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AFA vs. DELTA - AGAIN!
 4th Time Not a
CharmAfter the last
and 3rd failed attempt by AFA to organize at Delta/Northwest in late 2010, a
group of Delta/Northwest FA's decided that they needed to look into other
options for union representation.
AFA recognized that the Delta/
Northwest FA activists (that supported AFA in the past) were doing a great job
garnering TWU support. AFA became concerned that TWU could push them out by
getting the AFL-CIO to make a decision that could jeopardize their exclusivity
status, so they decided to ask TWU officials to ''team up'' with AFA to
organize Delta. TWU agreed to this tricky maneuver by the AFA. TWU and AFA
(with financial backing from the CWA) created ADFA- Association of Delta Flight
Attendants and ''re-launched'' the campaign to organize Delta.
And so like a
bad Road Runner cartoon, Wile E Coyote has decided to change disguises and try
again!
Recognizing this for what it is, The Delta/Northwest
FA's that started the TWU effort re-grouped and DROPPED their support of TWU in
favor of starting a campaign for a union with more integrity and democracy,
the IAMAW. AFA is pushing back very hard and
demanding the AFL-CIO stop the IAM from helping these Delta FA activists in any
way whatsoever AND from giving them ANY financial assistance to run an IAM campaign.
Currently, Delta flight
attendants await a critical decision by the AFL-CIO on what they can and can't
do to organize for the IAM.
In a written statement, Delta said flight attendants “have rejected
AFA representation multiple times over many years, so we’re not surprised AFA
would try to put on a different face this time.� To get a vote, organizers
must collect signed cards from at least 50 percent of the eligible work group, a
process that can take months or years.
IAM DELTA ENRICHING YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE:
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTIONhttp://www.ajc.com/news/business/unions-pair-up-for-another-run-at-delta/nSdZD/
AFA = ADFA:
"If it talks like a duck and walks like a duck,
It's a
duck!"
"UNITED 3" WITCH HUNT CONTINUES!
AFA "Denies"
Motion for More Evidence!
On September 14, 2012, an AFA UA MEC letter signed by UA MEC
President Greg Davidowitch alleged that 3 United Airlines flight attendants
violated Article X of the AFA Constitution and By Laws. Click on this link to view the letters.
On September 26, 2012, the accused
requested more evidence from Ed Gilmartin, AFA General Counsel. Additional evidence against the United 3 was denied on October
9th and on October 16th, another request was made by one of the United 3 to
Kevin Creighan, International Secretary-Treasurer
Association of Flight Attendants, on behalf of
all the accused - "In order to appropriately prepare for my upcoming hearing, I
am requesting that you forward to me copies of all Hearing Board decisions
whereby a member was expelled, suspended from the union, or prohibited from
holding office."
None of the requests
have been met.
The aggressive move by the faltering UA MEC to hold hearings to
expel the United 3 flight attendants has provoked outrage among the rank and
file not only from United Air Lines but unionists at other airlines and across
the nation. As an example:
"This is the most pathetic action I
have ever heard and two years ago I would have never believed such behavior
existed within the confines of a collective bargaining agent. I am saddened
beyond belief that the organization we worked so hard to maintain is operating
in such an underhanded fashion. It breaks my heart and I agree that anything
that has the smell of AFA attached anywhere can NEVER win at Delta. Just
cowardly...I hate the dishonesty and the completely non-collective stink of
it."
- Anonymous former Northwest flight attendant
who was previously an AFA Activist during the last failed attempt to organize
Delta.-
In the
Meantime
CAL LECP Council 64
PLEDGES TO CHANGE ARTICLE X
"I have to speak my conscience. I can
not support actions that turn the idea of leadership, unionism and justice on
its head. Actions that in no small way repudiate Constitutional rights afforded
to every citizen. Maybe I am naive as a junior Unionist but I don''t understand
how some jeer and salivate at the thought of expelling one of their own for ANY
degree of dissent."
"I pledge to draft
my first BOD agenda item for the next BOD meeting. A re-write of Article X that
will uphold the membership's right to freedom of speech. I have enough faith in
my Union as to believe it will easily withstand any dissent. It will grow and
prosper because it stands for what is right. It will never look back, only
forward toward it''s end goal. A better life for ALL whom it serves."
Manny
Mireles, CAL LECP IAH - Oct. 17,
2012
Though Manny Mireles does not now, nor has he
ever, had any formal or informal ties to the FACC, we wish him well in trying to
bring about true democracy to our Union.
JOINT NEGOTIATIONS DELAYED!
Info from the JNC:
The
Joint Contract Negotiations Committee reported on October 12th that since the
last update, the Joint Negotiating Committee has continued its work researching
industry practices and contractual provisions. But has had to postpone a
scheduled November meeting with the Company.
"This week, the JNC
worked on addressing our common interests to develop the framework that will
result in our new Contract. This work will continue next week. We have had
further communication with the Company and we anticipate the next negotiating
session to take place in Chicago the first week of December. We will
provide further details as we finalize the meeting
date."
More Trouble with Denver LECP
at UA
"Our local AFA
Council President has failed to communicate recent Committee Roster changes, so
the purpose of this letter is to notify Council 9 members about my resignation
from multiple LEC 9 DEN Committees. This unfortunate decision has been made on
my part for me to no longer participate on any of the following Council 9
Committees: Chairperson for the Reserve Committee, volunteer for the Reserve
Committee, Payroll Committee and Mobilization Committee...."
Stacy
Jassek, Vice President AFA-CWA, Local Council 9, Denver
"As Stacy Jassek has mentioned in his previous post, there have
been sudden changes made to the way we do council business by our Local Council
President thus affecting the time i can commit to the reserve committee. Such
changes placed restrictions and must follow guidelines to the way union work
must be conducted. Due to these restrictions and limitations i am forced to
resign from such committee...." Jarrett Beto- LEC Denver AFA-CWA
Secretary
Ken Kyle is the current DEN LECP and is
in his second term. Amidst scandal of financial impropriety, (watch this YouTube video part 1 from a few years ago), and
drug use allegations by his former LEC VP, during his first term, Ken was
re-elected to a second term. Along with SFO LECP, LAX LECP, ORD LECP, and DCA
LECP, Denver LECP has been unable to shake themselves from allegations of
corruption, violence and abuse of the rank and file, as well as financial
malfeasance! Follow the money trail, read the LM2's
from the Dept of Labor. Click here and use the drop down "union name
abbreviation" menu to locate AFA-CWA
Forward this message to a
friend
AFA INTERNATIONAL'S
PAYCHECK$$$
 MORE
RAISES!AFA-CWA Employee disbursements totaled $4,369,676 in salary,
$185,772 in allowances and $171,274 in disbursements for conducting official
union business, for a total cost to WORKING flight attendants of $4,726,722.
On top of an average salary of $71,634 to the sixty-one individuals
listed as employees of the AFA-CWA flight attendant sector, thirty-four of those
claimed allowances averaging an additional $455 per month, or $5,460 per year,
IN ADDITION to an average of $3,644 per year in disbursements necessary, they
claim, for conducting official union business.
But what makes these
figures more troubling especially in light of the continued job loss and impact
of earnings on s-UA flight attendants as flying begins to be shifted to the more
lucrative s-CO contract, are the $215,616 IN RAISES that were granted to this
cadre of sixty-one employees!!!
But no one tops the obscene and
undeserved excess granted Darren Shiroma, former s-UA LEC President of
Los Angeles and now executive assistant to Veda Shook, whose income rose
$43,159 from FY 2010-2011 to a total of $97,651 for FY 2011-2012. Paid
only slightly less than staff attorneys, who presumably have advanced degrees
from accredited professional institutions, Mr. Shiroma has done little but play
the AFA-CWA political game, extricating himself from the flight attendant
profession early in his flying career for something “better� and far more
lucrative.
While Davidowitch, who himself enjoyed a $35,382
raise from FY 2010-2011, and his MEC “learn� the IAM contract and plod
down the slow road to a joint contract, s-United flight attendants slip further
into political irrelevancy.
Rotational reserve reaches further into the
seniority ranks at s-UA, putting flight attendants with twenty years and more of
seniority back on reserve and taking six months’ earning CHOICE away from
them. But that has always been the guiding philosophy of the AFA-CWA and the
s-UA MEC. WORKING flight attendants don’t need or want choice – AFA-CWA
“leadership� tells flight attendants what to do and how much to earn, while
they grant themselves raises and increased disbursements, non-itemized and
necessary for “official union business.� And if anyone dares to question and
challenge these abuses and corrupt practices, they are publicly excoriated and
put on “trial� for “anti-union� activities. Just ask the United
3!!!
As these figures show, the representation vote was never about what
was in the best interests of flight attendants at either pre-merger carrier –
if that had been the case, then there would have been an unemotional and
substantive debate about the merits of each individual contract and the track
records of the different labor organizations in obtaining collective bargaining
agreements. Rather it was about keeping the AFA-CWA gravy train rolling for
these individuals who would have had to look for work elsewhere had the CWA
lost.
United flight attendants’ money continues to fund this circus of
charlatans and half-wits, comprised of people whose “professional�
credentials would never earn them the money in the outside world that they are
paid here, and they know it. This underlying unease which exists whether they
acknowledge it or not explains the visceral and overblown reaction to a group of
flight attendants doing nothing more than demanding true reform and an end to
the corrupt practices that are the permanent and irrefutable hallmark of AFA-CWA
flight attendant “representation.�
Contrary to Mr. Davidowitch’s
assertion earlier this year, there IS a right and wrong way to represent flight
attendants, and thanks to the AFA we have a glaring example of what precisely
that wrong way is.
http://flightattendantcoalition.blogspot.com/
MEMBERSHIP FOR A DEMOCRATIC
UNION!
FACC
DEMANDS
- TERM LIMITS (for LEC, MEC, and Afa
International). Davidowitch has been the s-UA MEC President since 2002 and his
third term runs through 2014.
- DIRECT MEMBERSHIP VOTE (amend the
Constitution and By-Laws as was proposed by the s-CAL MEC at the BOD meeting in
2011 and allow flight attendants to vote for ALL MEC
officers).
- STOP FLIGHT ATTENDANT PERSECUTION!! - our union filing
charges against dissenting opinions and reform movement candidates must stop!
"In our labor movement, there are thousands of
active, loyal unionists, and potentially many thousands more,
independent-minded, conscious of their rights as Americans, insistent on
dignified treatment in their union and on the job. Union democracy is one means
of releasing that spirit as an energizing force to help overcome “apathy� in
the labor movement". - Herman Benson -
JOIN THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT COALITION FOR CHANGE AND
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN 2012!
Subscribe to our Bi Monthly
E-Mails Today!VISIT
THE FACC BLOG HERE
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