Good News...More Flight Attendant recalls

[nyc6035]

The Maint recall list has been exhausted and they are having trouble finding workers to do the work they have. Several of their maintenance intiatives have been pushed back months, things that were planned to start in January still havent been started because of manpower. They were planning on adding 900 heads this year, good luck.

Sounds like closing MCI wasn't such a good decision after all.

 

[jimntx]

I agree, what does AA have to gain by not going into a 30 day cooling off period?

Bob, think about it. What does AA have to gain by not going into a 30-day cooling off period?

1. First off, it is not a cooling off period, it is the cooling off period.
2. To avoid a strike which could possibly be the death of the corporation (depending on its length), they would have to get serious about offering the flight attendants a TA that would have some hope of ratification. Nothing they have done since negotiations opened has come even close to that goal.
3. They continue to pay wages to f/as equivalent to about 1995-2000 (thanks to our beloved RLA).
4. And on, and on, and on

The company has a lot to gain and nothing to lose (again thanks to the RLA) by not agreeing to a new TA. They and the union know that no TA without serious money on the table has a snowball's chance in hell of ratification by the f/as.

 

[Skymess]

Let's go over a few things.

The company is not doing recalls because we sign letters of agreement. If they need bodies, they will do recalls. Its that simple.

The company is playing hardball with our contracts, our livelihoods, and our ability to live our lives. Why would the union even think of being agreeable. Their hard line rhetoric is nonsense. The company keeps giving us virtual wedgies everytime we cave, regardless how small people think some of these items are.

If we had no CM speakers the positions would all go to our most senior FAs. That would create more bid sheet diversity in seniority order. If the company did not get this agreement and they wanted speakers they would have to block 3 revenue seats which would get pretty expensive. We just saved them money and got nothing for it.
Be sure to send your base chair a huge thank you for holding up your life.

 

[Bob Owens]

Bob, think about it. What does AA have to gain by not going into a 30-day cooling off period?

1. First off, it is not a cooling off period, it is the cooling off period.
2. To avoid a strike which could possibly be the death of the corporation (depending on its length), they would have to get serious about offering the flight attendants a TA that would have some hope of ratification. Nothing they have done since negotiations opened has come even close to that goal.
3. They continue to pay wages to f/as equivalent to about 1995-2000 (thanks to our beloved RLA).
4. And on, and on, and on

The company has a lot to gain and nothing to lose (again thanks to the RLA) by not agreeing to a new TA. They and the union know that no TA without serious money on the table has a snowball's chance in hell of ratification by the f/as.

Well maybe I wasnt clear enough, let me rephrase it, "What does AA have to gain by not dragging talks out as long as possible, right into a 30day cooling off period? We already know that the company will do whatever they can to drag things out, both the TWU and APFA asked to be released last year and the company begged the NMB to not release us. The longer they drag it out the more they save.

1. No its "a" cooling off period, which could be followed by a PEB and turning it over to Congress. My guess is the possibility of a PEB is pretty high due to the consolidation of the industry and high load factors.

2.You can still avoid a strike when you go into the 30 day cooling off period right up to midnight, day 30.

 

[nbmcg01]

What a minute.... Dont you think if AA wanted to extend the recall rights FOR ALL F/As the union would go for it ??? I think AA does not want to extend the recall rights. They want to hire fresh blood..... we need some fresh blood at this company..... It's time.

From AAnegotiations.com signed off 7/09

Article 16 - Reduction in Force•The main item on which the parties agreed concerning this article is to extend unlimited recall rights for flight attendants whose names appeared on the recall list as of October 2, 2009.
•Additionally, in no case shall a senior flight attendant furloughed after October 2, 2009, have a recall period shorter than a more junior flight attendant.

So just what did LG get?

AA is ready to hire, no more no less. This was already a done deal.

 

[Maark767]

From AAnegotiations.com signed off 7/09

Article 16 - Reduction in Force•The main item on which the parties agreed concerning this article is to extend unlimited recall rights for flight attendants whose names appeared on the recall list as of October 2, 2009.
•Additionally, in no case shall a senior flight attendant furloughed after October 2, 2009, have a recall period shorter than a more junior flight attendant.

So just what did LG get?

AA is ready to hire, no more no less. This was already a done deal.

Well LG got the company to recall 200 F/As from furlough , sooner than later. The above agreement was signed off without any definite dates for recalls coming back. Company can hire CM speakers and union got 200 of our brothers and sisters back to work.....

 

[nbmcg01]

Well LG got the company to recall 200 F/As from furlough , sooner than later. The above agreement was signed off without any definite dates for recalls coming back. Company can hire CM speakers and union got 200 of our brothers and sisters back to work.....

Seriously...lol Are you aware that the company hasn't even contacted our furloughed to inquire how many can speak Mandarin. This was coming, it has been well known and LG....

 

[czerny]

1. Our seniority broke down pretty much like this: 4200 f/as 1/4 were new hires or very junior (by the way we had 7 years recall) 1/2 made up the middle seniorities and 1/4 were "senior". Combined we were 24000..so much

Rock hits the nail on the head. According to AA, recall was already a done deal way before this agreement. LG had a prime opportunity to get what the membership wanted, a signed contract. She blew this opportunity. Pure and simple. AA needs the Mandarin speakers and the f/as need a contract. hummmmmmm To the best of my knowledge AA has not polled those furloughed to see how many might be available to fill the needed slots. A good percetage of our f/as were multi-lingual. I came to TWA from PanAm and was qualified in several languages. I dropped them when AA acquired TWA because of the AA workrules re: speakers. We also had a base in Hong Kong back in my day..lol I know we have several, possibly even Mark K. I thought I saw him write something on another site. It really is a shame that the APFA missed another opportunity to shine. I'm sure the conspiracy theories will be coming full force. They (the APFA) just gave it away.

Yes, LG should have taken the need for CM speakers as a leverage and she didn't. I had her on a flight. Not impressed. Cantonese is the main dialect in Hong Kong and the one former TWA furloughed fa I talked to in New York speaks Cantonese, not Mandarin. Mandarin and Cantonese are very different in intonation and pronunciation of many words. I'm not saying a Cantonese person cannot speak Mandarin or learn the dialect. I was on furlough when ORD-PVG started and 5 of us in my class spoke Mandarin and none of us were ever given an opportunity to test and be recalled immediately. We had to wait 2 more years to be recalled. So, the furloughed fas this time got a better deal than we did. Way better.

 

[jersey777]

From AAnegotiations.com signed off 7/09

Article 16 - Reduction in Force•The main item on which the parties agreed concerning this article is to extend unlimited recall rights for flight attendants whose names appeared on the recall list as of October 2, 2009.
•Additionally, in no case shall a senior flight attendant furloughed after October 2, 2009, have a recall period shorter than a more junior flight attendant.

So just what did LG get?

AA is ready to hire, no more no less. This was already a done deal.

Yes. This was part of the settled contract but one in which the company set a cost to. The APFA disputed the cost associated with this settled item so this agreement takes one more item off the negotiations table.


You do know that the LGA base chair.....a former TWA flight attendant...voted in favor of this provision. That just goes to prove to me that you do not speak for everyone that used to work for TWA even though you have taken on that role.

 

[kirkpatrick]

I'm amazed that so many FAs actually came back. I'm glad they got what they wanted but I dont understand how they didnt find something better after all these years.

Bob, you don't seem to realize that this isn't about the money. One of my closest friends works ten minutes from his house and is chucking it to take a 10k per year pay cut and commute half way across the country for the privilege. He hates what he's doing and can't wait to get back to flying.

As for fresh blood, how many of you guys are willing to quit to help the company bring in this "fresh blood"? I thought so.

MK

 

[kirkpatrick]

Are you aware that the company hasn't even contacted our furloughed to inquire how many can speak Mandarin.

For the record, the agreement calls for pulling any CM speakers on the recall list and reducing the number hired off the street by the same amount. Not that they'll get more than one or two, if that many.

MK

 

[nbmcg01]

For the record, the agreement calls for pulling any CM speakers on the recall list and reducing the number hired off the street by the same amount. Not that they'll get more than one or two, if that many.

MK

Yes, I am.. cart before horse.

Yes, I'm aware that NY Chair voted yes. Apples and oranges. I only speak for myself on this board. The opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

 

[frontline]

This is great news! I'm glad to see that Glading was able to calm down for a minute and do a deal that will help her members. I would have expected more grandstanding from her, so good for her, and congrats to everyone that will be coming back as a result.

 

[Flyboy4u]

This is great news! I'm glad to see that Glading was able to calm down for a minute and do a deal that will help her members. I would have expected more grandstanding from her, so good for her, and congrats to everyone that will be coming back as a result.

Can someone please answer a question? Shouldn't the furlough list be completely recalled prior to hiring anyone off of the street reguardless of language qualifications, or not? Isn't this an issue of Seniority?

 

[Flyboy4u]

Can someone please answer a question? Shouldn't the furlough list be completely recalled prior to hiring anyone off of the street reguardless of language qualifications, or not? Isn't this an issue of Seniority?

Just Answered my own question..This is an email sent out by the ORD Chairs. Wow....Dirty Politics!
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ORD E-Mail Group,

I'd like to start with an apology in not sending this information out in a more timely manner. I was in DFW all of last week with the Board of Director's Briefing/Meeting on Wednesday, and then I had to stay for the APFA Budget Committee meeting which took place on Thursday and Friday. I did not return to Chicago until late Friday.

The announcement was made on Friday that the APFA and the company have agreed to give the remaining furloughs unlimited recall rights in exchange for the hiring of 30 Mandarin speakers outside the terms of the Contract.

I strongly feel that I need to address some of your concerns and issues.

This whole issue surfaced last week and a Board of Director's (BOD) briefing/meeting was called for this past Wednesday in DFW to brief the Board on how all of this came about. After some very intense and heated discussions, it was decided by the majority of the BOD to support this decision. 368 recalls were planned for this Summer/Fall. Laura was able to get the company to agree to increase the number of recalls in the next 2 rounds by an additional 200 F/A's. After all of these furloughs are brought back, we should have approximately 200+ furloughs left. This group will begin to fall off the Recall List in November and January. Thus, the decision was made to give this last group unlimited recall rights in exchange for allowing the company to hire 30 Mandarin speakers.

First and foremost, a union's primary responsibility is to protect ALL jobs. That is what APFA is trying to do here - plain and simple. It would be irresponsible for us not to do everything in our power not to try and get these F/A's back.

These Mandarin speakers will have certain restrictions places on them:

- They will be placed on the bottom of the seniority list - behind all furloughs.
- They will be fenced in to LAX-I. If the Shanghai route does not pan out, they will be the first to be furloughed.
- They will also be APFA members. Would you rather have another 30 APFA members or 30 members of management on these flights? Does Moscow ring a bell? Those Russian "speakers" were not APFA F/A's - they were management positions. By agreeing to let the company hire the Mandarin speakers as F/A's, they will be APFA members - not management.

Some may say "Why are we giving the company anything, when we don't even have a contract"? I couldn't agree more, and until the BOD meeting, I strongly felt the same way. After our briefing, and after I received all of the facts, I then gained a clearer perspective on why APFA did what they did. I support their decision.

There were some back door negotiations by 2 TWA F/A's with their Congressman from Missouri. One of these F/A's is none other than the current SLT Chairperson. This was unbeknownst to APFA. In a nutshell, the Congressman then contacted Laura Glading and basically pushed her into a corner - either grant the remaining furloughs unlimited recall rights, or he would add an amendment to the FAA Authorization Bill granting the TWA F/A's their full seniority. Plain and simple, APFA was being blackmailed!
Questions:

1. Can he legally do this? Yes - any Congressman or Senator can add any amendment to a bill.

2. Would it have passed? Who knows. This bill has been stalled in Congress for quite a while, and the Republicans are now threatening to strip all of the OSHA protection out of the current bill.

3. Why not call his bluff? This is where the real danger lies. I am not willing to put my members at risk - period. You also have to consider how this would have looked to other members in Congress if a Union was not willing to protect Union jobs. Ask yourselves this - If we do not obtain a contract, and it gets sent to a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), how do you think Congress would legislate our new contract? Say goodbye to your pension, your Retiree Medical Benefits, pay, work rules, etc. Why would Congress side with a Union that is not willing to protect jobs? You also have to look at what is going on in Wisconsin and Ohio - the mentality out there is to strip the Unions of all their power.

When you look at all of these things together, I for one am not willing to risk any of this and put APFA's membership in harm's way.

The vast majority of you are extremely frustrated not only with the company, but also with APFA. I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND! In trying to obtain a new contract, not only are we facing a company that is constantly dragging their feet, but we are now on our 4th Arbitrator at the National Mediation Board (NMB). That certainly has not helped our cause. Laura met with the 3 member Board at the NMB earlier last week. She plead our case, and from her statements to the BOD, she feels that the NMB has a much better understanding on where APFA stands, and how far the company is out of touch. We should be hearing soon on what the NMB's recommendations will be.

I have heard many comments lately on how the membership has lost complete faith in the Leadership at APFA. Not to get on my soap box, but I can personally tell you that Laura has worked tirelessly for the members at APFA. She understands your frustration and anger - most of us are at our rope's end - not only mentally, but also financially. Could communication from HDQ be better? Yes - and I will continue to do everything in my power to communicate any information that I know, and when I know it.

On a different note - It was also shared with us that AA is poised for some very strong growth in the not too distant future. And I am not talking about Eagle! I know that I, and all of you, are looking for some real movement. I feel that would help a lot with the extremely low morality that is present. Both Debbie Dent and I fight tooth-and-nail for ORD - we know the bidsheet sucks; we know Reserve sucks; we know the sit time sucks, etc. We would be remorse if we did not fight every day to improve the working lives of every ORD FA. We take that responsibility very seriously.

In closing, I want to personally thank each and every ORD Flight Attendant. Thank you for standing by Debbie and me. We both take extreme pride in representing you! And I will give you my personal guarantee that we will continue to do everything in our power to get you where you need to be.

In Unity,