12.20.13 – (LAA) – Agreements on Seniority, Bargaining & Representation

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APFA Hotline

December 20, 2013

 

Dear APFA Member,
Over the past several months, your APFA leadership has heard from thousands of Flight Attendants at both US Airways and American Airlines regarding the process for merging our work groups. The overwhelming sentiment, and demand, was that APFA and AFA work together to achieve a mutual agreement. It is with great pride, therefore, to announce, on behalf of the APFA Board of Directors, that we have done exactly that.

Earlier this week, leaders from AFA and APFA met in Washington for a series of mediated discussions that produced an agreement that all of us agree puts Flight Attendants first and will allow us to quickly reap the benefits of the merger. The Agreement has already been approved by the AFA-US Airways MEC and the APFA Board of Directors. Both bodies approved the agreement by unanimous vote. We will now negotiate the bargaining process with the Company. The final step to finalizing the agreement will be a vote of the AFA-US Airways membership on bargaining and joining the ranks of APFA.

Thank you for your patience and support as we worked to achieve this critical agreement. Now we can turn our focus towards getting the industry-leading contract we all deserve and building the world’s greatest airline.
 
In Unity,
 
Laura, Marcus, Jeff, Greg and the APFA Board of Directors
 

AFA/APFA Agreement

APFA has reached agreements with AFA for seniority, bargaining and representation at the New American.

Key Points of Agreement

• Flight Attendant seniority is protected.
• APFA will link arms with AFA to use the leverage US Airways Flight Attendants bring to the table and negotiate a new expedited bargaining process with management, including the US Airways contract and improvements for all Flight Attendants.
• This agreement is contingent upon management at the New American agreeing to a bargaining process for a single agreement with AFA and APFA.
• Once the bargaining process is fixed, US Airways Flight Attendants will vote on bargaining and a transition to APFA membership.

 

Unity Increases Our Leverage – Support Each Other

AFA and APFA agree working in unity is the best path forward at the New American. Our two Flight Attendant unions are standing together to utilize the leverage of both contracts in order to achieve an industry-leading contract at the New American. Our efforts turn toward negotiations with management. Any attack on either union undermines our bargaining. We are calling on all Flight Attendants to join us in refraining from criticizing the other union, including collecting authorization cards. We are two strong Flight Attendant unions and each Flight Attendant represents our collective strength. We encourage all members to wear your union pins, support each other and stand together in our efforts to secure the industry’s leading contract at the world’s biggest airline.

Seniority Integration

AFA and APFA finalized a Seniority Protocol Agreement, which is a separate document from our agreement on Bargaining and Representation. Flight Attendants will retain length of service as Flight Attendants with their respective carrier, utilizing the Occupational Seniority Date at American and the Seniority Integration Date (SID) (commonly referred to as “Date of Hire”) at US Airways. There will be an adjustment of 40 days for American Flight Attendants on the seniority list prior to January 1, 2013, to reflect time spent in initial Flight Attendant training. Actual training start dates will be utilized for Flight Attendants hired at American in 2013 and later.

Summary of Agreements on Seniority, Bargaining & Representation

AFA/APFA Seniority Integration Protocol

• AFA and APFA will utilize the “Occupational Seniority Date” at American and the Seniority Integration Date, commonly referred to as date-of-hire, at US Airways.
• A 40 day adjustment will be made for American Flight Attendants, representing the average amount of time for initial training, to coincide with the historical seniority start date at the beginning of training for US Airways Flight Attendants.
• No system flush or displacements as a result of merging of seniority lists.
• Agreement is separate from bargaining and representation. The seniority process is not contingent on any other agreement.

 

AFA/APFA Agreement on Bargaining and Representation (ABR)

• This agreement is contingent on two items:
  1. AFA and APFA reaching agreement with the company on a process to achieve a contract that improves upon the AFA-US Airways Agreement and the APFA Agreement as modified by the CLA, collectively and separately, and
  2. US Airways Flight Attendant ratification of the bargaining process and representation.
• Both the AFA/US Airways Agreement and the APFA Agreement as amended by the CLA will be used to achieve a single contract.
• The economic standard for negotiations and arbitration would provide the means to achieve an industry-leading contract through improvements over both contracts, collectively and separately.
• The Negotiating Committee will consist of equal numbers from AFA and APFA.
• The opening proposal will be based on a joint survey of all Flight Attendants and an “adopt and go” method for including the best provisions from contract.
• Negotiations will begin no later than 60 days after US Airways Flight Attendants ratify and the APFA Board of Directors approve the bargaining process.
• Negotiations will continue for a period of 150 days, with a set schedule of dates for negotiations with the company.
• If a tentative agreement is reached it will be submitted to all members for ratification. If rejected, the parties will utilize mediation to resolve the dispute and finally to arbitration based on the standard listed above for overall economic improvement.
• The arbitration panel will include two Flight Attendants (one AFA, one APFA) to ensure our perspective is injected throughout any process for an arbitration decision.
• APFA will become the representative of all Flight Attendants at the New American.
• At the transition point, the AFA Local Council Presidents will fill interim positions within the APFA structure.
• The AFA representation structure will be maintained until APFA becomes the certified representative, and contract enforcement will continue as it does today.
• AFA will administer the US Airways contract (and continued implementation) and any related grievances until the effective date of the new JCBA and for a period after, including the resolution of all outstanding grievances.