7.06.15

July 6, 2015

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Scheduling

It seems as if the problems with the PBS-related programs on crew portal will never end. ISAP, ETB, and the reserve scheduling issues never end. The union was only responsible for the actual PBS programming and the Crew portal systems are the responsibility of the company. After many months of complaining, the company continues to work with our JIRC team and listen to our concerns. We now have flight attendant Beta testers that actually try out improvements to make sure these are true improvements before getting to us to see them not respond as expected to.

Speaking of the JIRC team, I would like to thank them for coming out with their weekly updates on what is happening and the changes we can expect. Our JIRC team consists of Scott Barnes (PHX), Laura Albert (PHL & DCA), and our newest member Emily Arner-Brown (CLT).  Emily is not “new” she has been a PBS trainer in CLT since its inception and knows PBS well. Thanks again for providing all of us a weekly newsletter so we can learn the changes in real-time as you receive them. 

Conference Call

At the request of our Charlotte flight attendants I had been attempting to get the company, scheduling, and the IT team to attend a base meeting to address your questions and concerns at a base meeting. Logistically they could not get everyone in the same area at the same time. I was just informed that the company plans to do a series of conference calls to allow you to discuss your real-time concerns and what they are doing as we go forward. I believe that while they can’t be in CLT or any other base this is a perfect solution. This also gives flight attendants who cannot physically be in CLT to call in and participate. The days and contact numbers will be provided by the company sometime during the week of July 6, 2015.

PBS/Crew Portal Training

The company has agreed to keep the PBS trainers in the crew rooms through the month of November. According to data received from the first few months of PBS awards, there are very few program errors and the majority is user errors. While we still have these trainers at our bases, it would be a great time to set up an appointment to have them look and see where your errors occurred and how to avoid them in the future.

If you do feel you have a computer/program error, you only have until the 23^rd of each month to file a claim in order to be protected under the contract language.

Charlotte Base Meeting

Charlotte will be conducting a local base meeting July 22, 2015, at the Charlotte Douglas Auditorium (above the food court) from 10-4. Because the CLT meeting rooms are extremely hard to get and off site rooms are very expensive, we will be splitting the time between a general base meeting and a special period of time for new hire/reserve Q&As. Official times will be posted shortly.

September 2015

Looking into retirement? Patrick Hancock APFA Retirement Chair will be in Charlotte September 9, 2015 to provide you information for now or in the future. I have also asked Catherine Sharp Health National Chair to join in that day to discuss the various plans under the LAA program that we choose from for 2016.  Stay tuned for further information.

EAP/Professional Standards

PLEASE DO NOT go directly to the company if you have issues with fellow flight attendants. We have an EAP/Professional standards committee that should be contacted first. Believe me you may think you’re making a huge statement and attempting to punish your fellow flight attendant on your own terms but it actually does comeback to bite you in the backside.  

Please also consider calling EAP to just talk about all the feelings you are having about all the changes that we have faced within the last year plus some. These are your EAP reps in CLT:

Charles Buck (BCR)  [email protected]  980-275-0659
David West (BCR) [email protected] 317-525-2874
Eloise Dean (BCR) [email protected]  910-352-9020
Melissa Anthony (BCR) [email protected] 704-909-8822

Finally… Union Representation – Weingarten Rights

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLRB_v._J._Weingarten,_Inc.  This is a quick link to a user-friendly review of your rights to having a union representative with you if you believe there is a disciplinary issue. You can also directly link to this at NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251 (1975), which will direct you to the case and legal reviews of the case by leading law schools and scholars. We have seen FSM’s not giving people the opportunity to seek union representation with the New American Policies. Please take the time to review this particular case just for future references.
 
In Unity,
Charlotte Base Representatives