11.15.13 – (LAA) – Benefits Closes Tonight!, Bankruptcy Update, Strike Anniversary, Celebrating Our Strength, Goodbye LBFO, Hello CLA, AFA Carding, Rumor Control, Pay Protection, LTD, FSA

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APFA Hotline – Benefits Closes Tonight!, Bankruptcy Update, Strike Anniversary, Celebrating  Our Strength, Goodbye LBFO, Hello CLA, AFA Carding, Rumor Control, Pay Protection, LTD, FSA

November 15, 2013

 

IMPORTANT: Benefits Enrollment Ends Tonight (see below) at 11:59 p.m. Central Time
 
Bankruptcy EXIT Update
November 25th, formerly the start date of our antitrust trial, is now the day Judge Sean Lane is slated to drop the gavel on final approval for our release from bankruptcy. Soon thereafter, AA will exit chapter 11 and immediately merge with US Airways. This will be the start of the new American. Every one of us has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get to this point. We can all be proud of this major accomplishment.
 
November 18, 1993 – November 18, 2013
Last week, we announced a day of celebration in honor of our 4-day Strike that brought American Airlines to its knees 20 years ago. This week, we have come full circle. What we have accomplished as a group during AA’s bankruptcy is nothing short of extraordinary. Our sacrifices will pay off. This merger was borne out of sheer determination by American’s labor unions. It is a true testament to the power of unity.
 
Monday, November 18th, APFA representatives will be in ops at all AA bases system-wide with takeaways for our members along with some memorable video footage from the 4 1/2 days we spent standing up for ourselves outside the terminals. The parallel between 20 years ago and today – what we’ve accomplished in this bankruptcy – is a testament to the unity of the American Airlines Flight Attendants. Come out and join us on Monday for a celebration:
 
Celebrating Our Strength – Monday, November 18th
Boston – 6:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Washington, D.C. – 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Dallas – 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (in Terminal D)
Los Angeles – 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
NY LaGuardia – 8:00 – 12:00 noon
NY JFK – 6:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Miami – 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Chicago – 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Raleigh – 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
San Francisco – 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
St. Louis – 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
 
Goodbye LBFO, Hello Conditional Labor Agreement!
As AA’s actual exit from bankruptcy draws near and our CLA (Conditional Labor Agreement) becomes tangible, it’s time to get out your Conditional Labor Agreement (CLA) as modified by the MOU and review the improvements we are about to experience. The CLA will provide for the following:

•    An increase to our TAFB for both Domestic (from $1.65 to $2.00 an hour) and International (from $1.90 to $2.20 an hour)
•    A CONTRIBUTION (not just a match) to our 401(k) of up to 9.9% for those 50 and older
•    The return of Staffing and Hotel language
•    Vacation and sick accrual thresholds returning to 420-hour
•    PVDs paid at trips missed rather than 3:00 hours per day
•    8:59 Duty Aloft and On-Duty Limitations on Domestic returning to prior contractual provisions
•    Domestic aft galley pay restored
•    $3.00 International override applies to paid removals including VC and SK

This bridge agreement is truly a testament to the power of our workforce who ultimately believed and trusted in the plan set forth by APFA.
 
On top of the above improvements when the CLA takes effect, APFA members will also receive the first distribution of our negotiated equity claim on the day AA exits bankruptcy. How much, you ask? Well, if the value of the companies on announcement day is any indication, it will be a heck of a lot more than we anticipated. Understandably, many of you are anxious for more details, however, we are not able to estimate the stock price on exit day. What we can tell you is that, from today’s market close, it will be worth the wait.
 
There have been a few questions about a provision contained in the April 12, 2012, original CLA prior to modification on 12/31/12. That unmodified CLA reached with US Airways reads: “In lieu of profit sharing arrangement, the flight attendants shall receive a 2.5 percent pay increase as of the Plan Effective Date.” To be clear, after the LBFO was ratified, the language was modified by the Memorandum of Understanding between APFA and US Airways and it was agreed that because the 3% raise secured in the LBFO was greater than the scheduled raise in the CLA (of 2.5%), the 3% would not be reduced by one-half percent once the CLA took effect. In short, we will receive a 3% raise.
 
AFA Carding
APFA would still like to reach an agreement with AFA regarding Flight Attendant representation at the new American. If that proves impossible, AFA will attempt to submit thousands of signed and dated “authorization cards” by AA Flight Attendants to the National Mediation Board to trigger a representation election. The cards say that with your signature, you are declaring that you want AFA to be the representative for the American Airlines Flight Attendants. If enough cards are collected, a representation election will take place. While AFA has officially committed to APFA that they are not collecting cards during our discussions, it appears the carding efforts continue.
 
Unfortunately, we now know that AFA “mobilizers” who claim to be working on their “own time” are encouraging our members to sign cards. We have had numerous reports of AFA operatives misleading APFA members. Several of you have contacted your base chairs to find out how to revoke your signing a card. Send an email to: [email protected]. Include your name, employee number, address and phone number. We will contact you with instructions on how to rescind your card.
 
Let’s be clear: if you sign a card and help AFA trigger an election, you will postpone the negotiation of a new contract for years. Even worse, if AFA were to win that election, you could go back to the LBFO since the CLA was an agreement obtained between APFA and US Airways. Given the eight years it took AFA to reach their most recent agreement at US Airways, AA Flight Attendants would likely be living under the LBFO well beyond its six year duration.

We must all focus our attention and our resources on completing this merger and getting the contract we so deserve.

RUMOR CONTROL: 
Question: Is it true that the APFA Conditional Labor Agreement (CLA) includes a commitment to use “the American APFA concessionary agreement as the foundation document” for bargaining a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA)?

Answer: No. The APFA/AA November 1, 1998 – November 30, 2004, Collective Bargaining Agreement together with the 2003 Restructuring Participation Agreement and any side letters now in effect serves as the Base Agreement for the CLA only. We have no agreement, nor have we even had any discussions with either AA or US Airways management with regard to a foundation for our Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA).

Our commitment remains unchanged: The APFA Negotiating Team, which will consist of both AA and US Airways Flight Attendatns, will take the best of both contracts and improve on what we each have individually to put the Flight Attendants at the new American Airlines where they deserve to be – properly compensated as the safety professionals of the largest airline in the world. 

Help Get Out The FACTS
If you would like to help us get the FACTS out on the line, please submit a request to join our FACTREP program by clicking here.
 
Bidline Pay Protection Reminder 
Bid Line Guarantee Protection has now been in effect for 15 days. There is a lot of information—flowcharts, quick reference guide, Q&A—on the Scheduling page of the APFA’s website, explaining the details of this new pay protection. We hope you’ll check it out. 

With the increased protection, there has been no change to HVBL days for our high-time flyers. To be eligible for HVBL days, a FA’s PPROJ must be at/above 100 hours, following the involuntarily loss of a trip sequence, in its entirety, at sequence origination.

However, those FAs, whose PPROJ is below 100 hours following the involuntary loss of time due to a misconnection, illegality, or cancellation (MIC), are eligible to access open time to pre-plot a trip(s) onto their schedule in order to recover the loss time.

Such FAs can pre-plot a trip(s) up to their monthly maximum (currently 100 SPROJ) by contacting the future desk at Crew Scheduling. Pre-plotting is not permitted for the next day’s operation, and you cannot modify your schedule following the involuntarily loss of time and before pre-plotting a trip from open time.

Don’t Forget – Benefits Enrollment Closes On Friday 11/15/13
Please go online and complete you enrollment prior to midnight CST on Friday 11/15/13.
Remember to print a copy of your current coverage as well as your 2014 elections for your records.
HR Services Representatives will be available during normal business hours of 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., CST, Monday through Friday.

Clarification on Long Term Disability Coverage
Flight Attendants who currently have Long Term Disability coverage will get a 2 month LTD ‘premium holiday’ during the months of November and December 2013.  If there is a zero dollar amount showing up for LTD when you view your current coverage during benefits enrollment, or if you do not see deductions for LTD on you E-pays statements for Nov or Dec, this is not a computer glitch. If you remain enrolled in LTD in 2014, payroll deductions will resume in January, 2014.

If you currently have LTD coverage and the cost does not show up on your 2014 Enrollment Confirmation Statement, or you are prompted to complete a new Disability Enrollment Form, please contact HR. 
If you do not currently have Long Term Disability coverage and wish to enroll for 2014, you must submit the Disability Enrollment Form

Health Care FSA
Currently our HealthCare FSA and other Health spending accounts are administered by PayFlex. In 2014 the administrator for these will be changing to Wage Work.
•    All FSA claims made by 12/15/13 should be submitted to PayFlex.
•    All FSA claims beginning 1/7/14 should be submitted to Wage Works.
•    FSA participants will have access to a new FSA debit card for 2014.
•    Remember that if you do not use all of your 2013 FSA money by 12/31/13, there is still an opportunity to access these funds for expenses incurred by 3/15/14.
•    HSA, HRA, and HIA monies will roll over from year to year as long as you do not change to a different health plan.

ATTENTION: AA and US Airways Flight Attendants – Thank Congress For Their Support of our Merger!
We contacted Congress to support the merger by asking them to tell the DOJ they got it wrong. Congress complied. The DOJ has settled the case and we’re on our way to working for the best airline in the world. Let’s take a minute to thank our Senators and Representative for their help making this happen.

AmericanAirlines + US Airways 
“Merging Ahead!”

Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Coordinator