Dear Members:
The following letter (below) is posted on AEINFLIGHT.COM, the company's Inflight Department's Web Site. This letter accuses your AFA Leadership of false and misleading information in regards to Debra McDougald's unfair and horrific treatment by her Inflight manager, Melissa Hendrickson.
The mere fact that the company is using these tragic events to personally attack me and my credibility shows that the company is clearly in the wrong and they are grasping at straws and looking for every way possible to destroy unity and to take the focus off of my original letter regarding Debra.
Truth be known, your AFA Contract Negotiations Committee along with the Company Negotiating Committee discussed a joint filing for Mediation just a few short weeks ago during our last session of Negotiations in Dallas.
Now the company is trying to make it appear that they are filing for mediation because of their inability to work with me. While it is still my intent to work with the company to get the VERY BEST contract that OUR MEMBERS DESERVE, I will not, repeat, WILL NOT give up until the company responds to my request in regards to the Debra McDougald situation.
The Union is here to not only get a REAL contract, but, to protect the human rights of our employees. The correspondence the company has published in recent days is filled with misleading statements. If the company desires to offer our members a fair and equitable contract, then why have their proposals been of a concessionary nature?
Ladies and Gentlemen, the company has gone way over the line when it comes to labor relations. They have clearly demonstrated NO COMPASSION to our members needs. The very thought that they would use Debra as an excuse to attack AFA and it's leadership leaves me with strong doubts of our Company Leadership.
In Unity,
Bill Hennessey
Posted On www.aeinflight.com
September 12, 2003
Dear American Eagle Flight Attendant,
As many of you are aware, the contract between American Eagle and the AFA became
amendable September 2, 2002. Negotiations began in May 2001 and the company’s
negotiating committee, including VP Labor Relations Rose Doria and later VP Flight
Service Linda Kunz, has been meeting with members of the AFA contract negotiating
team to try and reach agreement on the terms of a new contract. Unfortunately, we
have not made a lot of progress.
There are many outside factors that contribute to this delay. Industry turmoil following
the events of 9/11, severe financial difficulties of our parent company AMR, numerous
outside issues that affected the economic stability of our business such as the Gulf War,
SARS, APA/ALPA scope issues. None of these are a direct cause for the delay,
however they have been distracting and have made it difficult for both the AFA and
Eagle to determine what a fair contract looks like.
We want to negotiate a fair and equitable contract, and while we are dealing with the
realities facing our industry today, we are intent on avoiding cuts that are affecting other
carriers. We believe our flight attendants should have a fair contract that also keeps
Eagle competitive within the regional industry.
In addition to all the uncertainty resulting from all of the external factors, the negotiating
process has been made more difficult because of the changes in AFA leadership. As
members of the MEC and negotiating team have changed, the priorities have changed
as well.
The current MEC President, Bill Hennessey, has recently circulated e-mails, Web site
postings and letters that contain false and misleading information. While I disagree with
most of the things he has published recently, I do agree with Bill on one point – Enough
is Enough!
We believe our Flight Attendants want these negotiations concluded quickly, and we are
committed to reaching agreement and concluding this process. Therefore, today we
asked the National Mediation Board to assign a mediator to assist us in reaching a
reasonable agreement.
We all want an agreement, we all agree that American Eagle flight attendants deserve a
fair contract, and we want to work with your union leadership to get this accomplished
quickly.
Sincerely,
R. Stan Henderson
Chief Operations Officer :down:
The following letter (below) is posted on AEINFLIGHT.COM, the company's Inflight Department's Web Site. This letter accuses your AFA Leadership of false and misleading information in regards to Debra McDougald's unfair and horrific treatment by her Inflight manager, Melissa Hendrickson.
The mere fact that the company is using these tragic events to personally attack me and my credibility shows that the company is clearly in the wrong and they are grasping at straws and looking for every way possible to destroy unity and to take the focus off of my original letter regarding Debra.
Truth be known, your AFA Contract Negotiations Committee along with the Company Negotiating Committee discussed a joint filing for Mediation just a few short weeks ago during our last session of Negotiations in Dallas.
Now the company is trying to make it appear that they are filing for mediation because of their inability to work with me. While it is still my intent to work with the company to get the VERY BEST contract that OUR MEMBERS DESERVE, I will not, repeat, WILL NOT give up until the company responds to my request in regards to the Debra McDougald situation.
The Union is here to not only get a REAL contract, but, to protect the human rights of our employees. The correspondence the company has published in recent days is filled with misleading statements. If the company desires to offer our members a fair and equitable contract, then why have their proposals been of a concessionary nature?
Ladies and Gentlemen, the company has gone way over the line when it comes to labor relations. They have clearly demonstrated NO COMPASSION to our members needs. The very thought that they would use Debra as an excuse to attack AFA and it's leadership leaves me with strong doubts of our Company Leadership.
In Unity,
Bill Hennessey
Posted On www.aeinflight.com
September 12, 2003
Dear American Eagle Flight Attendant,
As many of you are aware, the contract between American Eagle and the AFA became
amendable September 2, 2002. Negotiations began in May 2001 and the company’s
negotiating committee, including VP Labor Relations Rose Doria and later VP Flight
Service Linda Kunz, has been meeting with members of the AFA contract negotiating
team to try and reach agreement on the terms of a new contract. Unfortunately, we
have not made a lot of progress.
There are many outside factors that contribute to this delay. Industry turmoil following
the events of 9/11, severe financial difficulties of our parent company AMR, numerous
outside issues that affected the economic stability of our business such as the Gulf War,
SARS, APA/ALPA scope issues. None of these are a direct cause for the delay,
however they have been distracting and have made it difficult for both the AFA and
Eagle to determine what a fair contract looks like.
We want to negotiate a fair and equitable contract, and while we are dealing with the
realities facing our industry today, we are intent on avoiding cuts that are affecting other
carriers. We believe our flight attendants should have a fair contract that also keeps
Eagle competitive within the regional industry.
In addition to all the uncertainty resulting from all of the external factors, the negotiating
process has been made more difficult because of the changes in AFA leadership. As
members of the MEC and negotiating team have changed, the priorities have changed
as well.
The current MEC President, Bill Hennessey, has recently circulated e-mails, Web site
postings and letters that contain false and misleading information. While I disagree with
most of the things he has published recently, I do agree with Bill on one point – Enough
is Enough!
We believe our Flight Attendants want these negotiations concluded quickly, and we are
committed to reaching agreement and concluding this process. Therefore, today we
asked the National Mediation Board to assign a mediator to assist us in reaching a
reasonable agreement.
We all want an agreement, we all agree that American Eagle flight attendants deserve a
fair contract, and we want to work with your union leadership to get this accomplished
quickly.
Sincerely,
R. Stan Henderson
Chief Operations Officer :down:
