFlight Administration positions. The MEC realized that without a change we would begin to see more non-Flight Attendants filling these positions.

The MEC unanimously passed a resolution to rescind the provisions of section 16.G thus allowing Flight Attendants the ability to continue to accrue seniority for the duration of the time spent in non-flying or supervisory positions. The resolution requires that each Flight Attendant in a non-flying or supervisory position fly one trip per quarter, at their seniority, in order to continue to accrue seniority. The resolution also provided for the ability to make the policy retroactive to January 10, 2005 (date of signing of the 2004 Flight Attendant Agreement. In order for the resolution to become fact a Letter of Agreement must be drafted and signed by the Company and the Union.

Any Letter of Agreement must also be signed by the AFA International President. Upon consultation with AFA International President, Pat Friend, it became clear the retroactive clause of the resolution was a violation of the AFA Constitution and Bylaws. On its’ face the resolution would restore lost seniority to those that have returned to the line and also not adjust the seniority of those Flight Attendants who are currently serving in non-flying positions.  Both circumstances are in conflict with the AFA C&B and therefore the retroactive clause of the resolution must be removed from consideration. While member ratification of a side letter that alters seniority is possible, the resolution, as proposed, violates the merger policy of the AFA C&B (Section X). Section X mandates that once a merged seniority list is compiled and certified, such list can’t be altered.  

Therefore, the adjusted seniority date for those Flight Attendants who served in non-flying or supervisory positions will have to remain as adjusted. Furthermore, any Flight Attendant currently serving in a non-flying or supervisory position will have her/his seniority adjusted in accordance with the provisions of 16.G until the date a Letter of Agreement between the Company and the Union is signed by both parties.  

A Letter of Agreement has been drafted and sent to the Company for their review. The letter requires the following for those Flight Attendants serving in non-flying or supervisory duties who wish to continue to accrue seniority upon the signing date:

• A Flight Attendant must fly one trip per quarter.
• Such trip must be picked up at the seniority of the Flight Attendant and not "bought", as is the case in the Co-Fly program.
• If the status of a Flight Attendant is that of a Reserve, such Flight Attendant will be processed in LTO order and may be awarded or assigned a trip or OPR duty.
• Absent mitigating circumstances, such as sick, injury, unfit for duty, leaves of absence, etc, a Flight Attendant who fails to fly the one trip per quarter requirement will forfeit the right to accrue seniority.
• A Flight Attendant must notify the Company and the Union within 30 days of the date of the Letter of Agreement her/his willingness to comply with the provisions of the letter.
• Nothing in the Letter of Agreement will allow a Flight Attendant to fly more than one trip per quarter unless as part of the Co-Fly program.
• A Flight Attendant currently performing non-flying or supervisory duties will have her/his seniority adjusted in accordance with the provision of section 16.G up until the date of signing of the Letter of Agreement.

Once the Company reviews the letter, the MEC will review any changes the Company may want in the letter and will have the final say in whether the Union enters into an agreement with the Company. If such an agreement is reached, the complete and final copy of the Letter of Agreement will be posted your review.
 
Negotiations Update-

A closed session was held to update the members of the MEC on the status of the single agreement negotiations. A separate update for the members will be provided next week.
 
MANAGEMENT MISTAKES VS. FLIGHT ATTENDANT MISTAKES
 
By now everyone has heard the apologies from all levels of management for their failure to properly plan and administer the reservation migration/cutover. The apologies continue on a daily basis with the most recent being a letter sent to all Preferred Customers from Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Travis Christ. The letter outlines a laundry list of improvements to the product but as usual starts out with an apology:

"So, first things, first. You may be weary of us apologizing for the tough times we had this spring due to the migration of our reservations system, but here it is: We sincerely apologize for the numerous failures. After a pretty nice start to the merger we've learned some tough lessons through all this and received some very helpful advice from many of you, some of which we're applying already, and some of which is unprintable. So thank you for sticking with us as we climb back on the horse."

Here is my question to management- who is accountable for the failures and what steps have been taken to hold management accountable for their failures. The "numerous failures" have cost the Company millions of dollars in real money and who knows how much in good will. The "numerous failures" by management have put front line employees squarely in the path of angry passengers on a day-to-day, flight-by-flight basis. Has anyone in management been fired, suspended, fined, flogged or otherwise reprimanded for the "numerous failures"?
 
Recently one of our members was involved in an Inadvertent Slide Deployment (ISD). The results of the investigation revealed the member was at fault in contributing to the ISD and therefore the member will be suspended for ten (10) days. A ten day suspension will result in a serious financial hardship for this member, but management believes the suspension is warranted because the ISD resulted in a cost to the Company.
 
We are held accountable for our actions yet, all management has to do is offer up apology after apology. Humans make mistakes and those mistakes need to be corrected but it seems to me that front line employees are held to a far different standard than management. New policies and procedures cause confusion and create the potential for error. That is what happened in the Reservation Migration and yet I have not seen any evidence of anyone in management being held accountable for the loss in revenue or customer satisfaction caused by the botched migration.
 
A management team that believes they are "above the law" will find it hard to gain the respect of the employees who work for that team.
 
Thank you,
 
Mike Flores, President
The US Airways Master Executive Council
AFA-CWA

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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

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