10.28.11 – (LAA) – Benefit Enrollment, Dear Colleague Letter, Low-Time Flyers, AA and TWU Reach TA, RDUI Retirement Briefing, RDU, Pink Links

Weekly Hotline

For the week ending Friday October 28, 2011

HEALTH DEPARTMENT
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—ONLY 3 DAYS REMAIN FOR 2012 BENEFIT ENROLLMENT—

Open enrollment for 2012 benefits is available on JetNet through midnight central time on Monday October 31, 2011. Please carefully read the Enrollment Guide – which is available in the Benefits section of JetNet – in order to make the best decisions for you and your family.

This year American will not mail paper copies of the Enrollment Guide to each employee’s home. The Enrollment Guide will only be available online through JetNet’s Benefits Page or www.AAHealthBenefits.com.

Deadline for open enrollment is midnight central time on Monday, October 31, 2011.

DEAR COLLEAGUE

By now everyone should have received the latest “Dear Colleague” letter from Gerard Arpey.

Once again he puts the blame of American’s woes on labor.

American has been touting a labor cost disadvantage anywhere from $600M to $800M but has yet to proved any substantiation to this claim.

Earlier this month APFA’s Airline Analysts Dan Akins spoke with Ted Reed of TheStreet.com to bring some clarity and fact-based numbers to light, as far as the Flight Attendants are concerned, to the company’s “labor cost disadvantage.”

The article reads in part, “That number is not accepted by APFA, which says it is frustrated, not only by continual repetition of the number but also by the suggestion that American employees made no concessions. In March of 2003, employees gave back $1.8 billion annually, and those savings are continuing,” Akins said. The full article can be read here.

ATTN: LOW-TIME FLYERS
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It’s time to make sure you are on track to accrue your eligible vacation and sick time for 2011.†In order to actually accrue vacation and sick time for the months that are eligible to accrue, you must have been paid an average of 35 hours per eligible month.

If you are active all 12 months, your threshold is 420 hours. If you fail to meet your threshold you will receive NO vacation or sick accrual for the year.

Each year some Flight Attendants miss their threshold, which could have been met if they had simply flown an additional trip or two. In some cases this can put the Flight Attendant into an overpayment situation if they used PVDs throughout the year. Review your HISK to ensure you are on track to accrue, and if not, plan now to ensure you meet your threshold.

The year to date summary for vacation and sick accrual appear at the bottom of your HISK.

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
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American and TWU Fleet Service and Ground Workers reached a Tentative Agreement this week. Below is the information posted on the TWU website:

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TWU Fleet Service and Ground Service Workers at American Airlines Reach Tentative Agreement
Oct 26 2011

The TWU Fleet Service and Ground Service Bargaining Committee at American Airlines, representing more than 11,000 workers at dozens of locations across the United States, has reached a tentative agreement for a new four-year labor contract.

The proposed pact includes a 6 percent signing bonus, an immediate 3 percent structural base pay increase and three additional 2 percent structural increases, which will take effect 12 months, 24 months and 36 months following ratification, respectively.

“Considering the economic times in which we live, I believe it is imperative that our members have their voices heard in the direction they would have us move. If this agreement is ratified, it will provide significant pay increases to fleet service and ground service workers,” said Donny Tyndall, president of TWU Local 502, representing union members in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Santa Ana, and Tucson. “The local presidents who were at the bargaining table agreed that we should send this tentative agreement to our rank-and-file members for their decision.”

“We’ve negotiated long and hard with this company, and we’ve insisted that AMR executives recognize the sacrifices and contributions made by TWU members,” said Garry Drummond, director of TWU’s Air Transport Division. “Now, it’s up to our members to make a decision.”

TWU fleet service and ground service workers will have the opportunity to review the agreement and vote at their respective work locations.
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Details regarding the Tentative Agreement can be found on the TWU Website.

RDU-I RETIREMENT BRIEFING
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APFA Retirement Specialist Patrick Hancock will be hosting a Retirement Briefing at RDU.

RDU
Tuesday November 8, 1500-1700 in the 3rd floor Conference Room outside security. The door at the end of the AA Ticket Counter next to the ATM will lead you to the elevator. For more information contact RDU-I Vice Chairperson Peggy Turley at [email protected]

The seminars are open and useful to all Flight Attendants from all bases, but particularly important to Flight Attendants planning to retire in the next 10 years.

To make the most of these briefings, print and bring your personal pension estimate and plan calculation formulas from JetNet.

PINK LINKS

If you’ve visited APFA.org this month you’ve most likely noticed that our links throughout the site have gone pink. Pink for the month of October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

It is estimated that each year nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 1,700 men will also be diagnosed.

Early detection is key to surviving breast cancer.† For more information please visit the following links.

American Cancer Society

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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Please remember there are currently 218 members on furlough and awaiting recall.
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