1.19.01 – (LAA) – NMB Believes that Further Mediation is Necessary, Unanimous Decision by BOD to Send Members Strike Ballot, “Power of Yes”, January 19th Picketing, TWA

This is APFA President John Ward, with a special addition to the Negotiations Hotline. Today is Friday, January 19th.

Late this afternoon, I received a fax from the National Mediation Board. The gist of the letter is that the NMB believes that further mediation is appropriate and necessary prior to the Board releasing us into a 30 day cooling off period.

This is something we anticipated would occur, and is in fact viewed by us as a necessary step before a “release” could materialize.

APFA will, of course, cooperate with the NMB, and will do everything possible to reach an agreement that meets the needs of the membership. If, however, the Company continues to resist making the necessary improvements to our contract, the prospect of a “release” becomes more and more likely.

This latest development further demonstrates the importance of an overwhelming “YES” vote on the upcoming strike authorization ballot. Once mediated talks resume, it is vitally important that the Company and the NMB see that the APFA membership is unified behind our negotiating team and is as resolved now as never before to obtain the contract we need and deserve.

Thank you for your continued trust and support. Please stay on the line.

 

Hello, this is Alexis Boilini, IOR Flight Attendant, and member of the Negotiating Committee, and this is the negotiations portion of the HotLine for Friday, January 19, 2001.

After a unanimous decision by the Board of Directors to send a strike ballot to the membership, the Negotiating Committee and the Strike Preparedness Administrators began immediate system wide Strike Ballot Briefings. The theme of the meetings is the “Power of Yes”. The initial round of these incredibly informative meetings began this week in the west coast bases of LAX, SEA and SFO and ended with a bang at DFW following Strike Ballot informational picketing.

Flight Attendants system wide showed up for informational picketing by the hundreds at 50 airports carrying picket signs and chanting “We want a contract now”! The APFA Negotiating Committee is truly inspired and thankful to our membership for the overwhelming support you continue to display! Strike ballots will soon be mailed to each Flight Attendant’s home. They must be returned by 10:00 a.m. on February 21, 2001.

What does a “yes” vote mean?

• It means “Yes” 2 years is too long. We want the Company to negotiate a fair and equitable agreement for our Flight Attendants with the same intensity and speed exhibited in the TWA transaction.
• “Yes”, AA is financially sound – as evidenced by the 5.2 billion dollar price tag attached to the TWA transaction, and the 752 million dollar profit declared by American for 2000.
• “Yes”, we deserve more than a .08% raise over a 5-year period.
• “Yes”, repackaging the rejected tentative agreement is unacceptable.
• And, “Yes”, we will all stand together with our Negotiating Committee in it’s resolve to do whatever it takes to bring us an agreement that takes us from 6th place in wages to the top of the industry.

Rest assured that APFA wants to reach a negotiated agreement. We will only strike as a last resort. We have conducted ourselves in a highly respectable, reasonable and professional manner throughout this negotiations process – and we will continue to do so. We will not, however, deliver a substandard agreement to our membership.

Now, please stay on the line for more APFA and industry news.

 

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with more APFA HotLine news for the week ending January 19th, 2001.

We had an incredible turnout today with 53 airports across the country complected with AA Flight Attendants donning Picket Signs. Some base city picketers even carried balloons that read “Release Me” referring to our request for release from mediation. Once again, practice makes perfect and we showed up en force to prove to the company that we are resolved and UNITED in getting the contract we deserve. The more we show up for the informational picketing, the less likely we are to be forced to strike. This company should certainly know by now that APFA Flight Attendants mean business.

Strike Ballots will be sent on Monday the 22nd of January. Don’t forget to attend one of the Strike Ballot Briefings at your base between now and the beginning of February. All meetings are from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The remaining base cities are scheduled as follows:

ORD-Jan 24
Hyatt O’Hare
9300 West Bryn Mawr Avenue
Rosemont, IL
847-696-1234

BOS-Jan 25
Logan Airport Hilton
85 Terminal Road
Boston, MA
617-568-6700

New York-Jan 30
Ramada Plaza Hotel
JFK International Airport
Jamaica, NY
718-995-9000

DCA-Jan 31
Sheraton Crystal City Hotel
1800 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
703-486-1111

MIA-Feb 1
Wyndham Miami Biscayne Bay
1601 Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, FL
305-714-3805

RDU-Feb 2
Holiday Inn Crabtree
4100 Glenwood
Raleigh, NC
919-782-8600

These briefings will be the very best place to get all of your questions answered regarding negotiations and the strike ballot. Remember, the ballots are due back in the PO Box designated on the envelope (not in an APFA drop box, please) by February 21st, 2001.

Now, let’s talk about TWA. As Patrick Hancock so eloquently stated in his InfoRep Hotline this past Wednesday, and I quote: “Are we sufficiently distracted yet? First we need and deserve a ratifiable contract. Then, if the Bankruptcy court accepts AMR’s offer for the assets of TWA and if the Justice department approves, and if, and if and if. Then we will have to figure out how to do the seniority integration, fence agreements and the thousands of other things that go with these types of integrations. But first, we want a contract. The APFA Board of Directors, (your base chair is one of the 18 voting members) will ultimately decide the bidding seniority integration. But first, we want a contract.

One of the oldest sports admonitions is to “keep your eye on the ball.” If you get distracted, you lose focus on both where and what the game entails. Then you lose. We will deal with all of these very important issues in their time. Meanwhile, the Merger and Acquisition Committee is consulting with our attorneys, and will be presenting our board with an exhaustive list of options. But first, we want a contract. End Quote

The Merger and Acquisition Committee has voice mail at Headquarters, extension 8751. They also have e-mail so feel free to contact them. Their e-mail address is [email protected].

Don’t forget to visit our web site at www.www.apfa.org for the latest information from your Union. We’ve put photos of each of our picketing events, and plans for future events will be posted as soon as the details are finalized. You can also view Skyword, change your address with APFA, and even chat with your fellow Flight Attendants.

That’s it for this week, remember to wear your Union Pin, Nametag and Wings only and turn your bagtag, if you haven’t already, to 4,3,2,1…