10.07.07 – (LAA) – Negotiators Election Results

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA Hotline for Sunday, October 7, 2007.

As reported on Thursday, the APFA National Balloting Committee, in conjunction with Whitley Penn, counted ballots for the six elected negotiators who will join our six appointed negotiators, and the APFA President as the Chairperson, to represent our membership in the next round of bargaining. The election was certified by Whitley Penn and the results are as follows:

For Domestic: Robert Applegate received 689 votes, Valerie Cochrane received 1217 votes, Dixie Daniels received 1831 votes, Diana Dunn received 2157 votes, Judy Henderson received 600 votes, Anna Johnson received 185 votes, Jeree Last received 242 votes, Samuel Morales received 2241 votes and Travis Pfahler received 715 votes.

The candidate that received the highest number of valid votes and elected the Permanent Domestic Negotiator is Samuel Morales. The candidate who received the second highest number of valid votes and elected First Alternate is Diana Dunn. The candidate who received the third highest number of valid votes and elected Second Alternate is Dixie Daniels.

For International Ray Baylis received 1654 votes, Steven Ellis received 1727 votes, Neil Fernandez received 972 votes, Kevin Johnson received 366 votes, Russ Kidwell received 396 votes, Rebecca Kroll received 1159 votes, Ricardo Melchor received 143 votes, Jon Murden received 177 votes, Elizabeth Lee Price received 1049 votes and Richard Ross received 705 votes.

The candidate that received the highest number of valid votes and elected the Permanent International Negotiator is Steven Ellis. The candidate who received the second highest number of valid votes and elected First Alternate is Ray Baylis. The candidate who received the third highest number of valid votes and elected Second Alternate is Rebecca Kroll. Next week, the new APFA Negotiating Team will meet for the first time at APFA Headquarters to plan a calendar for the remainder of this year. During the week of October 15th, the Team will join the entire elected and appointed APFA leadership for two days of Leadership Training, which is focused on bargaining strategy.

Congratulations to these six APFA members and we would like to thank all of the candidates for stepping up to the plate to represent the membership in our next round of bargaining.

From the Contract Department: As a reminder, if you are a low-time flyer and are concerned about your annual sick and vacation accrual for ’07, be sure you have enough paid hours to reach the 420-hour threshold by December 31st. Otherwise, you will not accrue any sick or vacation for the year. This is particularly important if you have used PVDs this year and do not end up accruing vacation as you will end up in an overpaid status.

In DECS, enter your personal mode and type HISK. In the lower section where it says SK and VC your annual summary indicates your paid hours for the year. Every year, a few FAs miss earning their vacation and sick time by falling only a few hours short of the 420 minimum for the year. A few extra trips could make all the difference. For more information, please review the Contract Departmentís fall 2005 Skyword Article for details. Copies of Skyword are available for download online at www.apfa.org from the year 2000 to the present.

From the Communications Department and speaking of Skyword, the fall ’07 issue has been sent to your homes. If you would like to view the magazine online rather than receive a copy at home, or if you already receive one in your household via another APFA member, you can request to read Skyword online by emailing [email protected] and requesting Skyword Online.

From the Scheduling Department: Based on concerns regarding the workload on the new JFK-LAS-JFK service, the APFA Base Chair/Vice-Chair and LGA Flight Service have agreed that these flights will be monitored for Transcon staffing (FA 5 added at a load of 110). Understaffing will be paid retroactively back to the inauguration of the flight on September 1, 2007.

From the APFA Health Department: Another reminder that this is the month to enroll in Health Benefits for 2008. There is a price increase for several benefits – in particular Optional Short Term Disability. Visit JetNet for Q&A’s and a comparison of last year’s vs. this year’s costs. If you do not want health benefits through your employment at AA, you must log on to JetNet and waive your benefits to ensure you aren’t paying for something you won’t be using. Finally, be sure to print a copy of your selections for your records. Visit www.apfa.org and click on the Health Department link for two previous Skyword articles addressing UHC and Short and Long-Term Disability.

From the Retirement Specialist: There will be two FA-specific retirement seminars in DFW on Thursday, October 11, 2007. The first will begin at 9 am Central, and the 2nd at 1 pm Central. The seminars will last approximately two hours. It’s a good idea to download your estimate from Jetnet and bring a copy with you to the seminar. APFA’s Retirement Specialist Jena Hopkins will be in attendance.

Please remember, we have 1,605 APFA members still on furlough and awaiting recall. Please go to the web site and encourage your Senator to support S. 1992 that will extend recall rights to 10 years for all furloughed employees of an airline that received $100 million or more in federal aid following 9/11.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for calling the APFA Hotline.