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284
Involuntary Furloughs Rescinded
270
Involutary Furloughs were rescinded after 141 Flight
Attendants
were awarded VF 6. In addition, 14 Involuntary
Furloughs
were rescinded after the ITD staffing changes.
Of
this 284, 153 are currently active. The remaining
are
already on some form of leave.
The
most senior of the remaining involuntary furloughs
is
Employee # 83066, Seniority # 8913 from the class
of
9/29/99.
Those
having their furloughs cancelled will soon be
receiving
displacement letters. The bid for this group
only
closes on May 9, 2003 at 1200. If you have previously
received
a displacement notice your bid closes as scheduled
on
May 5, 2003 at 1200. Results of this bid are expected
around
May 7, 2003.
Prescriptions
May
1, 2003 prescription prices are in effect. Please
check
with AdvancePCS to determine the availability/cost
of
your medicine by calling:
Advance
PCS Member Services: 1-800-898-5698.
Pharmacy
Help Desk: 1-800-345-5413.
Or
logging on to:
http://usairways.AdvanceRx.com
In
the event you find an increase in the price of your
prescriptions,
please work with your physician to determine
if
there is an acceptable alternative.
URGENT
ACTION ALERT
FLIGHT
ATTENDANT CERTIFICATION LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Representatives
Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Sue Kelly (R-NY)
have
introduced legislation, which directs the Federal
Aviation
Administration (FAA) to certify flight attendants.
The
Cabin Crew Training and Certification Act, H.R.
1889,
addresses a long-standing disparity in the aviation
industry.
Presently, all workers from parachute packers
to
pilots are trained and certified with the exception
of
flight attendants.
The
FAA requires flight attendants on board all aircraft
with
20 seats or more, to handle aircraft evacuations
and
other emergency procedures. The FAA requires that
we
receive training in first aid, defibrillator use,
fire
fighting, aircraft evacuation, and conflict resolution.
Certification
would be granted after completion of
our
already-mandated FAA training.
The
Flight Attendant Certification Act (H.R. 1889)
would
also address the growing gap in quality and content
of
training programs among different airlines.
In
the Senate, language, which directs the FAA to certify
flight
attendants, has been included in the first draft
of
the Senate version of the FAA Reauthorization bill.
In
order to move this legislation forward we must ALL
call
our Representatives and urge them to cosponsor
the
Flight Attendant Certification Act. While the Government
Affairs
Committee was in Washington, April 29 and 30,
lobbying
on this issue, the Air Transport Association,
which
lobbies on behalf of the carriers, was right
behind
us voicing their opposition to this legislation.
Let
your Members of Congress know how important this
issue
is. Flight attendants can reach their U.S. Representative
and
two Senators through the Capitol switchboard at
202-224-3121
or by e-mail through www.house.gov.
PLEASE
ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO CO-SPONSOR H.R. 1889
and
ASK YOUR SENATORS TO SUPPORT FLIGHT ATTENDANT CERTIFICATION
IN
THE FAA REAUTHORIZATION BILL.
AFA
NEWS
United
flight attendants ratify concessions
On
Apr. 29, UAL flight attendants ratified an agreement
with
management to invest $314 million in the airline
each
year over the next six years. Seventy-five percent
of
eligible flight attendants who cast their ballots
voted
for the contract; sixty-three percent of eligible
flight
attendants voted. "This vote is historic, but
not
unprecedented," said UAL MEC President Greg Davidowitch.
"Flight
attendants have consistently done what is necessary
to
ensure the success of our airline... Today we have
ratified
an agreement that invests our hard earned
income
into our airline in the form of concessions.
In
return, flight attendants will participate in profit
sharing,
and will receive incentive bonuses, and equity
that
will pay off as the company returns to profitability.
In
spite of the devastating world events and injurious
business
decisions by management, we will do everything
in
our power to ensure that our airline prospers, flight
attendants
get their returns, and United continues
to
provide security for all of United's employees."
For
more information on the UAL agreement, visit www.unitedafa.org .
Flight
attendant certification introduced in Congress
On
Apr. 30, dozens of AFA members joined Rep. Nita
Lowey
(D-NY) and Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) at a press conference
to
introduce H.R. 1889, legislation that will standardize
and
certify flight attendants in the emergency and
security
training they receive. Representatives Juanita
Millender-McDonald
(D-CA) and Rep. Leonard Boswell
(D-IA)
also spoke at the press conference in support
of
the legislation. Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate,
Barbara
Boxer (D-CA) fought valiantly to pass similar
legislation
through the Senate Commerce committee.
Republican
Senators John McCain (AZ) and Gordon Smith
(OR)
voted in favor of the flight attendant's certification;
Democratic
Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) voted against
it.
The rest of the committee's votes were divided
along
party lines. "Our training must reflect the requirements
that
are continually added to the flight attendant
profession,"
said AFA International President Pat Friend.
"We
are the firefighters, medics, mediators and security
guards
onboard the aircraft and we must make sure that
each
and every flight attendant is fully trained to
provide
the services that the flying public expects
and
deserves." Do your part! Contact your U.S. Representative
via
http://www.house.gov , and urge them to support
H.R.
1889. For more on certification, visit http://www.afanet.org .
AFA
Scholarship Winners Announced On Apr. 29, the winners
of
the 2003 AFA Scholarships were selected: Brittney
March,
daughter of USA flight attendant Gina March,
will
receive a $2,500 scholarship. Christine Pena,
daughter
of UAL flight attendant Victor Pena, will
receive
a $1,000 scholarship. Congratulations and
best
of luck to both Brittney and Christine. The scholarship,
established
in 1994 by former AFA President Dee Maki,
helps
AFA members with the financial burdens of educating
their
dependents while recognizing accomplishments
in
education and community service. For more information
on
the AFA Scholarship, visit http://www.afanet.org/scholarship.asp
.
AROUND
THE INDUSTRY Congress not likely to extend additional
aid
to industry Key members of Congress say they will
oppose
further assistance for the airline industry
without
tougher language on how the money is spent,
and
those who favor reregulating the industry contend
it's
unlikely it will ever happen. House Minority Leader
Steny
Hoyer (D-MD) said revelations at American about
perks
that protect top executives even in the case
of
bankruptcy - while the company was asking for more
than
$1 billion in employee give-backs - give "Congress
pause
to reflect whether they [airlines] are the victims
of
their own bad policy as opposed to Sept. 11" and
SARS.
He said the airlines are important to the economy,
but
if they need more money they will face "tougher
language"
that limits how it's spent. House Majority
Leader
Tom DeLay (R-TX) said the "industry needs to
shake
out" but he did not see any airline legislation
on
the agenda. For the full text of this Aviation Daily
story,
visit http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_aviationdaily_story.jsp?id=news/congr04303.xml
Why
are airlines paying "retention" bonuses to executives
no
one else would hire? As airline executives have
steered
our carriers to the brink of bankruptcy and
demanded
extreme concessions from workers, they have
maintained
exorbitant pay, benefits and bonuses for
themselves.
For an interesting perspective, visit http://slate.msn.com/id/2082198/
AFA
RESOURCES SARS Alert Extensive information on
Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is now available
on
AFA's website: http://www.afanet.org/sars2.asp
.
Please
take all necessary precautions while you are
on
the job to protect yourself from this new threat.
Earn
your college degree
Through
AFA's unique partnership with the National
Labor
College, you can earn a bachelor's degree using
your
life experience toward college credits! AFA leaders
and
activists are invited to participate in an AFA-NLC
Educational
Planning course, June 11-12, in Portland,
OR.
For more information or to register, contact Wanda
McCall
at 800/424-2401 ext. 825. For more on AFA's
Leadership
Development program, visit http://www.afanet.org/leadership.
Retiring?
AFA wants you The AFA International Office
is
developing a program to encourage AFA retirees to
remain
active volunteers in their union. Portions of
the
AFA website and Flightlog will be dedicated to
retirees,
to remind them of the AFA benefits they carry
with
them into retirement. To browse the new retirees
section
of the AFA website, visit http://www.afanet.org/retirement.
AROUND
THE LABOR MOVEMENT
Do
your part to help the hungry
The 11th Annual National Association of Letter
Carriers's
food Drive will be held on Saturday, May
10,
2003. On that day, letter carriers throughout the
nation
will collect non-perishable food from donations
left
by mailboxes along their routes in the nation's
largest
one-day effort to combat hunger. For more information,
visit
www.nalc.org.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES Reservists' rights: An estimated
20,000
or more union members are members of the U.S.
reserves
- and many are already overseas. But what
happens
when they return to their workplaces? Although
reservists
are entitled to the same status, pay and
benefits,
as they would receive had they not gone on
duty,
many are unaware of these rights. The AFL-CIO
website
now offers a new feature, Reservists Rights,
that
summarizes the legal rights of returning reservists
and
provides information for union members and all
workers
serving their country, with links to detailed
fact
sheets and benefits information. For more information
on
reservists rights, visit www.aflcio.org/reserverights
Help
Cornell University Researchers Researchers at
Cornell
University are conducting a study on the way
flight
attendants and pilots are treated by the hotels
that
they stay in while on the job. If you'd like to
help
out and take the survey, visit
http://gupta.johnson.cornell.edu/survey3/jmb36a/airlinesurvey_1.htm.
Visit
http://www.afanet.org
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