2.11.11 – (LAA) – Negotiatons Update, Management Survey, Recalls, Bidding Reminder, FAA Reauth Revisit, Base Representative Elections

Weekly Hotline for the week ending Friday, February 11, 2011

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
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The National Mediation Board has requested a meeting with APFA. APFA President Laura Glading will travel to Washington, DC next week to meet with the three members of the National Mediation Board. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

Laura Glading commented, “I look forward to this meeting with the National Mediation Board Members. “Every meeting, every conversation, moves us one step closer to a contract. I will not stop until we get a contract that the Flight Attendants deserve.”

As information becomes available it will be reported via this hotline.

SURVEY

Last week’s hotline mentioned an upcoming membership opinion survey. We plan to have the survey posted on APFA.org next week. APFA hears daily the frustration of our members with this company. Itís time American hears it directly from you. We are asking every member to participate. It will be difficult, even for these executives, to ignore the opinions of 18,000 Flight Attendants.

RECALLS

Welcome Back!

Earlier this week, American announced the recall of approximately 368 Flight Attendants. The recall will be accomplished in two phases. On Monday, February 14, 147 of the most senior Flight Attendants on the recall list will be mailed recall letters and will have until Friday, February 25 to respond. There is no option to defer or by-pass recall. If you reject the offer of re-employment or fail to respond by the deadline you will forfeit your recall rights.

This first group will attend training in April and May, and report to base on June 1. American expects to send the remaining recall letters to the next most senior group of approximately 221 Flight Attendants sometime in March. This group will report to base this summer.

The company expects those Flight Attendants returning in June will be based at LGA. †Final base assignments will be made by April 10, 2011.

If your mailing address has changed you can notify the company of an address change by faxing the information to HR Services at 888-891-3625. Please include your employee number, old address information, new address information and a copy of a government issued identification to confirm your identity.

Please refer to you recall notice for full details and complete instructions on the return to work process.

A Q&A document will be posted on the Recall page on APFA.org soon and we will report additional details as they become available via this hotline and APFA.org.

APFA President Laura Glading commented, “We are extremely pleased with the announcement of an additional 368 of our members being recalled. These furloughed Flight Attendants have been through a long a difficult struggle and we will be thrilled to have them back on the line. APFA will continue to work with American until each and every one of the remaining furloughed Flight Attendants is back to work.”

VACATION BIDDING

Vacation Bidding for the 2011/2012 Fiscal Year will begin next week.

Primary Vacation bids will open on Tuesday, February 15 at 17:00CT and will close on Monday, March 7, 2011†at 08:00CT.

Secondary Vacation bidding will open on March 15, 2011 and close on Wednesday, March 23 at 0800CT.

Please refer to HI6 messages and the Vacation Bidding Information that will be posted on the Crew Resources page of the Flight Service website for details concerning vacation bidding.

BIDDING REMINDER

Please note that bidding closes early than usual this month.†Bidding will close at 00:01 Local Base Time on Sunday, February 20, 2011.

FAA REAUTH REVISIT

It’s a new Congress and a new FAA Reauthorization Bill. Incredibly, for some, the aircraft is not considered a workplace! The 112th Congress has reintroduced this important legislation, but Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and others would like to strip OSHA protections out of the Bill. Without proper standards that address sanitation, clean air, and cabin temperatures standards, there is a health risk to anyone who travels on an airplane. The FAA Reauthorization Bill with OSHA language will finally provide these protections.

We need your help! Call or write your Senator today! Tell them we need a safe workplace that will provide basic health and safety protections for our passengers and Flight Attendants.

APFA President Laura Glading said, ìI find it incredible, to say the least, that some of our elected officials do not seem to have a concern about the health and safety of the traveling public and crew members on airplanes every day for work, for pleasure and to see loved ones.î

Glading continued, ì”housands of our members e-mailed and called their Senators when the FAA Bill was presented this past September. Itís time to take action again. We need every member ñ including those that were activists in September  to send a message.”

Please call your Senator today!† Or send a letter via our Capwiz page or you may also Take Action via our Facebook page.

BASE REPRESENTATIVE ELECTIONS
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Voter packets for the Base Representative Elections were mailed on January 26, 2011 to the members of the following bases: BOS, IOR, LGA and MIA. Included in the packet along with voting instructions are the Candidate Information Sheets for your base. Candidate information may also be viewed and printed via the Elections and Balloting page of APFA.org.

Should you have questions or do not receive your ballot in a timely manner, please contact the National Ballot Committee at [email protected].

Polls for the Base Representative Elections will close at 10:00 a.m. CT on Friday, February 25, 2011.

As a reminder, you must be dues current by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 in order to vote in this election. If you have any questions concerning your eligibility, please contact the dues department at 817-540-0108 ext. 8151, or email [email protected].

WTS
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The Willingness To Serve Notification for Ad Hoc Members of the Executive Committee Places #1 and #2 is posted on the Elections and Balloting page of APFA.org.

If you are interested in further serving your union, the forms must be received in the designated P.O. Box by 10:00 a.m. Central Standard Time on Thursday, February 17, 2011.

4Q EC MEETING

The 2010 Fourth Quarter APFA Executive Committee meeting will be held on February 15-16, 2011 at APFA Headquarters. The meeting will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

All members in good standing are welcome and encouraged to attend.

APFA Headquarters
1004 West Euless Blvd.
Euless, TX 76040

TWU and APFA

Last weekend, TWU held picketing events at DFW and invited APFA to join them on the picket line. Thank you to those Flight Attendants that took the time to walk the line with our union brothers and sisters. And thanks to DFW Flight Attendant, Michael Truan for coordinating APFA’s participation.

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Please remember there are currently 796 members on furlough and awaiting recall. This number includes all recalls as of April 2, 2011.