7.13.07 – (LAA) – Rumor Control

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA Hotline for Friday, July 13, 2007.

This week, I will be starting with Rumor Control right off the bat.

Q: I hear legislation is being introduced that will give the former TWA Flight Attendants their seniority back. Is this true?
A: No. There is no truth to this rumor or any form of this rumor, whatsoever.

FACTS YOU CAN TAKE TO THE BANK:

• The TWA seniority issue was determined by the APFA Board of Directors in 2001 and there is absolutely no mechanism, real or imagined, to change that process.

• There is no bill nor attachment to any bill in Washington attempting to grant anyone seniority retroactively.

• There are no discussions at APFA regarding changing anyone’s seniority.

It simply is not happening. That horse left the barn a long time ago.

What does exist is a vicious rumor that started by taking a small piece of fact (see below) and fabricating a story around it that does nothing more than conjure up fear, anger and divisiveness.

Some of these rumors might stem from the FAA Reauthorization Bill that goes before Congress every four years and is currently being discussed in both the House and the Senate. There are many positive items for Flight Attendants in pained within this Bill such as strong language for a new FA Fatigue Study as well as new health and safety standards for crewmembers. There is a prospective amendment recommending recall rights of ten years for all furloughed airline employees whose airline accepted federal aid from the government following 9/11. This amendment has a long way to go before it becomes law. If this amendment is successfully attached and becomes law, it would have absolutely no impact on the AA/APFA TWA Seniority Agreement whatsoever. In other words, AA Flight Attendants’ seniority would NOT be affected.

There is also an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill on the Senate side that provides the “Allegheny-Mohawk Provision” to apply to airline mergers in the future. Not only does our Contract already contain this provision (Article 1) as do most labor contracts, but if it were to pass and become law, it would have ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT ON THE AA/APFA 2001 SENIORITY INTEGRATION AGREEMENT.

Again, this or any other proposed law or bill has or will have ABSOLUTELY NO IMPACT WHATSOEVER ON THE AA/APFA 2001 SENIORITY INTEGRATION AGREEMENT.

The amendments are far from becoming reality and face many obstacles before becoming law. However, whether they are already attached or have yet to be, and then IF they do become law – THERE ARE NO AMENDMENTS TO THIS BILL OR ANY OTHER BILL THAT WILL HAVE ANY EFFECT ON THE CURRENT SENIORITY ORDER OF THE AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANTS.

Rumor #2:

Q: Is it true that that some or all of those who filed a lawsuit over the Restructuring Agreement in 2003, or all FAs for that matter has resulted in $40,000 (or whatever amount you have heard) in settlement monies and our old Contract restored? A: This rumor is also completely false. APFA is working on an update – for our membersí – of the lawsuits filed against our Union following the TWA acquisition in 2001 and the Restructuring Agreement in 2003. Those lawsuits that have not already been dismissed remain in District Court in New York and are in the summary judgment phase. Please continue to read the Hotline as we will keep you up to date on any future decisions. We are working on a page for the Web site that addresses litigation against your Union. You will be notified as soon as it is published.

Rumors are running rampant so continue to check with your Union before spreading potentially damaging or divisive statements. Please clear it up first by emailing [email protected].

In what appears to be the beginning of a whole new way of bargaining American Airlines announced and unveiled its new Web site called aanegotiations.com on Monday. It addresses everything from Pensions to Health Benefits and contains benchmarking to all the bankrupt airlines as our comparators. The two workgroups currently in negotiations are the pilots and the dispatchers represented by APA and TWU. APFA will continue to keep a close eye on this strange web site.

From the Contract Department: APFA encourages every single APFA member who believes your contractual rights have been violated by Crew Scheduling in the past few weeks to contact your Base Chair ASAP to file a grievance. During most recent Off-Schedule Operation (OSO) many of our members were offered ìdealsî to work illegally or forced to work illegally at Crew Schedule’s request. If you have any information about Flight Service Managers working trips during the last few weeks, please send that NS or the details of the trip to APFA at [email protected].

Please make sure to carry your On-Duty Contract Guide (ODCG) and refer to it often. APFA believes that violations of the contractual maximum duty day (Page 12 of the On-Duty-Contract Guide and Article 7.K and Appendix I, Article 7.J) of the Contract are increasing. Although American Airlines shares an equal responsibility in enforcing the Contract, do not assume that they will. Please, know your contractual limits and contact Crew Tracking immediately if you believe your rights are violated. If you feel you have been given incorrect information, please notify APFA at [email protected] and always keep a record of who gave you your assignment.

If you are a Domestic Flight Attendant who waived your 30-in-7 legality in June but not in July (see pg. 13 of the On-Duty Contract Guide (ODCG) and Article 7.I of the Contract) and were forced to fly beyond 30/7 this month, please notify APFA at [email protected]. Time flown in a waived month (in this case June) does count toward the calculation in the following non-waived month (July). Also to clarify only actual duty aloft counts toward the 30 hours. For example, pay and credit, deadheading, Air Traffic Control holds, RFD and Diversion pay do not count as actual duty aloft. Refer to page 11 of the ODCG for more information.

The off-schedule operation (OSO) AA experienced on the 27/28th of June in particular was extremely difficult for many Flight Attendants from excessive hold times to speak with Crew Tracking or the Hotel/Limo desk, to no answers and dropped calls. There were even some cases where Flight Attendants never received overnight accommodations. It is important that you provide documentation to APFA including your HI3, your NS, etc … so that your Base Chair can attempt to rectify the situation. For any FA who was forced to sleep in operations or on the aircraft, the sequence must reflect continuous duty from sign in the day prior, to the conclusion of duty the following day. For those who waited for hotel assignments or procured their own rooms, the duty day should be adjusted to reflect the actual conclusion of the duty period. Again, if you had any difficulties contacting Crew Tracking and/or the AA Hotel/Limo desk or simply never received a hotel room, please send a copy of your HI3, NS or HIHTL to the APFA Hotel Department or the APFA Scheduling Department along with a detailed description and timeline of exactly what occurred. You should also contact your Base Chair or Vice Chair. You may forward all documentation to either [email protected] or [email protected] or send a fax to 817.540.2077, attn: Scheduling/Hotel Departments. You can also send snail mail to APFA, 1004 W. Euless Blvd, in Euless, Texas 76040 attn: Hotel/Scheduling Departments.

Please remember we still have 2,084 Flight Attendants furloughed from American Airlines.

That’s about it for this week. Thank you for calling the APFA Hotline.