December 20, 2013
FLIGHT ATTENDANT COALITION FOR CHANGE
Clean Up Our Union with Democracy
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S-UA MEC - SHIP OF FOOLS!
It's
that time of year again when s-UA Flight Attendants and their families
gather around their Unimatic computer screens and anxiously check the
daily updates for the annual furlough program!
This year's festival brought to you by the UA MEC, has a few twists and turns to keep it fresh and fun.
S-UA INVOLUNTARY FURLOUGHS
The new Voluntary Furlough (projected at 1,950 Flight Attendants) begins on April 1, 2014 and ends on March 31, 2015. The Voluntary Furlough for the current 1,233 s-UA Flight Attendants ends on March 31, 2014. As
of Tuesday, the 19th of December, there were 778 s-UA Flight Attendants
on the Volunteer Furlough list for 2014. The Company still needs
approximately 1300 to reach the magic number of approximately 1,950
Flight Attendants by January 8th.The UA MEC disingenuously stated in their November 22nd letter, "Make
no mistake, the potential for even one Flight attendant to be subject
to involuntary furlough is something we take very seriously and the
protection of Flight Attendants is our top priority."
AFA CWA also stated: "Additionally,
as it specifically relates to the projected headcount reduction of
1,950 Flight Attendants for the period of April 1, 2014 through March
31, 2015, management has stated that the over-staffing situation exists
due to redeployment of aircraft and fleet modernization plans which have
resulted in a planned reduction in block hours for the Airbus and
747-400 fleets......" before droning on and on to blame the Company.
The FOUR
cross over programs that have been offered to s-UA since 2011, and the
ability to vote on the CAL contract dating back to 2010 would have
pre-empted EVERYTHING that is now occurring. Instead, UA MEC has
made the same missteps and failed policy decisions over and over to the
continued detriment of EVERY WORKING flight attendant at s-UA.
Sam Risoli responded in a letter on December 6th to s-UA MEC regarding the latest crossover rejection. Risoli stated, "It
is unfortunate that s-UA flight attendants will be denied opportunities
for active employment as a result of S-UA AFA's demands. This
stands in stark contrast to the willingness of the S-CO and s-CMI
groups, which have consistently supported cross-over programs, including programs offered for 2014....."
No
one with a shred of common sense need struggle to understand the
rationale here. It doesn't serve the UA MECs BUSINESS interests to see a
wholesale migration of union dues dollars to CAL MEC. That is the ONLY
consideration driving this decision.
The
AFA CWA flight attendant sector in general is BROKE, in debt to the
CWA, and has a track record spanning forty years of being unable to
close contracts in a timely manner that then extend YEARS past their
amendable dates. The spurious claim that the AFA is "the
union that has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising
wages, benefits and working conditions for 60,000 Flight Attendants at
20 airlines" is absurd on the face of it. AFA has done little
since 1973 but shamefully promote its business interests at great cost
to the WORKING flight attendants it purports to "represent" nor does it
have the membership numbers it claims. The AFA-CWA consists of 19
airlines and ONLY if they count all THREE United Airlines subsidiaries
as separate airlines. Even that number will continue to shrink after
they lose US Airways to APFA and the Air Tran integration into the TWU
represented Southwest Airlines.
Furthermore, according to the AFA's own 2012-2013 LM-2 report to the US Dept of Labor......
AFA HAS ONLY 39,546 FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AND CONTINUES TO SHRINK!
THE CROSSOVER DEBACLE!!!
THAT PESKY SIDE LETTER OF AGREEMENT AT S-UA
The S-UA Letter of Agreement on Involuntary Furlough is clear and unambiguous. "United
shall not involuntarily furlough any Flight Attendant as a direct
consequence of modification to the 2005-2010 Collective Bargaining
Agreement." The parties also acknowledge that s-UA is overstaffed by 2100 Flight Attendants.
The hole that UA MEC has dug gets a little deeper here. There CAN BE NO MODIFICATIONS to the current Agreement unless proper negotiating
protocol is followed. Therefore, the number 2100 is "set in stone" for
the duration.
On the other hand, the s-CO Collective Bargaining
Agreement has language that involuntary furlough is "not conditional."
No one on the s-CO seniority list can be involuntarily furloughed while
their contract is in effect, PERIOD. With that in mind, why would
anyone on the s-CO side vote for a joint contract that does away with
that protection for them? The truth of the matter is that NONE of
this would be happening now if a Crossover program had been accepted on
November 26, 2013 allowing s-UA Flight Attendants the CHOICE to stay
employed. If s-UA Flight attendants declined the opportunity, then the
Company could hire additional new hires at CAL, but it would have given s-UA
FA's the right of first refusal.
In s-UA MEC rejecting the
crossover, there is the pusillanimous, timid response from Davidowitch
himself - a shining example of the defeated and apathetic spirit that
now dominates that UA MEC and its lame duck "president." Suffice to say
that it breaks NO new ground, nor even attempts to make a cogent
argument - it merely reiterates the talking points that their requests
were "reasonable", complaining endlessly about their lot and imagining
evil corporate barons endlessly plotting their demise. And that will be
the self fulfilling prophecy and legacy of s-UA Flight Attendants and
the UA MEC - a delusional fantasy played out and happily fueled by the
MEC leadership until there are no s-UA Flight Attendants left employed!
UA MEC REJECTION OF THE CROSS OVER LEADING TO S-UA INVOLUNTARY FURLOUGH IS JUST THE BEGINNING!
CMI ACCEPTS CROSSOVER !!!
In
November, CMI requested Sam Risoli to authorize a crossover for
approximately 7 to 27 Flight Attendants based in GUAM. The CMI MEC,
armed with copies of previous Cross Over Letters, sat down with Sam
Risoli and brought their request to his attention. "Sam
explained that, even as the new CAL bases are being set up, Continental
is currently overstaffed. They are no longer hiring - and are
anticipating many hundreds of voluntary furloughs on the subsidiary UAL
side." It did not look like a crossover was possible.
However
on November 26th, the Company did offer s-UA and CMI the crossover.
CMI immediately accepted the Crossover Proposal and a celebratory
announcement was made to their Flight Attendants in their newsletter Hafa Adai, "We have a Cross Over Agreement".
The latest crossover offer, as outlined by the
CMI MEC president in her letter to the CMI membership in announcing the
acceptance of the crossover offer, was PRECISELY the same as the
previous offer, minus the signing bonus of $2,500. It was an offer, not
a negotiation, yet Davidowitch at s-UA MEC and his merry band of jesters and clowns,
seized on the opportunity to paint the company management rather than themselves as the cause of the upcoming involuntary
furloughs for the s-UA Flight Attendants.http://cmiafa.org/news/cross-over-offer/
APFA "SPANKS" AFA!
 Laura Gladding blasts AFA!!!
APFA,
focused 100% on American Airlines Flight Attendants, was not pleased
when they spurned the greedy CWA AFA's overtures only to then find that
AFA was planning a signature card drive to force APFA into a
representation election rather than lose the dues from US Airways
f/a's from among their bloated ranks.
APFA's more than 16,000
dues paying members currently pay $41 per month and yet have a reported
impressive net assets of $13,854,877, or more than FOUR TIMES the assets
of the AFA. The AFA CWA ONLY reported net assets of $3,058,675 for FY
2012-2013.The US Airways AFA
MEC President Roger Holmin has been busy telling US Airways rank and
file that it is unacceptable that US Airways Flight Attendants be forced
to work under a Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated by APFA, the
terms of which were shaped to some degree by the bankruptcy proceedings
of American Airlines. Never mind that APFA's bankruptcy contract was
superior to anything negotiated by the AFA CWA on behalf of s-UA Flight
Attendants during their bankruptcy, or that the APFA bankruptcy contract
was SUPERIOR to the terms of the US Airways stand alone contract prior
to the ratification of their joint contract with America West. Nor does
he remind US Airways Flight Attendants that the US Airways contract
will remain in full force and effect until a successor contract is
negotiated by APFA to cover both work groups.With
quiet backing from AFA International, US Airways leadership has started
a card signing campaign at APFA to spark a representation election
"against" APFA. Of course, US Airways AFA MEC denies the allegation
that there is a grass roots effort to secure a representation vote.Since
AFA CWA now encourages spontaneous grass roots movements permitting
flight attendants the freedom to express themselves and take control of
their own futures, perhaps s-UA Flight Attendants should be offered the
same opportunity by APFA and ask themselves if they wouldn't be better
off if they were given the option of joining APFA?
After all,
APFA has a better track record of negotiated, ratified contracts, none
with a term approaching the ten year travesty that was negotiated by
s-UA AFA permanently employed JNC members including Greg Davidowitch.
The APFA contract offered far superior protection of flight attendants'
interests in bankruptcy court, and has a less bloated administrative and
managerial infrastructure which has provided better use and stewardship
of flight attendants' dues money.
It is reason enough for any
s-UA Flight Attendant to choose a union like APFA. Davidowitch has
personally cost s-UA Flight Attendants millions of dollars in lost
potential income and he continues to deny s-UA Flight Attendants the
dignity of personal choice for a crossover. Yet, he has ambitious plans
despite his current "rudderless" leadership to catapult himself
arrogantly to an AFA International position in April, 2014, when his
current term at s-UA MEC ends!
ANOTHER REASON TO DEMAND DIRECT MEMBERSHIP ELECTION OF AFA OFFICERS AT EVERY LEVEL OF UNION "LEADERSHIP"!Watch APFA President Lara Glading's video regarding AFA here:
DEMANDING UA MEC RESIGNATION
On
November 29, 2013, President of Council 64, Manny Mireles,
representing 4,000 members at s-CO made a bold demand in their
newsletter for "the point man in our JNC, Greg
Davidowitch, and anyone on our JNC who agrees with the issuance of the
latest OURUNITED.org email blast, to step down."
The
JNC email (without input from the other two subsidiaries, CMI and s-CO)
blasted CEO Smisek, angering the leadership of the two subsidiaries. UA
MEC made the decision to communicate what was outside the scope and
job classification of a Negotiator's role on OurUnited.org. The
President of Council 64 requested that the s-UA MEC instead try to focus
on creating proposals and results, rather than creating soundbites.
"We
have more than one leader in our Union and the JNC should leave the
battle cries and pitchforks, to those who don't have the duty to walk
into a room (in two days) and face the company you just publicly
slammed".
It was also pointed out by the President of
Council 64 that the JNC Update appeared to address the fate of sUA
membership and the state of the"counter proposal" to a s-UA Crossover
agreement rather than the state of negotiations. "These negotiations are about more than s-UA. They are about three airlines, three cultures....."Now
the UA MEC has painted itself and s-UA Flight Attendants into a corner
from which it cannot escape. The s-UA bargaining strategy was
ill-conceived from the start and was chosen to mollify the huge egos of
those individuals who still, against all reason, consider themselves
"leaders". It must be difficult to breathe in the vacuum in which these
people live, because their bubble of self-delusion and denial is
airtight. We
applaud the bold stance taken by the President of s-CO Council 64. Now
we are waiting for the s-UA Master Executive Council members to take a
stance!!
GREG - RESIGN OR YOU WILL BE FIRED!
"The Ignorance of One Voter in a Democracy Impairs the Security Of All"
John F. Kennedy
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