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PHL News-Line 70 |
70
In This Issue - VF2 ~ "Who's Watching You" ~ Local Meeting ~ Retirees ~ and MORE
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Issue 6 |
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10/9/02 |
This is the PHL News-Line 70 from Mollie McCarthy LECP. This newsletter is also available on the PHL page of AFA US Airways. Subscribe to News-Line 70 from here. If you would like to respond to Mollie, please use this email address mmccarthy@afausairways.org.
October 9, 2002
Dear PHL/PHW Flight Attendants,
Hi everyone, thought I'd drop you a quick update along with a few alerts before I leave for San Francisco tomorrow and 9-days of Union meetings.
While I am gone if you need a representative, the Local office will remain open. You can reach one of our friendly volunteers, Roger Holmin, Mariellen Horgan or Laura Medlin during office hours at
215-492-0840. For those who prefer to communicate through e-mail, you can reach your representatives and office staff at,
Council70@afausairways.org.
If the phones are busy, leave a message or try calling one of your other officers on their cell phones. You may give either Terry Graf a call at 626-533-8405 or Rod Norwood can be reached 860-922-5903.
Okay, let's get started.
Voluntary Furlough (VF2) Is Finally Out For Bid
ALERT…The bid for the Voluntary Furlough (VF2) closes OCTOBER 24, 2002. This new date is two days EARLIER that the original information given us by the company. If interested, please do not wait until the last minute to put your bid in or you may miss out.
ALERT…Those of you who may be looking at taking the Voluntary Separation (VSIP) instead of the VF2, please know that in the case of a merger or acquisition, the company has stated there will be NO guarantees that lifetime passes will remaining in effect, that will be up to the acquiring company to determine.
120-Days Medical For The VF 2
I have received e-mails and telephone calls from several of you who are disappointed in the VF2. I join you in your disappointment and have let my sentiments be known to upper management. I relayed to them that the 'intent' behind giving up our priceless furlough language was to obtain programs that gave a REAL 'incentive' for FA's to take one of these programs so we in turn could save jobs and the company could save money. Hopefully, we will all learn a valuable lesson here.
Some, it seems, believed your union had the 'right to' further negotiate the VF2 and Voluntary Separation Incentive Package AFTER the ratification of the restructuring agreement. Alas, that is not the case.
Unfortunately, it was clearly spelled out in the tentative agreement highlights, that our negotiators did NOT obtain language that would allow us INPUT into either the VSIP or the VF2. The only thing we would get for our valuable scope language was a 'hollow promise' from the company that they would 'offer' a VF2 and VSIP, and this is exactly what our 'labor friendly' management did. Regrettably, there is not even enough medical to cover the minimum 6-month bid of a VF2.
Please look at the TA and you will see that there is absolutely NO mention of any medical in conjunction with a VF2. Read about the VF2 Here. However, we were able to get the 120-days, although this is much less than we fought for, it is still a whole lot more than management wanted to give.
To find out the rates you would pay to have Cobra Insurance once the VSIP or VF2 medical benefit runs out Click Here.
ALERT
Do You Feel Like Big Brother/Sister is Watching You?
FYI: The company can now easily access your 'travel log' to see if and when you are non-revenue pass riding. I have been told the log can go back as far as two years. If you are found out of base while on duty your past pass riding history may be pulled up to see if there is a pattern. At this time, it appears certain supervisors and schedulers are finding time in their busy day to track a flight attendants travels. Recently, three PHL reserves were reported on the same day, and we believe, by the same scheduler for being out of base. We are looking into this situation, but for now I wanted you to be aware of what may be happening. I will keep you updated as we find out more concrete information.
Local Meeting
We missed you. The handful of flight attendants that did attended seemed pleased with the meeting and its agenda. Everyone joined in, asking question, giving their suggestions for solutions to the various issues facing us. I learned a lot from those who attended and I believe they in turn learned a few things of value from me.
Some of the hand-outs that I prepared for the meeting along with several of the 42-Agenda items that will be addressed at the Annual AFA Board of Directors Meeting (BOD) can be found on the AFA table located under the AFA bulletin board in the crew room. Feel free to make a copy and return back to the binder on the table.
Your AFA Constitution and Bylaws requires at least two Local meetings a year. One of these must take place before the Annual AFA Board of Directors Meeting. Agenda items that will be brought forward for discussion and a vote at the BOD should be discussed. It is also recommended that 'Sister Councils' within the AFA family have a joint meeting so they can meet and discuss agenda items that will affect every airline represented by AFA.
This was that meeting.
UAL 23 PHL joined us at our local meeting.
During discussion of one of the agenda items, there was a motion from the floor (USA 70) to have both the LEC President from UAL 23 and myself (USA 70) bring forth an agenda item at the BOD that limits certain expenses like babysitting and mileage to only those councils who do NOT receive flight pay loss (FPL) from their company. Most of the smaller airlines within AFA do not receive FPL and need expenses to help defray the cost of being a volunteer. However, larger airlines like UAL and USA have negotiated company Flight Pay and would have a lesser need for some of the expenses our constitution and by laws presently affords. The motion passed unanimously and I will happily bring it forward at the BOD as a late agenda item. If you too have issues you would like addressed at either the MEC or BOD level, please attend future local meetings. This is YOUR union and your voice will be heard.
At times the discussion was lively and I believe all enjoyed the input and information from those not within their own airline. A few of the BOD agenda items are extremely political and will surely bring forth some lively debate at the BOD. That should be a very interesting meeting to say the least.
After going over almost all of the 42 advanced agenda items that will be voted on at this years BOD, the US Airways FA's gathered briefly to receive some recent local or US Airways updates from me and to ask or comment on anything that may be an issue with them.
FYI; the three-day AFA BOD meeting will take place during October 14-17 in San Francisco. In attendance will be ALL the LEC Presidents and MEC Presidents from ALL the airlines represented by AFA. (United, Alaska, Aloha, America West etc., totaling 27 airlines in all). This is where things like dues increases, Delta organizing and International officer Elections are discussed and voted on. This year we will be electing your AFA International Officers for the next 4-years! Like I stated above, this should be a very interesting meeting.
New Base Director
Please welcome David Chapla as the new Base Director for PHL/PHW.
Dave formally took over the entire base operations on October 8, 2002. There will now be a manager for both the domestic and ITD divisions that will report to Mr. Chapla.
I have worked with Mr. Chapla in the past and have found him to be easy-going, open-minded and fair. Dave, a father of two, came to US Airways as a flight attendant. He quickly moved over to the management side moving up the ladder through several different positions. He started out as a flight attendant supervisor in PIT, and then moved to DCA to become the base manager there. Before coming to us he was involved in Labor Relations for several years. I speak for all of your local representatives when I say we are looking forward to a great working relationship with him and his staff.
Attention Potential Retirees
If you are planning on retiring anytime in the near future, choose carefully when picking a retirement date. For example, if you are an International flight attendant and choose a retirement date prior to using all your vacation days in any given month, you will be paid out at DOMESTIC RATES WITH NO PREMIUMS, regardless of what division you are in when you earned that vacation.
If your retirement date falls in the middle of a 7day vacation, you will be paid the HIGHER rate for the days PRIOR to your retirement date. For the days remaining AFTER your retirement date, you will be paid the LOWER rate (as if it were not 7 days or more vacation days in a row). Upon retiring, the Company does NOT look back; therefore, you will not receive pay premiums. (Please pass this information around to the flight attendants; not all have computers)
Bid vacation to your advantage; choose a retirement date AFTER you have used
all your vacation…REBID wisely.
Over Fly
Over Flying of options is a huge problem at all the bases but here at PHL/PHW it is off the charts. We have more folks over flying here than at any other base.
When we over fly, there is a domino affect that sooner or later will hurt every one of us in some way.
Junior folks do not get their time in and cannot pay their bills. Many are out-of base because they cannot afford the high cost of a hotel room just to sit and wait for the trip that never comes.
Out of base while on duty means trouble for them and a quick call or assignment to a more senior flight attendant when that elusive trip does open up. Sooner or later, the junior folks either leave USA or the company believes they are no longer needed and furloughs begin. When junior folks get furloughed, line holders become reserves. More senior reserves become disenchanted to once again be on the never-ending reserve cycle and often change to lower options, which in turn often cause the constant restricting of the bid sheet, and understaffed flights become the norm.
But the worst part is something most do not even think about. The fewer the number of USA flight attendants, the fewer votes we have in the case of a merger or acquisition. Fewer votes could also make a difference in our AFA constitution and by laws merger policy, which is presently 'date of hire.' In other words, over fly is not only selfish it is self-destructive no matter what your seniority may be.
Please know that over fly is a problem in all segments of our members. Over Fly is happening in all seniority groups, not just those who are senior, some of the worst offenders are fairly junior flight attendants. Must admit I do not understand that at all. You could say, when a junior person over fly's, they are actually flying themselves right out of a job. Just does not make any sense.
So what is the solution? Unlike management we cannot just give ourselves a 'new title' and 'Promotion' to make up the difference in the severe pay cuts we have taken. So what do we do? Well, the answer is NOT to take flight time/money away from our own.
There are ways to make up some of the lost income that is legitimate and will not impact fellow FA's so drastically. By learning your contract you may be able to find ways to ease the pain somewhat.
Track your 'Under Fly' for the month as you can legitimately fly that time over your option. Learn how to move 'Soft Time' from one month to the next. Learn how to bid vacation, especially now with SAP, so that you get max dollars for your vacation days. Drop a Filler day somewhere in a month with 7-days of vacation. Bid ITD. Make sure you research and file legitimate claims, if you believe the claim was incorrectly denied, do NOT give up, call your local office and file a grievance if warranted. I cannot tell you how often I see crew-scheduling errors or monies due go unclaimed. I cannot tell you how often we see good claims denied again and again only for the claims department to tell the FA they have gone past the 90-day cut-off. Contractually that is your money and the answer is not to let claims keep it and to then try to make up the loss by taking flying/money from a fellow flight attendant.
I think you get the point. Please let me know if you have some suggestions on how we can work together to correct this devastating problem and to recoup pay cut loses, thanks.
Let me finish this by saying both the PIT local and your PHL local are pursuing the over fly issue. We have teams in place looking for ways to address the issue without giving the company another hammer in which to discipline flight attendants. However, please know that we must get the over fly to stop as it hurts all of us and will look at all the options.
Still not done packing so I must call it a night as my plane departs in just a few short hours.
Couldn't end this without leaving you with another of my favorite all time quotes.
"They that would give up essential liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
Please remember, "United WE Stand, Divided WE Beg.'
Take Care and Fly Safe,
Mollie McCarthy
LEC President
USA Council 70 - PHL/PHW
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ALERT…The bid for the Voluntary Furlough (VF2) closes OCTOBER 24, 2002. This new date is two days EARLIER that the original information given us by the company. If interested, please do not wait until the last minute to put your bid in or you may miss out.
FYI: Your AFA Constitution and Bylaws requires at least two Local meetings a year.
Past Newslines
FYI: The company can now easily access your 'travel log' to see if and when you are non-revenue pass riding.