This is probably the most honest record of this issue you will see...
Subject: Re: A message from THB.....
> Below you will find my DOL update. You may distribute this as
widely
> as you wish.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> August 2004
>
> Dear AA Flight Attendant Colleague,
>
> It is my hope that this update will be my last communication to
> my co-workers as an "activist in exile" awaiting the Department of
> Labor's (DOL) final ruling concerning my election complaint
stemming
> back to the March 12, 2004 APFA national officers' run-off
> balloting. I will assume that anyone reading this letter remembers
> that I lost the office of APFA President by a margin of 5 votes on
> that date. Following the certification of this election I filed an
> election complaint with a focus on the 412 voided ballots. The
> purpose of this letter is to give the members of APFA the best
update
> that I can, almost five months into this process, particularly
since
> our union is choosing to remain all but silent regarding this
matter.
>
> Here are the current facts that make up the chronological
history
> concerning my election dispute. I filed a timely election
complaint
> with my union in accordance with the APFA Constitution on March 23,
> 2004. Our current constitution has a two step internal process to
> review an election complaint.
>
> Step one - the APFA National Ballot Committee (NBC) reviewed my
> complaint. I received a letter from the NBC in April sharing their
> research regarding this complaint. They informed me that their
> research had found 3 voided ballots that in their opinion should
have
> been counted; further, that since these 3 ballots would not have
> impacted the presidential race they would not be opening these said
> ballots. Later that month I filed a timely appeal with the APFA
> Executive Committee (EC).
>
> Step two - the EC on the last possible date allowed in
accordance
> with our current constitution, held two days of research and review
> in May and found 13 more voided ballots that the majority of the EC
> found should have been counted. Steven Ellis, a member of this
> executive body and who was also a presidential candidate in the
> primary of this national officer's election, authored a resolution
to
> direct a count of these now 16 ballots. On three separate meeting
> dates (May 11, May 18, and June 28, 2004) this Ellis resolution was
> entered into the EC record, as a resolution both seconded and
> discussed, but never voted on due to three members of this APFA
> executive body refusing to participate in the vote. By either
> refusing to be present or choosing to leave the meeting these 3
> members prevented any further EC action on this matter. This is
due to the requirement in our current constitution of a 7-member quorum
> of the EC "in order to conduct the business of the APFA" (page 15
of the current constitution).
>
> Since my internal election dispute was blocked at the
> constitutional EC appeal level, and thus no decision was made, on
May
> 29, 2004 I filed a timely election complaint with the U.S.
Department
> of Labor (DOL) in accordance with the Labor Management Reporting
and
> Disclosure Act (LMRDA). On July 13, 2004 the DOL District Director
> of the Office of Labor-Management Standards wrote to the president
of
> our union with a pre-determination and very specific preliminary
> investigative findings. This was following 6 weeks of
investigation
> and three agreed to extensions of time limits.
>
> The current APFA President shared this above information with
the
> APFA Board of Directors late in the day on the final day of their
> recent meeting (July 27, 2004), urging no action to these specific
> DOL's findings. Two board resolutions stemmed directly from these
> closed session board discussions regarding this matter - Resolution
> #17 and Substitute Resolution #17. Though the presentation from
the
> president and general counsel of our union were only heard by the
> Board members and Executive Committee members in closed session,
both
> resolutions are on the record of this 4th board meeting in 5
months.
> Substitute resolution #17 directed the NBC in conjunction with
> neutral parties to open the sixteen questionable ballots, as
> determined by both the Ellis Resolution and the initial DOL
findings -
> this resolution failed by a 7/yes - 11/no vote. Resolution #17,
> which passed by a vote of 11/yes - 7/no, found that no action was
> necessary at this point regarding the July 13, 2004 DOL's
> investigative findings. You will be able to read the complete text
> of both of these resolutions and how your base representative voted
> on these issues on the APFA website.
>
> There are two other current important issues for the AA Flight
> Attendants that I would like to address in this public
> communication. At the most recent EC meeting in June an internal
> Election Procedures Task Force was established as formal policy.
> Many of us feel this election process overview, with a serious
> internal audit, should have taken place shortly after the April
2003
> AA/APFA Restructuring Participation Agreement election fiasco.
After
> more than a year, via another EC Ellis Resolution in June 2004, an
> internal election task force had been installed as formal policy.
> This task force had just begun their work at APFA headquarters
during
> the week of July 19th. What amazes me beyond belief is the fact
that
> the Board of Directors in Resolution #15 during last week's meeting
> voted to disband this task force, again by a vote of 11/yes - 7/no.
>
> This is another resolution I urge you to review. In one
person's
> opinion our union must thoroughly review both the March 2004
national
> officer's election process as well as the history of the April 2003
> election complaints.
>
> The second additional issue that I believe APFA members need to
> be aware of concerning this recent Board Meeting is the Board's
> continuing dialogue regarding a contractually required "pocket-
sized
> copy" of our current ratified collective bargaining agreement
> (CBA) "to be distributed as soon as possible following
> ratification." I'm sure that I don't need to remind you that you
and
> I are currently working under hugely altered workrules, wage
> structures, and benefits; yet effective today we have no printed
copy
> of our current CBA. As a former president and vice-president of
our
> union and current LGA based flight attendant, I became so enraged
> over this huge noncompliance of our contract after speaking
> repeatedly with both union and management personnel, that in April
> 2004 I filed my own individual grievance (Notice of Dispute). In
my
> opinion this is a clear contractual violation in accordance with
> Article 28 A.2.a. (page 261) and Article 24 A. (page 224) of the
> APFA/AA Agreement.
>
> During last week's board meeting, this issue was once again
> raised formally and the current president said he would "look into
> this matter." Please, I urge you to raise your own voice regarding
> this issue with both your union and your base management. Both the
> pilots and the ground workers have received a printed contract.
This
> is a real injustice that should be argued in front of a neutral
> referee to force compliance to the terms and conditions of our CBA.
>
> I have certainly taken up enough of your time as you read
through
> this open letter to APFA members. I just hope that you can try to
> understand how it feels to be a union advocate of well over 30
years,
> who watched with total dismay as my union after months of denial
> following 9/11 and flight 587, finally joined the other labor
groups
> who had been in preparation and discussion months ahead of APFA.
We
> went in late and we got our asses kicked in concessionaire
> bargaining. APFA went in under prepared, with the most
inexperienced
> negotiating team in our history. APFA under valued our 2001
Contract
> and produced a product (the RPA) that has set us back as a
workgroup
> by more than 25 years. These facts cannot be blamed totally on
> management - much of this responsibility is with the union
president.
>
> Again, there is much work to be done. I urge you too to get
> involved. Our union is currently in grave danger. We need
effective
> and strong leadership at this time in our history.
>
> Beginning in the early '70s there was a slow and steady process
> of turning a once short termed dead-end job into a career with a
> respectable retirement. We must not give up now. Stand with me
and
> see to it that true leadership is restored to our union. Please
> remember that you will have another chance to vote in the upcoming
> Base Elections. Again, I urge you to stay informed and get
involved.
>
> In closing, the final deadline for the U.S. Department of Labor
> to enter into Federal Court to force a remedy in my election
> complaint is currently on or about September 7, 2004. This is the
> day after Labor Day. It just may be the date we take our union
back
> and then the REAL WORK will begin.
>
> With hope for our collective
> futures,
>
> Tommie Hutto-Blake
> LGA flight attendant