6.04.10 – (LAA) – Endorsement of Houston Mayor Bill White, More Concessions, SCAB Training, British Airlines FA Strikes Continue, MIA Vice Chairperson Election, Treasurer Election

APFA weekly HotLine update for Friday, June 4, 2010

QUICK ALERTS

• APFA endorses Texas candidate at rally
• Flyer sums up the latest zero-sum proposal
• Managers solicited to scAAb: itís í93 all over again
• BA Unite union continues industrial action
• Treasurer election begins: voting closes June 24 (10 AM)

APFA DELIVERS ENDORSEMENT AT TEXAS RALLY

On Friday, May 28, APFA President Laura Glading delivered a speech on behalf of APFA, introducing and endorsing Houston Mayor Bill White in his battle to unseat incumbent Governor Perry in the Texas Governor’s race this November. Characterizing the Democratic candidate as “a true friend to working families,” President Glading’s comments were well received by the large crowd of local, DFW area union activists, including dozens of APFA members.

Among the praises of the Mayor’s achievements, President Glading emphasized that: “[Bill White] oversaw the successful labor negotiations with a new union of municipal employees. He worked tirelessly to make sure that firefighters had a fair and just contract they could live with. When the city’s janitors began to organize, he convened a series of meetings that resulted in their first contract. And he has been steadfast in supporting Flight Attendants at American Airlines.”

Glading continued: “Flight Attendants respect the fact that Bill White has dealt honestly and fairly with workers and we know we can count on his support. There is no question as to which candidate is the ‘jobs candidate’ in this race. “

Read APFA’s news release of the gubernatorial endorsement here.

COMPANY’S PROPOSALS MEAN ONLY MORE CONCESSIONS

As part of her address to the assembly of Bill White supporters, President Glading summed up the current state of our bargaining talks with American: “We have been in protracted negotiations for more than two years trying to get American to recognize and reward us for the sacrifices we made to bail out our Company back in 2003. All the while, American Airlines executives continue to take outrageous bonuses. Our situation, and frustration, has become all too common to what is left of the middle class in this state and this country.”

Continued erosion of our standard of living is what the company continues to demand, despite their contentions and their claims over their latest proposal. What they describe as progress in the recent talks were nothing more than minuscule improvements over what they’d offered previously, still leaving us far in the hole compared to 2003 and still containing unacceptable concessions, including:

• Increased scheduling maximums, to 89 or even 92 hours
• PVDs paid at a 3:30 daily rate
• Vacation and sick accrual well below the pre-RPA rates
• Elimination of the post 65 retiree health plan
• Employee funding of the 60-65 retiree health plan with no cap
• Increased active employee health contributions outweighing proposed pay increases

Read a one-page summary of the AA proposal, including a chart of the pay proposals compared to the current and 2003 rates and the impact of increased health care costs here.

SCAB TRAINING OF MANAGEMENT – LIKE, HOW MANY EXTRA MANAGERS DO THEY HAVE?

Not unexpectedly, AA’s response to our members’ recent overwhelming approval of the Strike Authorization Ballot (96.8% voting YES with 90% member participation) has been to solicit volunteers for scab training from among management staff. In an open call to management “volunteers” to help their contingency staffing plans, AA has unwittingly revealed what has been obvious to the front line workers in almost every division of this company. To wit: AA is clearly top heavy in overpaid and underworked managers, so much so that they can remove hundreds, thousands even, from their duties for 17 days of training, possible relocation and scab flying of undetermined duration. Volunteers beware, you may very well be saying to the company that your normal job just isn’t that vital after all.

Read APFA President Laura Glading’s statement on scab hiring in our May 25 News release here.

BRITISH AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANT STRIKES CONTINUE

One needn’t go far to find examples of the disastrous course AA management is following with their continued demands for concessions. Our own sister oneworld founding carrier British Airways continues to pretend that chartering planes, shuffling passengers onto competing carriers or just plain disrupting or canceling the travel plans of thousands upon thousands of passengers is business as usual, all part of being “The World’s Favourite Airline”. Not to mention losing what the BA Flight Attendants’ union Unite now says amounts to losses of over $150 million. Of course, you’d think our 1993 strike would have been evidence enough. You can follow the progress of our British Airways colleagues in their struggle to get a just and fair contract at their website: unitetheunion.org/ba, or click here for their news releases.

MIA VICE CHAIRPERSON ELECTION – LAST DAYS TO GET IN YOUR WTS

For those members interested in serving as MIA (Domestic) Vice Chairperson for the remainder of the current two-year term ending March 31, 2011, a Willingness-to-Serve (WTS) must be received in the designated Post Office Box no later than 10:00 AM (1000) Central Time on Thursday, June 10, 2010. Should an election be necessary, ballots will be mailed on June 29, 2010. As a convenience, a downloadable copy of the Election Notice and Willingness-to-Serve is available through the MIA base page, and through the Elections and Balloting page. Please contact the National Ballot Committee with any questions at 817.540.0108 ext. 8311 or by email to: [email protected].

DFW OPS VISIT – JUNE 9 (TERMINAL “A”)

For those members based in DFW/IDF or passing through on Wednesday, June 9, DFW Base Chair Chris O’Kelley, DFW Vice Chair Margaret (Stewart) Barnes and APFA Scheduling/Contract representative Linda Haertling will be in DFW Terminal A operations from 11 AM to 3 PM (1100-1500). Please feel free stop by with any questions or concerns you may have.

APFA NATIONAL TREASURER ELECTION

The Voter Packet for the APFA Treasurer election was mailed to all members on May 25. The election is being conducted by electronic ballot using the telephone and Internet, through the Ballot Point Election Services system. APFA Treasurer Candidate Information is included in the voter packet and also posted on the APFA website on the Elections and Balloting page.

You may use the same VIN and PIN identification numbers you used while voting in the Strike Authorization balloting. If you do not have those identification numbers, there is an activation code included in the Treasurer Voter packet which can be used.

Polls for this election close at 1000 AM CT on Thursday, June 24, 2010.

If you have any questions, please contact the APFA National Ballot Committee at 817-540-0108 ext. 8311 or by email to: [email protected].

All members are reminded that you must be a member in good standing not later than the close of business on the fifth (5th) day prior to the time limit for the casting ballots of any election or referendum in order to be deemed eligible to vote. If you have questions about your dues status, please contact the APFA Dues Department. Email: [email protected] or call 817.540.0108 ext. 8154.

QUARTERLY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

The First Quarter 2010 meeting of the APFA Executive Committee will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 8 and 9, in the Unity Pays room of APFA Headquarters (map) beginning at 9:30 AM (0930). Members in good standing are welcome to attend all open portions of the meeting.

DID YOU KNOW ? (WEBSITE HINTS)

• The current APFA/AA contract (including the On-Duty Contract Guide and a downloadable version of complete Foundation Document) is available on our website without login. Click on the Current Contract link or go directly to: index.php/2633
• The Retirement Page has a link to Monthly Pension Commencement reports. Members can find out how many Flight Attendants are starting to receive pension payments. Go to: National Departments > Retirement > Pension Commencement Reports (or click here – member login required)
• The Contract Department reports a monthly Flight Attendant headcount by base. System totals are reported for past months. Members can view the report at: National Departments > Contract > Flight Attendant Headcount by Base (or click here – member login required)
• Want more airline news? Two great sources are on our site – the Yahoo! Finance: Major Airlines Industry News “aggregator” (click here) or, for members: the Government Affairs Weekly Briefs. Go to: Government Affairs then click the link to the briefs archive at the top (or click here – member login required).

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Remember that there are currently 1,360 members on furlough and awaiting recall.
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The Wings Foundation is much more than can recycling, though that is an important source of the funds they distribute to members in need. Visit their website for fund raising activities, to find base representatives, forms for donation ($$$, PVDs, etc.), or applications for assistance. See how you can help at your base. Wings is formed and managed by AA Flight Attendants for AA Flight Attendants. Check out Wings and all our APFA supported organizations through these links:

Wings // Airline Ambassadors // UNICEF/Change for Good