Dear Council 70 Flying Partners,

Before we get started, there are a couple of things I want to share with you first:

1. Please read the November 19, Council 40 E-line below. President Teddy Xidas, wrote out on recent events better than I could have, plus I am sure she did it in fewer words; - ) Click here: Latest PIT40 E-Line - http://www.afausairways.org/PIT/112004.htm

2. Giving authorization to do CHAOS in the event our contract is abrogated is the right thing to do. It is not meant to hurt our Company, and will not even come close to the damage Management has done through their constant threats of Bankruptcy and Liquidation that have inundated us in the press for several holiday seasons in a row. 

Your LEC President, your MEC, your MEC Officers, your Negotiating Committee and your ENTIRE AFA Union Leadership at 26 different carriers are in 100% agreement (first time ever) that this is not only the right thing to do, it is the ONLY thing we can do as we have tried most everything else. PLEASE VOTE IN FAVOR to authorize a strike if a FA contract is rejected by the Courts. 

3. A 100% turnout & 100% FOR vote, could give our Negotiating Committee some "Real Teeth" in what could be the final days of negotiations. 

4. As most of you know, I have been stuck away in some out of town windowless meeting room or hotel room for months for days at a time while participating in negotiations. What you may not know is that I do not always have access to the tools needed to communicate with you, as I would like. I fear as things begin to heat up, it will only get worse. Teddy, however, puts out tons of info. I do not want you to miss anything therefore I ask that you please sign up for her E-Line (http://www.afausairways.org/PIT/pitemailform.html) as it will help you stay informed while I am otherwise engaged in another battle.  

It is so very important, especially during this time, for you to stay informed. If you are not already signed up for the MEC E-Line then please do so. MEC President, Perry Hayes, often gives updates as to what is happening in negotiations which you will need to have access to on a daily basis: MEC E-Line  http://www.afausairways.org/eline.htm

Okay, let's get started:

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CHAOS VS a Traditional Strike:

In response to a recent article on "The HUB" that incorrectly indicates that AFA's promise of a Nation Wide Strike in the event a FA Contract is rejected by the courts, is nothing more than "Saber Rattling, " here is what you need to know:

Our AFA attorneys advise us that a strike IS A LEGALLY permissible response in the event the company elects to reject our collective bargaining agreement (our Contract) and that you should expect the company to make statements to the contrary bec/ management hopes to confuse the issue and prevent a strike. However, that does not change our legal position. 

You are going to hear scads of trite, trivia and posturing in the media. For instance, one of the things I have already read, is that before we can even contemplate considering a strike, we would need to be released by the National Mediation Board into a "30-Day Cooling Off Period ". Wrong!  Although that would be the appropriate procedure were we in Section 6 negotiations, we are not and therefore the rules governing Section 6 Negotiations do not apply to our present situation. The RLA is NOT just about Section 6.

Labor Law is confusing; the Railway Labor Act is confusing. Please do NOT fall prey to management's Famous "FUD Factor" of spewing Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt in order to try to "Divide and Conquer." 

When it comes to our AFA CHAOS type of strike, the analysts, the reporters and even management's own communications guru do NOT get it. We will not be doing an old time "Traditional" strike. In an old time "Traditional" strike, the majority of the employees walk off the job. They often spent days, months and even years walking picket lines were they may ultimately find that they have either been "locked out" and replaced by a SCAB or that their Company just could not recover from the losses sustained through the long drawn out process. Because those employees elected to walked off the job on their own accord, they seldom qualified for unemployment. 

In almost all cases, neither side won. 

AFA's CHAOS (Creating Havoc Around Our System) is anything but "traditional." Therefore, much of what you are reading about it in the papers or hearing about out on the "Rumor Mill" is incorrect and does not apply to what we will be doing. However, the fact that the papers are so confused and incorrect is exactly what CHAOS is all about

C.H.A.O.S.

With the participation of 26 airlines, the phrase "Creating Havoc Around Our System" has taken on a whole new meaning!

You should all know by now just how CHAOS works, but just in case you have forgotten, here is a little refresher without giving away too much to management who I am sure is reading this also: 

CHAOS cannot be categorized as either "Traditional" or "General" in fact CHAOS cannot be put into any category at all! It will be different things at different times for different airlines. 

Unless secretly tapped to strike a flight, a FA's contribution will, in most cases, be limited to wearing their AFA pin and green ribbon, picketing, leafleting, running airport tests, painting signs, etc. You will be expected to participate in some minor way, as "WE" will all be in this together. . FYI: You will be expected to don both pin and ribbon at all times when at or near the airport or on the aircraft (even when in civilian clothing). 

Management cannot stop CHAOS. They will tell you they can, but they cannot which has already been proven to them time and again. 

Under a CHAOS type of strike, the employees continue to go to work everyday as normal. 

CHAOS could be as little as a few hours of picketing on a day off, while fellow FA's continue to go to work, or it could be as much everyone at all the airlines striking for an entire day. 

It could be as little as 3 FA's at one airline walking off a flight for 15 to 20-minutes or as significant as any airline that begins with the letter "U" (I can think of two right off) sending out a two-month warning that anytime with in the next 6 months their co-share flights are at risk of not getting off the gate. 

CHAOS is so unique that even if the judge does abrogate our contract, it does not necessarily mean we will strike a flight that very same day. We could strike a flight that very day or we could wait for a month or two and then just as management is thinking this is all a bluff ...WHAM! We strike all flights going to the West coast or to Florida or whatever we believe will send the most appropriate message to management with the least amount of harm and fallout to our members, our passengers and our Company. Our fight is with management not with our passengers, our Company or with each other.

CHAOS can be an actual event or a mere bluff, management will never know. 

What you need to know is that we will continue to go to work. We will take even better care of our passengers than we already do. It will be very important, when this is all over, that our passengers want to come back to us. 

What management needs to know is that the constant uncertainty of whether a flight will be struck or not, will fall like a plague upon this management and this government if even one word of one FA contract is rejected. 

What they need to know is that we are sending a message that "Enough is Enough!" There is a "Clear and Present Danger" coming their way if any management attempts to use the BK courts to annihilate our contracts and steal our hard earned wages! Management needs to consider changing tactics and really start to begin "Good Faith Bargaining" now!

I am sure you can see there is a BIG difference between CHAOS and the old type of traditional strike that is being touted in the press. 

This management has been doing their own form of CHAOS for a couple of years now. Every holiday season one of them manages to scare off our passengers by telling the press they intend to either liquidate or bankrupt our airline. This makes our passengers book away, which makes less revenue, which gives this management the excuse they need to come after our pay checks over and over again. 

NONE of what has gotten US Airways into the situation it is presently in, or the fact that this is our second BK in less than 2-years can be blamed on any contract employee much less the FA's. 

Wearing O' the GREEN

We will have green ribbons and AFA pins in the crew room ASAP. 

Please note that ALL 26 AFA carriers will also be wearing green ribbons with the AFA pin in support of the US Airways FA's fight to save our contract and all the FA's who will soon be fighting for their contracts. 
Please, if 25 other airlines are willing to take the time to put on a Green Ribbon for you, please take the time to put one on for yourself. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

A Quick Review of What Happened to Get Us to This Point:

In June 2002, management asked for concessions to stay out of BK. WE GAVE. Day's later management filed for BK anyway (just so happens their lawyers had been working on it all along). A significant portion of our concessions went towards payment for those high-priced Bankruptcy lawyers, for Management bonuses (I believe in return for a job well done for conning employees out of their paychecks) and to buy RJ's that are often unreliable and that have driven the CASM up rather than down. 

I believe even management was shocked at how many employees voted FOR. I am sure champagne corks were popping all over CCY as one Sr. VP after another patted themselves on the back thinking "This was way too easy, LET'S DO IT AGAIN!" And so they did it again, and again and again.

Six months later, in the middle of the holiday season, Bronner was all over the media threatening liquidation. Labor was forced to send out half-baked proposals for a vote or face immediate liquidation. 

Just two months later, under the cover of the BK laws our management moved into the "Big Leagues" of slime ball when they conned the pilots out of their pension. This was now a whole new slime ball, ball game. With such a rich trophy to win, other airlines wanted to play too. Employees suffered their own form of Stockholm syndrome as we became less and less shocked to see the work "Terminate" in conjunction with the word Pension!

The biggest prize in the Pilot treasure chest was given up without much of a fight or even a vote from their members. The champagne corks were now popping all over the industry. Every employee's pension was now at serious risk. 

We had heard that Jerry Glass was going to leave U, we all held our breathe, but after this coup de grace we knew he would be able to write his own ticket. Much to the chagrin of many, he elected to continue to home base out of US Airways. 

Just recently U entered into their second BK in as many years. Only this time, all the stops were pulled out. 

Emergency relief (21% pay cut), followed too quickly by a filing to reject all remaining labor contracts not yet adjusted, but if that was not enough, management also filed to for a reduction to the retiree medical and have made it crystal clear to all that is their intention to terminate contract employee pensions still in existence on the property (AFA & IAM). 

WOW, through our constant enabling of management's poor performance, they have become so bold that they actually had the audacity to file for all those things before even letting the 21% emergency take full effect. Why ask for 6 months of emergency relief (they were only awarded 4-months) if you are already paying your lawyers big bucks to file for everything else, if granted, would take place long before the 6 months they were requesting? 

You Have Nothing to Fear But Fear It's Self:

Do NOT be afraid, BE INCENSED! Management had the audacity to ask YOU, the US Airways Flight Attendant's, to basically abrogate our own contract (see the first two paragraphs of the Company's last proposal) and when that was not forth coming via your NC, they filed for an 1113c to wipe out 40+ years of negotiations by asking a judge to exterminate our contract. They have not even received their first full month of the 21% emergency give backs before they are going for the "Full Monty" which will take away our last bit of protection...the thing that has always been this management's primary goal...the ultimate prize to capture...OUR CONTRACT.

For years, I have told you that this Management does not know how to run an airline nor do they seem too interested in even trying to learn. However, what this management does excel at, so well in fact that they are often called upon by other airlines for their guidance in this field, is the planning and ability to go after employees and employee contracts. It has been their primary focus since coming to U and they WILL NOT STOP until they have set a standard for ALL airlines to follow, thereby Busting those pesky Unions and their too rich union contracts. How else can management continue to put more in their pocket without really needing the talent to actually run an Airline?

Do not be afraid, BE INCENSED that in this great Country of ours the American working man and woman are being striped of the right to earn a livable wage or to relish the preparations they made so that they could enjoy their twilight years! 


That's all for tonight, I leave you with this quote:

"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."

John F. Kennedy

Take Care and Fly Safe,
Mollie McCarthy
LEC President
Council 70 PHL/PHW
AFA US Airways