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Rapid Response Meeting
The State of Pennsylvania has some outstanding programs and grants for airline employees who are being furloughed. Dolores Facchiano is the Philadelphia contact for Pennsylvania's Rapid Response Program. Once we get together with a date, she will hold a meeting for our Furloughed FA's. Please, if you do nothing else, DO NOT miss this meeting. You will receive all the info you will need to get on with life including information on Unemployment Compensation, Emergency Grants, Educational Grants, Career opportunities along with programs that may be able to help you with your personal expenses.
As soon as I get the date, time and place I will get that information to you through the PHL News-Line, the AFA Hot Line and the PHL Bulletin Board.
Have you been Properly Notified of your Involuntary Furlough?
More than a handful of PHL/PHW flight attendants have contacted the local union office because they still have not been notified of their impending furloughs from the company. The company is contractually required to give at least 15 calendar days notice prior to the scheduled furlough date. If you did not receive at least 15-days prior too notification AND have kept your address current with the company, please contact your Local Union office ASAP.
FYI; It is the FA's obligation to make sure the company has an updated address and contact number at all times. If the reason you did not receive proper notice of your furlough is because you did not report changes to your address, this will NOT delay your furlough nor exempt you from being furloughed.
Voluntary Separation Travel Clarification (VSIP)
Flight attendants participating in the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program
will be able to add eligible family members to their travel privileges when a
major life event occurs e.g. birth of child, marriage, etc.
Pass Privileges for Involuntary Furloughed
If you are an involuntary furloughed flight attendant your pass privileges have been extended for the length of your furlough. The employee travel department will update their records before the expiration of your current passes. Any questions should be directed to employee travel at 800-872-4780, prompt 4.
FYI To ALL Furloughed FA's,
Immediate family members and parents; please note that your travel designation has been changed to MI. You are to continue to make your travel plans through the "employee travel line", but must now use the new designation.
FA's Who Were Voluntary Furloughed & Who Will Now Be Involuntary Furloughed
Those who elected to take a previous Voluntary Furlough and did not choose to have a Vacation Pay-out at that time may elect to do so now that their status has changed to Involuntary.
If you were one of the original VF1 FA's that were to receive 2-years of medical benefits, now that your status has changed to Involuntary, your medical will only remain for the contractual 60-days and not for the remainder of the original two-year period.
To ALL Furloughed FA's.
When you receive your furlough notice VF or INVF, you will be given the option to either leave your VAC days on the books to be bid/used upon your return to active service, OR you may elect to receive a pay-out for all VAC accrued but not taken to date.
This is a 'One Shot' deal. If you elect to keep your VAC Days on the books, you will not be able to change your mind later regardless of what emergency or financial crisis may come your way over the duration of your furlough. No one knows what the future will bring and the choice is ultimately yours to make. I will only tell you that from what I have personally seen, I would take the VAC pay up front, realizing I would have to do some creative bidding IF I were to be called back to active duty. But again, that will have to be your decision to make. Just remember you have to say yes or no NOW and will not be able to change your mind later.
Additional Info for Furloughee's
1. It is AFA's position that Flight attendants currently on LTD who are involuntarily furloughed will not have their disability discontinued. Under the LTD Plan eligibility requirements on page 5, it states that flight attendants who either receive Social Security Benefits or are furloughed are still considered employees for eligibility purposes. However, the company reads a whole different meaning into what the LTD Plan states. We are filing another grievance against management.
Our attorney is presently working on this issue.
FYI; One of our fellow PHL FA's who is on the furlough list was recently in a terrible car accident and is presently going through a series of surgeries while on LTD. I called the company to ask what can be done for her if they in fact cut off her LTD because of her furlough status. The response I received was at best, total indifference.
2. Flight attendants receiving OJI/salary continuance and are involuntarily
furloughed will still receive state OI payments. They will NOT receive salary continuance.
If Laid Off, Union Plus May Also Of Some Help To You:
- A Layoff Helpline: Assists AFA members who have an AFA Union Plus Credit Card or loan who may experience problems making payments on their accounts due to a temporary or permanent layoff.
- AFA members with a Union Plus Mortgage may also have some flexibility with regard to late fees and other matters related to mortgage payments. Union Plus Mortgage also offers interest-free loans to help members make their mortgage payments.
- The affordable Union Plus Health Savings and Union Plus Legal Service offer important services that any AFA member can use during tough economic times. Health Savings offers discounts on prescriptions, vision and dental care and more. The Legal Service allows AFA
members to speak to a lawyer for free.
For more on all the special protection and other resources for laid-off union members, please visit this link:
http://www.unionplus.org/about/layoff.cfm
Learn more about *ALL* of your AFA Union Plus benefits - including discounts
and education services -at: www.unionplus.org
To enroll for unemployment benefits, call Toll Free 1-888-313-7284 or 1-215-856-6990
Also you may sign-up on line www.dli.state.pa.us
Flight attendants who utilized only 26 weeks of unemployment compensation may be eligible for an extension.
To find out your what your unemployment benefits are in PA, please contact the Pennsylvania Unemployment Office for specific information.
1-888-313-7284.
Involuntary Furlough And Displacement Q&A
Q: What is an Involuntary Furlough?
A: An involuntary Furlough is a reduction in personnel achieved in inverse seniority order starting with the most junior flight attendant. An involuntarily furloughed flight attendant is one who has received a furlough notice and has actually been furloughed as outlined in Section 19 of the Contract.
Q: What is a Voluntary Furlough?
A: A Voluntary Furlough is a reduction in personnel achieved in seniority order starting with the most senior flight attendant, in which a flight attendant can volunteer/elect to be furloughed.
Q: What do I need to do if I am furloughed?
A: A furloughed flight attendant must file his/her address with the company and advise Inflight Services of any change of address. The Company will provide the Union with these addresses and any change of addresses within 14 days.
Q: How long will the furloughs last?
A: We do not know. Some Company reports indicate that it will not be short term. Recall rights do not expire; therefore all furloughed Flight Attendants must be recalled before hiring off the street.
Q: Are involuntary furloughed flight attendants entitled to compensation?
A: Yes. However, AFA and the Company are in disagreement on the interpretation of our contractual language.
The company is required to pay furlough pay to any involuntarily furloughed flight attendant who has completed at least one year or more of service. Furlough pay is based on the furloughed FA's years of active service and the average number of hours
in the 12 months prior to the furlough date as per the chart below.
"The company is refusing to award furlough pay to flight attendants who took a voluntary furlough and were subsequently involuntarily furloughed claiming that they did not have twelve "active" months. Language: Section 19K"
Union position: The statement "the twelve months prior to the furlough date as per the following...Does not denote the twelve months must be active. As a policy argument, the company relied on flight attendants taking a voluntary furlough to minimize the number of involuntary furloughs. The company is therefore unjustly enriched by not paying flight attendants who would have otherwise qualified for furlough pay."
- Another Grievance has been filed!
Q. My status changed from voluntary furlough to involuntary. Am I eligible for furlough pay?
A. The contractual right to furlough pay lives on regardless of a VF or not. The problem is this, if you have been on VF or any type of leave, you have not been active during those months and would not be eligible for full furlough pay. Furlough pay is based on years of service AND the AVERAGE number of hours flown in the 12 months prior to the furlough.
YEARS OF ACTIVE SERVICE FURLOUGH PAY
1 year but less than 2 .5 month
2 years but less than 3 1.0 month
3 years but less than 4 1.5 months
4 years but less than 5 2.0 months
5 years but less than 6 2.5 months
6 years but less than 7 3.0 months
7 years but less than 8 3.5 months
8 years but less than 9 4.0 months
9 years and thereafter 4.5 months
Q: What will happen to my unused vacation?
A: Upon request and at the flight attendant's option, he/she will receive a vacation pay out for all vacation accrued to date. Remember, YOU MUST ASK FOR IT NOW, IN ORDER TO RECEIVE IT
The accrued vacation may also be carried over until the flight attendant is recalled. If you choose to be paid out, it will be in a lump sum based on Section 7.B.1. and 2. You must make this decision at the time of furlough, and the decision cannot be revisited.
Q: What happens to any accrued sick time?
A: It remains intact in your sick bank contingent upon return to active status.
Q: Can I apply for unemployment if I am Involuntary Furlough?
A: Yes. Contact your State Unemployment office immediately upon commencement of the involuntary furlough. If you live in a state other than the one in which you are based, you can file an out of state claim in your home state.
Q: Are medical, dental, and life insurance benefits available during the furlough period?
A: As long as a furloughed flight attendant is receiving furlough pay, he/she and their dependents are eligible to remain on the company's group medical, dental, and life insurance plans and for a period of 60 days thereafter. COBRA coverage for medical and dental insurance is available for 18 months or until the flight attendant is covered under another insurance plan, whichever comes earlier. Life insurance coverage ceases after 60 days but the flight attendant may covert the coverage to an individual whole life policy. The Company will provide COBRA coverage rates to you.
Q: How will the Company recall furloughed flight attendants?
A: Furloughed flight attendants will be recalled in order of his/her seniority at the time of furlough. If a flight attendant fails to accept a recall, they will remain on furlough status. The Company will then continue to recall more junior flight attendants. A furloughed flight attendant who fails to accept a recall when there are no more junior flight attendants on furlough shall be considered to have resigned from the Company.
Q: Can I be displaced from my current domicile?
A: Displacements may occur since a more senior flight attendant can displace a junior flight attendant at a domicile.
Q: Will the Company pay for any expenses if I am displaced?
A: A flight attendant who would have been furloughed had it not been for this Voluntary Furlough program, and who is displaced as a result of staffing reductions will not be entitled to moving expenses but will be entitled to Settling Days in accordance with Section 5.E.1."
Q: Are displaced flight attendants entitled to settling days?
A: Upon request, the Company shall provide a flight attendant with five (5) consecutive calendar days free of all duty, three (3) days of which shall be paid and credited at a rate of five (5:00) hours per day, for the purpose of relocating. The three (3) days of pay and credit in the preceding sentence is contingent on the following:
(1) A line holder flight attendant may claim up to three (3) days of pay and credit provided the settling day(s) for which pay is claimed falls on a scheduled duty day as defined by the flight attendant's monthly line award.
(2) A reserve flight attendant may claim up to three (3) days of pay and credit provided a junior flight attendant is utilized on the settling day(s) for which pay is claimed.
b. The request for settling days pursuant to this section above must be made in advance to Crew Scheduling and the Company will honor the five (5) days requested by the flight attendant, provided adequate reserve coverage is available on such days.
c. In the event the Company is able to grant the settling days requested by the flight attendant, payment for such settling days will be in accordance with this section.
d. In the event the Company is unable to grant the specific settling days requested by the flight attendant, alternate settling days will be provided as close to the days initially requested by the flight attendant, and settling expenses will be paid until such five (5) consecutive calendar days free from all duty are given.
e. Settling and en-route expenses will consist of reasonable actual expenses, when substantiated by receipts for a flight attendant and his/her family members incurred for meals, lodging, and telephone calls. Extraordinary expenses will be allowed as circumstances indicate.
f. The provisions of Paragraphs 6.a. through e. above shall not be utilized to reduce subsequent days off.
Q: What is the dues obligation for a flight attendant who has been furloughed?
A: A flight attendant on involuntary furlough becomes inactive at the end of the month in which they are furloughed. The dues obligation is directed only to members/service charge payers, who are on active status for any month or portion there of. If a member is receiving furlough pay, they are obligated to pay regular dues for those months covered. Therefore, an involuntary furlough equates to no dues obligation except while receiving furlough pay.
Q: Can a member hold office or vote while inactive and on furlough?
A: No.
Q: What is the dues obligation for a member taking a Voluntary Furlough?
A: A member taking a voluntary furlough is considered to be on a leave of absence in lieu of furlough. Members on leaves of absence are active for the first 90 days of any leave and have a 3-month dues obligation. After 90 days, the member becomes inactive and has no further dues obligation until return to active status.
Q: Are on-line travel passes available to involuntarily furloughed flight attendants?
A: Unlimited on line passes are available for the length of the furlough.
Q: Is a furloughed flight attendant required to get the company's permission with regards to interim employment?
A: No. However, a furloughed flight attendant, who can substantiate that alternate employment would require him/her to sign a contract with an interim employer for a specific period of time that would exceed three years has to file a request and submit substantiated documentation for approval by the Inflight Services Department Head prior to accepting such interim employment. If the flight attendant is recalled and unavailable for the above reason, he/she will be considered on leave of absence.
Q: What happens if a furloughed flight attendant accepts other employment or goes to school while on furlough and is then subsequently recalled back to work?
A: If the employment requires a contractual commitment for a period of up to three (3) years, the flight attendant shall be allowed to fulfill such obligation with the provision that the flight attendant shall be considered to be on personal leave of absence commencing with the date of recall until fulfillment of such employment obligation, provided the flight attendant notified the Company PRIOR to such contractual commitment. A flight attendant who has entered into a full time educational program while on furlough and who receives notice of recall before said program is completed, shall be placed on a leave of absence (personal) commencing with the date of recall for up to ninety (90) days or until the end of the current semester, whichever is first.
Q: Will I continue to accrue pension service credits during the furlough period?
A: Pension service credits will continue to accrue for the first three (3) years of each furlough, provided the flight attendant returns to active employment consistent with recall procedures.
They say that when one door closes another one opens up. Please keep your eyes open for that other door. We will miss you.
Take Care and Fly Safe,
Mollie McCarthy
LEC President
Council 70 - PHL/PHW
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