10.27.10 – (LAA) – Call to Action – Write the NMB

CALL TO ACTION

Hello ñ†this is APFA President Laura Glading with a Call To Action Message this Wednesday, October 27, 2010.

The Negotiating Team left the meeting with two of the top NMB staff members – Chief of Staff Dan Rainey and Director of Mediation Service Larry Gibbons – last week incredibly frustrated. I traveled with the table team to Washington fully intending to leave with a commitment to be released into a 30-day cooling off period.

Our presentation did not fall on deaf ears and was not entirely in vain. Since that meeting I have been informed that our case has been moved to the head of their docket and will be given top priority. However, to reiterate our overwhelming frustration, I’ve also sent a letter to the three sitting members of the NMB to push for our release and, most importantly to express the economic hardships our membership has endured the past eight years.

I hear daily from Flight Attendants around the system how they are struggling to support their families, make ends meet and in danger of losing, or in some cases even lost, their homes. Your struggles are heart wrenching. I have been expressing your hardships, and frustration with American, since the onset of mediation, but perhaps it is time the NMB hears it directly from you.

I am asking every American Airlines Flight Attendant to respectfully tell your story by sending a letter directly to the three members of the NMB.

While we work harder for less, the company continues to save $1M each day the concessions remain in place – concessions that were intended to last five years; not the soon to be seven and one half years. Meanwhile executives continue to reward themselves with multi-million dollar bonuses.

We have exhausted our options at the table and without intervention from the NMB, the company has no incentive to negotiate. It’s time for the Railway Labor Act to work as it was intended.

Write the NMB and make sure your voice and story is heard. The address and names of the NMB members are listed below.

Harry Hoglander, Chairman
Elizabeth Dougherty, Member
Linda Puchala, Member

NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD
1301 K Street NW, Suite 250 East
Washington, DC 20005-7011

A Flight Attendant based at IOR has already written a letter to the NMB – a copy can be read here. We would like to post some of your stories on the APFA.org website and Facebook page. Please send a copy of your letter to us here at APFA Headquarters.

APFA
Attn:†Communications Department
1004 West Euless Blvd
Euless, TX 76040

e-mail: [email protected]

In Unity,
Laura Glading