AFA Labor Discussion (Work Conditions) 7-7 -

[BoeingBoy]

So I take it that the AFA made the decision? Being retired, it doesn't matter to me either way other than I think the two FA groups should have made the decision rather than having it imposed by the union.

Jim

 

[ebwgs]

He must be a 'legend' in his own mind - his statement? -'what they have neogiated is better than what the pilots have or will have....' /////show us the comparison..
This company will violate to 'protect the operation' whenever is suits them - and AFA will end up grieving it, their concern for a DFR, duty of fair representation, and the violation will continue until such grievance is heard....what a year or so later?
many are w/you Travelpro(and yes, the reserve language in this 'merged' agreement stinks, too much company control) - send them back, vote no.

Amen

 

[Al Legheny]

Amen

An interesting AFA perspective from a Northwest AFA Union MEC Officer.



____________________________________________________________________________________________

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Jose Arturo Ibarra" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 11:44:26 AM
Subject: Kate Day, AFA-CWA President Local 97 SFO

From: Kate Day, AFA - CWA President, Local 97

Dear Colleague,

When I first took office as your union representative four years ago, my
commitment was not only to represent you to the best of my ability, but to
remain forthright and forthcoming with you; to always be honest and to give
you the information that affects your career, whether it is pleasant or not.

I took my position very seriously and I tried to represent you with the
honesty, integrity and dedication that you continue to deserve. It is with
the purpose to keep that commitment to you intact that I write to you on my
last night as your LEC president.

Last year I wrote to you regarding misgivings I had about the choices some
members of the NWA MEC, International officers and others on the members'
payroll were making between their personal self-interests and the
advancement of the flight attendant profession. I explained then that I
would continue to serve as your LEC president, so long as I found a sense of
purpose and a benefit to you, not only in my service to you, but in my
participation within the broader AFA structure.

Unfortunately in that ensuing year, the interests of the members - your
interests - have been completely set aside in the name of a representational
campaign that appears by all current measure to be unending.

It became clear to me that AFA International, with the complicity of this
MEC, is more interested in 'appearances' for the sake of the campaign, than
in doing the right thing for the membership. We, as a group and as a
profession have suffered significantly, and, realizing that my vote as your
LEC president was not enough to overcome the duplicity and deceptions, I no
longer could participate in this organization in good conscience.

Among the numerous AFA transgressions, most importantly are the me-too and
scope grievances. AFA has refused to pursue the second me-too grievance to
arbitration, citing that it may cost $90,000 to arbitrate and that they
would lose votes if they lose the arbitration. This grievance is different
than the one AFA already lost, because it addresses substantial unilateral
raises the NWA pilots received in November 2008, a clear violation of LOA
35. I filed this grievance after our MEC grievance chair refused to do so;
and after languishing for over a year, the MEC was given the choice from the
International of not arbitrating it at all, or of waiting until after the
representational election. It is an abomination that AFA would set aside, or
in any way delay an arbitration that has the potential of restitution to
each one of us of thousands of dollars per year.

Similarly, AFA has made grave missteps along the way with regard to the
scope language in our contract. In some sort of display of defiant
arrogance, this MEC and the International have shunned the very Northwest
flight attendants who authored and negotiated our industry leading scope
language in the first place; and who fought to get it back twice before:
after the Hughes AirWest/Republic merger and after the Republic/Northwest
Orient merger. In an inexplicably shameless display, some LEC presidents
refused to be in the same room with these fellow union members. We all see
where we are as a result of this incompetence with regard to our scope
language and if anyone looks for a reason as to how we got here, it is
clearly a result of AFA's refusal to cooperate with its own members combined
with their lack of planning, preparation and anticipation of what the
company has been announcing for months. Quite simply, AFA refused to listen
to the experts and failed to take the necessary steps - steps that had been
taken in other airline mergers - to protect our scope language.

And while those are the two largest - and most alarming - breaches, there
are other individual examples where Northwest flight attendants have lost
their jobs because of secret back room deals where AFA leaders gave away
contract language, or as a result of AFA representatives' blunders at Q&As
and damaging testimony in arbitrations.

I am quite frankly stunned that AFA built a campaign around preserving our
contract, even as the AFA insiders fritter it away page by page, day after
day.

The list of egregious behavior is long. Here are some highlights:

* Pat Friend's secret private meetings with Doug Steenland during our
contract negotiations and her refusal to allow any NWA union leader to
attend the meetings.

* MEC officers simply taking money out of the flight attendant union
treasury to pay themselves unapproved bonuses amounting to thousands of
dollars. When I raised this issue, Bob Cannatelli, the BOS LEC president
told me, "No one cares about this."

* The lack of any sort of direction, plan or strategy from the
international office regarding our last contract negotiations, and the lack
of any sort of future plan to deliver to you the "industry leading contract"
that they keep promising.

* Grievances that have been left languishing past deadlines, or have
gone unfiled altogether because of laziness and ineptness.

* Pat Friend's participation in local council politics in collusion
with her political cronies at the LEC level, and her fast and loose
interpretation of the AFA Constitution, where she contradicts her own
rulings depending on which LEC she was dealing with.

* The election of MEC officers who are chosen, not on the basis of
experience or the competence to enforce our contract, but out of political
expediency or personal bias.

* The cover up of officially approved MEC meeting minutes to redact
information that might be embarrassing to AFA, including admissions that we
are not advancing certain contract grievances to arbitration because they
are "losers".

It is clear to me that the AFA structure is broken and leveraged by those
who are less interested in serving their members than they are in their own
political preservation. AFA keeps talking about a "bottom up" structure
where members drive the decisions the union makes, but nothing is further
from the truth in the daily operation of this union. True activists are
pushed aside to make way for subservient lackeys who refuse to question the
decisions that come down from the International. Even recent committee
appointments at our own MEC have been secretly given to good friends and
close political allies of those making the appointments. And somehow those
LEC presidents who are so keen to wield their so-called power refuse to
accept the responsibility that comes with that power. The end result is a
lot of finger-pointing and blame-placing and back room bickering and no
accountability to the members.

And for anyone who thinks that this will all be magically fixed once we have
"the vote", I am here to tell you that you are wrong. There are already
significant fractures between the Delta AFA organizers and the NWA AFA
organizers and another huge rift between the NWA MEC and the campaign folks.
The AFA structure engenders division over unity, contention over cooperation
and hostility over problem-solving, and the problems are just as bad - if
not worse - at other AFA represented carriers. Just the other day I learned
of a plan among some United LEC presidents to elect the lesser qualified
candidate for International President at the April Board of Directors
meeting, so that she would provide less competition when they advanced their
own candidate in three years. This is just one disturbing example of how the
members' interests get shoved aside in the interest of political
positioning.

So while it has been my humble honor to serve as your union representative
over these last four years, I was unable to continue participating in a
structure and an organization that does not serve you. I looked around at my
colleagues on the MEC and saw many who spent their time - not fighting for
you - but fighting for their own positions and their own expense accounts
and their own flight pay loss. Many of them violate the AFA Constitution on
a daily basis, by continuing to pay themselves a salary that is more than
allowed them. It's no wonder they are so keen to cover up the transgressions
of their cronies. I saw first hand what is meant by the phrase "As thick as
thieves," and it would have been hypocritical of me to continue to
participate in this sham once I realized there is no hope of overhauling the
organization.

I have great hope for a better future, but not if the problems of the last
four years continue at AFA. There is no leadership and no accountability to
the members who fund the organization. I look forward to seeing you on the
line.

All my best,
Kate Day, AFA - CWA President, Local 97

Pat Friend (AFA - CWA President) Response is found here.
http://joseaibarra.blogspot.com/2010/04/pat-friends-best-advice-off-with-her
.html <http://cts.vresp.com/c/?RankFile/97bb7a6842/9628e0d590/ee8d9a71c0>

 

[BajaBabe]

That has been the way it is ,like I said we will NEVER accept the garbage they sent us the last time. We are in charge of the perfect storm. Come on guys shake it off we are still the BEST

 

[Onestep2flt]

That has been the way it is ,like I said we will NEVER accept the garbage they sent us the last time. We are in charge of the perfect storm. Come on guys shake it off we are still the BEST

I would agree with you except that is your problem! There is a systemic problem within the union as a whole. You guys are always told it is your union when there is major evidence to the contrary. You MUST fix the problems before you can move forward. You can't just shake off leaches!! Your almighty Pat Friend will retire with a Full pension. What are you getting again? I think international officers should receive what there perspective airlines contract dictates. These positions also need term limits. This should not be a career. Same goes for your MC. First, I believe your flight attendants should be voting on ALL officer position whether LEC or MEC.

You guys need to start over on the MEC level. Someone said that it is too late in the game for that and I would disagree. If you allow this train to move on with the same conductor they will only stop at the stations of their little group that does not include every flight attendant.

"That has been the way it is" is just not aceptable. Just ignoring it will continue to be your greatest issue if you guys are to ever move forward with a contract that meets the needs of All flight attendants. Don't keep excepting non representation!! The letter from the Northwest LEC should be an eye opener for all of you.

 

[ebwgs]

I wish there was some way flight attendants could be represented by one big union working under a single contract a la Major League Sports. That would truly be Collective Bargaining. I know the are a millions reasons one can think of for it not happening, but if it did...

 

[PITbull]

An interesting AFA perspective from a Northwest AFA Union MEC Officer.



____________________________________________________________________________________________

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Jose Arturo Ibarra" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 11:44:26 AM
Subject: Kate Day, AFA-CWA President Local 97 SFO

From: Kate Day, AFA - CWA President, Local 97

Dear Colleague,

When I first took office as your union representative four years ago, my
commitment was not only to represent you to the best of my ability, but to
remain forthright and forthcoming with you; to always be honest and to give
you the information that affects your career, whether it is pleasant or not.

I took my position very seriously and I tried to represent you with the
honesty, integrity and dedication that you continue to deserve. It is with
the purpose to keep that commitment to you intact that I write to you on my
last night as your LEC president.

Last year I wrote to you regarding misgivings I had about the choices some
members of the NWA MEC, International officers and others on the members'
payroll were making between their personal self-interests and the
advancement of the flight attendant profession. I explained then that I
would continue to serve as your LEC president, so long as I found a sense of
purpose and a benefit to you, not only in my service to you, but in my
participation within the broader AFA structure.

Unfortunately in that ensuing year, the interests of the members - your
interests - have been completely set aside in the name of a representational
campaign that appears by all current measure to be unending.

It became clear to me that AFA International, with the complicity of this
MEC, is more interested in 'appearances' for the sake of the campaign, than
in doing the right thing for the membership. We, as a group and as a
profession have suffered significantly, and, realizing that my vote as your
LEC president was not enough to overcome the duplicity and deceptions, I no
longer could participate in this organization in good conscience.

Among the numerous AFA transgressions, most importantly are the me-too and
scope grievances. AFA has refused to pursue the second me-too grievance to
arbitration, citing that it may cost $90,000 to arbitrate and that they
would lose votes if they lose the arbitration. This grievance is different
than the one AFA already lost, because it addresses substantial unilateral
raises the NWA pilots received in November 2008, a clear violation of LOA
35. I filed this grievance after our MEC grievance chair refused to do so;
and after languishing for over a year, the MEC was given the choice from the
International of not arbitrating it at all, or of waiting until after the
representational election. It is an abomination that AFA would set aside, or
in any way delay an arbitration that has the potential of restitution to
each one of us of thousands of dollars per year.

Similarly, AFA has made grave missteps along the way with regard to the
scope language in our contract. In some sort of display of defiant
arrogance, this MEC and the International have shunned the very Northwest
flight attendants who authored and negotiated our industry leading scope
language in the first place; and who fought to get it back twice before:
after the Hughes AirWest/Republic merger and after the Republic/Northwest
Orient merger. In an inexplicably shameless display, some LEC presidents
refused to be in the same room with these fellow union members. We all see
where we are as a result of this incompetence with regard to our scope
language and if anyone looks for a reason as to how we got here, it is
clearly a result of AFA's refusal to cooperate with its own members combined
with their lack of planning, preparation and anticipation of what the
company has been announcing for months. Quite simply, AFA refused to listen
to the experts and failed to take the necessary steps - steps that had been
taken in other airline mergers - to protect our scope language.

And while those are the two largest - and most alarming - breaches, there
are other individual examples where Northwest flight attendants have lost
their jobs because of secret back room deals where AFA leaders gave away
contract language, or as a result of AFA representatives' blunders at Q&As
and damaging testimony in arbitrations.

I am quite frankly stunned that AFA built a campaign around preserving our
contract, even as the AFA insiders fritter it away page by page, day after
day.

The list of egregious behavior is long. Here are some highlights:

* Pat Friend's secret private meetings with Doug Steenland during our
contract negotiations and her refusal to allow any NWA union leader to
attend the meetings.

* MEC officers simply taking money out of the flight attendant union
treasury to pay themselves unapproved bonuses amounting to thousands of
dollars. When I raised this issue, Bob Cannatelli, the BOS LEC president
told me, "No one cares about this."

* The lack of any sort of direction, plan or strategy from the
international office regarding our last contract negotiations, and the lack
of any sort of future plan to deliver to you the "industry leading contract"
that they keep promising.

* Grievances that have been left languishing past deadlines, or have
gone unfiled altogether because of laziness and ineptness.

* Pat Friend's participation in local council politics in collusion
with her political cronies at the LEC level, and her fast and loose
interpretation of the AFA Constitution, where she contradicts her own
rulings depending on which LEC she was dealing with.

* The election of MEC officers who are chosen, not on the basis of
experience or the competence to enforce our contract, but out of political
expediency or personal bias.

* The cover up of officially approved MEC meeting minutes to redact
information that might be embarrassing to AFA, including admissions that we
are not advancing certain contract grievances to arbitration because they
are "losers".

It is clear to me that the AFA structure is broken and leveraged by those
who are less interested in serving their members than they are in their own
political preservation. AFA keeps talking about a "bottom up" structure
where members drive the decisions the union makes, but nothing is further
from the truth in the daily operation of this union. True activists are
pushed aside to make way for subservient lackeys who refuse to question the
decisions that come down from the International. Even recent committee
appointments at our own MEC have been secretly given to good friends and
close political allies of those making the appointments. And somehow those
LEC presidents who are so keen to wield their so-called power refuse to
accept the responsibility that comes with that power. The end result is a
lot of finger-pointing and blame-placing and back room bickering and no
accountability to the members.

And for anyone who thinks that this will all be magically fixed once we have
"the vote", I am here to tell you that you are wrong. There are already
significant fractures between the Delta AFA organizers and the NWA AFA
organizers and another huge rift between the NWA MEC and the campaign folks.
The AFA structure engenders division over unity, contention over cooperation
and hostility over problem-solving, and the problems are just as bad - if
not worse - at other AFA represented carriers. Just the other day I learned
of a plan among some United LEC presidents to elect the lesser qualified
candidate for International President at the April Board of Directors
meeting, so that she would provide less competition when they advanced their
own candidate in three years. This is just one disturbing example of how the
members' interests get shoved aside in the interest of political
positioning.

So while it has been my humble honor to serve as your union representative
over these last four years, I was unable to continue participating in a
structure and an organization that does not serve you. I looked around at my
colleagues on the MEC and saw many who spent their time - not fighting for
you - but fighting for their own positions and their own expense accounts
and their own flight pay loss. Many of them violate the AFA Constitution on
a daily basis, by continuing to pay themselves a salary that is more than
allowed them. It's no wonder they are so keen to cover up the transgressions
of their cronies. I saw first hand what is meant by the phrase "As thick as
thieves," and it would have been hypocritical of me to continue to
participate in this sham once I realized there is no hope of overhauling the
organization.

I have great hope for a better future, but not if the problems of the last
four years continue at AFA. There is no leadership and no accountability to
the members who fund the organization. I look forward to seeing you on the
line.

All my best,
Kate Day, AFA - CWA President, Local 97

Pat Friend (AFA - CWA President) Response is found here.
http://joseaibarra.blogspot.com/2010/04/pat-friends-best-advice-off-with-her
.html <http://cts.vresp.com/c/?RankFile/97bb7a6842/9628e0d590/ee8d9a71c0>

I tend to believe that this letter is TRUE from this NW LECP. Everyone should be reading this, as these transgressions are from the TOP of the AFA organization down to the local.

YOU GUYS REALLY NEED A NEW UNION. JUST AS THE USAIRWAYS PILOTS DID. AFA IS WAY TOO RICH AND WAY TOO SELF SERVING. THEY ARE NOW JUST HOARDING YOUR $$DUES MONEY; NOT ARBITRATING WHEN THEY SHOULD, AND LETTING THINGS GO...BUT THEY LINE THEIR POCKETS.

YOU NEED TO BAND TOGETHER AND WIPE OUT THIS ORGANIZATION. PAT WAS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WITH US AS WELL, AND WE NEW THERE HAD TO BE SOME WRANGLING GOING ON WITH SENIOR MANAGEMENT.

YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GETRID OF OF THESE FOLKS UNLESS YOU START TO CLEAR OUT PHL LOCAL LEADERSHIP FIRST...THEN WORK YOUR WAY UP.

 

[BajaBabe]

I have seen this letter and have been around the block by the likes of AFA . Guess what folks we all know what we need, how many of us have suffered under the Curse. I survived it and am still standing Strong.I can not say anymore I have been to the Mountain and still believe in the Dream

 

[Onestep2flt]

I tend to believe that this letter is TRUE from this NW LECP. Everyone should be reading this, as these transgressions are from the TOP of the AFA organization down to the local.

YOU GUYS REALLY NEED A NEW UNION. JUST AS THE USAIRWAYS PILOTS DID. AFA IS WAY TOO RICH AND WAY TOO SELF SERVING. THEY ARE NOW JUST HOARDING YOUR $$DUES MONEY; NOT ARBITRATING WHEN THEY SHOULD, AND LETTING THINGS GO...BUT THEY LINE THEIR POCKETS.

YOU NEED TO BAND TOGETHER AND WIPE OUT THIS ORGANIZATION. PAT WAS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WITH US AS WELL, AND WE NEW THERE HAD TO BE SOME WRANGLING GOING ON WITH SENIOR MANAGEMENT.

YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GETRID OF OF THESE FOLKS UNLESS YOU START TO CLEAR OUT PHL LOCAL LEADERSHIP FIRST...THEN WORK YOUR WAY UP.

While I agree with the sentiment, I think you are a couple steps ahead of where they need to be at this point. I disagreed with someone else that you should not change your leadership midstream, but changing the union may be too tall an order this time around. If you do what the pilots did you may end up in the same situation they are in right now. Remember, ALL US Airways flight attendants have to be represented. I would think it would be an uphill battle to convince your coworkers on the west that getting rid of their union was a good idea. The only reason you are not in the same battle as the pilots is because the AFA merger clause was pretty well laid out. I seem to remember that your west counterparts did challenge that very policy. Fortunately for you ALL,(East and West) that issue is behind you now.

I think you need to start with leadership change first. Get a contract that is livable for all flight attendants for a while, then work on getting rid of the bloated bureaucracy known as the AFA.

 

[safety stud]

I love the dreams you all have of what to do with the union... However, they are all dreams... and worst off, you won't do anything about it!

For years, I have been talking about getting rid of AFA.... always fall on deaf ears...
For years, I have been talking about getting rid of certain negotiators... always on deaf ears...
For years, I have been talking about changing the LEC's at each base... always on deaf ears...

I hate to say it, but I told you so... You get what you paid for so to speak...

Another election down in CLT, and what did you do? .... Yea you guessed it.... Same-O-Same-O
BOD meeting's... Yea, you guessed it.... Same-O-Same-O
MEC meeting's Yea, you guessed it... Same-O-Same-O

Do you see the pattern here. Everyone talks a big game...
But all it is.... is just talk... Dreams... Who knows...

Change happens when you are backed into a corner with no where to go... The company knows this, and does everything within its power to push you just far enough, but not completely... And you take it... You don't like it, but you take it... You post about it... but you take it... You talk the big show, but you take it...

Until you organize as a whole, which isn't going to happen... You will just have to take whatever is given to you... You won't like it... You'll ***** about it... But you'll take it...

I am sooooo glad I left.... I just feel sorry for my friends still working for you that still have to deal with the "Hubub" you call a union... It's nothing more than a group of people that think they can do something for you....

Yea... Right.....

Just my opinion...

 

[Travelpro72]

I hate to admit it but you are 100% right. You cannot get a big enough group of f/a's to care and rally for a cause. Like I said in an earlier post somewhere, "You get the same few that go to union meeting because everyone is busy with life but when the "dress" was unveiled to the group you couldn't get into the crew room". People care but they don't. There is no end in sight.

 

[FlyGuyBWI]

I love the dreams you all have of what to do with the union... However, they are all dreams... and worst off, you won't do anything about it!

For years, I have been talking about getting rid of AFA.... always fall on deaf ears...
For years, I have been talking about getting rid of certain negotiators... always on deaf ears...
For years, I have been talking about changing the LEC's at each base... always on deaf ears...

I hate to say it, but I told you so... You get what you paid for so to speak...

Another election down in CLT, and what did you do? .... Yea you guessed it.... Same-O-Same-O
BOD meeting's... Yea, you guessed it.... Same-O-Same-O
MEC meeting's Yea, you guessed it... Same-O-Same-O

Do you see the pattern here. Everyone talks a big game...
But all it is.... is just talk... Dreams... Who knows...

Change happens when you are backed into a corner with no where to go... The company knows this, and does everything within its power to push you just far enough, but not completely... And you take it... You don't like it, but you take it... You post about it... but you take it... You talk the big show, but you take it...

Until you organize as a whole, which isn't going to happen... You will just have to take whatever is given to you... You won't like it... You'll ***** about it... But you'll take it...

I am sooooo glad I left.... I just feel sorry for my friends still working for you that still have to deal with the "Hubub" you call a union... It's nothing more than a group of people that think they can do something for you....

Yea... Right.....

Just my opinion...

When you're right, you're right ....

 

[jimntx]

I hate to admit it but you are 100% right. You cannot get a big enough group of f/a's to care and rally for a cause. Like I said in an earlier post somewhere, "You get the same few that go to union meeting because everyone is busy with life but when the "dress" was unveiled to the group you couldn't get into the crew room". People care but they don't. There is no end in sight.

If it's any consolation, I see the same thing at AA. A lot of talk, complaining, and wearing of red lanyards and little red disks. But, when it comes to getting in there and doing the dirty work, it's the same small group of people who actually believe (I think they're smoking those funny cigarettes with no label ) that they can make a difference.

When I was new in 2000 and based at DFW--by far the largest domestic base for AA--a new hire classmate of mine, who had been very active with AFA at Eagle before moving to AA, and I used to go to the base meeting every month if we were not flying. Many months, the base meeting consisted of the base chair, the base vice-chair, my classmate and me. This out of (at the time) 3000+ flight attendants most of whom lived in the DFW area. The base chair couldn't even get his appointed committee chairs to show up all the time.

 

[BajaBabe]

Listen up folks. Enough is enough and I am about to take the bull by the horns and attempt to recall this entire negotiating committee! They don’t give two squirrel squats and looking over the bylaws of AFA have failed in the most egregious way. This means making changes at LEC level so well get on board or get thrown over as you are dead weight. We are starting petitions to remove them period. John Anne and Allen ignored PHL the last time with a 99% vote to remove them I am tired of the slap in the face. You will represent us or you will be gone as who do you think you are? Just a heads up we have had it! You are looking down the barrel of a powder keg.

 

[Zarah]

Any official word on the number of Extended Leave VFs that accepted the recall?