Whats on the Horizon for 2012??

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS FOR A COMBINED CONTRACT
http://flightattendantcoalition.blogspot.com/

CAL Flight Attendants Ready to Negotiate Their Next Contract! On December 16, 2011, CAL MEC asked for proposals to be submitted by all Continental flight attendants for a new contract.  The deadline to submit is February 10, 2012. The early opener clause in their current contract, (Dated Jan. 1, 2010 - Sept. 2, 2012), permits CAL f/a's to begin negotiations and work on their contract with the Company by March 5th, 2012. CAL flight attendants are given almost two months to participate by providing feedback for what they want in their next negotiated contract. A new contract for them could be in place as early as September, 2012 when their current contract becomes amendable!!    Take note:  The United afa MEC has never solicited written proposals from UA flight attendants!!!  Instead CWA-afa gave us "skewed" surveys and then never gave us the results of those surveys!   Got Pension? The 5th and final "expedited" negotiation session was scheduled December 12-16th. Section 34.B discusses investment options for the 401(k).  However, "CWA may at its discretion exercise veto power over the selection of any fund it deems inappropriate for flight attendant investment" (Section 34.B.11.a).  The additional investment option afa wants included is a Roth IRA - an idiotic and utterly meaningless proposal.  Any flight attendant, right this moment, can go to any bank branch or brokerage firm in person or online and open a traditional or Roth IRA, they needn't wait for the CWA-afa's "negotiated" blessing! Instead, a substantial pay raise, (parity with CAL), would allow ALL flight attendants, at their option, to put more money into a 401(k) plan.  It can increase personal savings and reduce the amount of taxable income.  A raise via the increased amount of a company matched 401k contribution does nothing for a flight attendant who can't afford to contribute to a 401(k) in the first place!! Of course, many of the CWA-afa officers will retire with a secure CWA pension and dues funded retirement medical benefits.  CWA knows how to take care of their own, presumably none of them will have to worry about making and/or selling calendars to subsidize their pension.   Do You Feel Lucky? Base Closures? CAL performed with a smaller, more efficient work force and FOUR bases instead of FOURTEEN.  The overlap that exists in UA's fourteen far flung bases can be flown more efficiently with less than half that number. It will more than justify the one-time cost of closing bases. Is your base on the chopping block?? CAL Opening Sub Bases?? Will there be a "sub base" at LAX for the CAL flight attendants? It would accommodate the new CAL flying, possibly as soon as Spring 2012?  CAL Operations increased pilots from 12 to 119 in LAX since May , 3, 2011 with additional plans for expansion. Also, starting in April, 2012, there will be 17 new flights out of LAX for CAL.  This does not include any new flying that will take place once the delivery of the new B787 starts sometime in 2012.  There are plans to inaugurate Houston-Auckland as soon as the Dreamliners are introduced.  CAL IAH bid packages have LAX-HAV (Havana, Cuba) for December and January. Jeff Smisek has already stated publicly that there will be base closures for UA flight attendants.  It looks like there is already a sub base for pilots and potentially for flight attendants later on the CAL side in LAX.  Add 2,100 furloughs on the UA side while CAL has 27 classes of new hires scheduled (over 2,000 flight attendants)!  United will continue to "shrink UA" and "grow Continental" if productivity gains sought are not achieved by management and shareholders. Houston, We Definitely Have a Problem! CWA-afa "Gambling Our Future" It has been almost TWO YEARS (January 7, 2010) since UA's contract became amendable!!  In the October 28, 2011 issue of Negotiatons and You, CWA-afa tells us that the "expedited mediation" will "establish the foundation for Single Contract Negotiations to begin within 180 days following ratification of a Tentative Agreement."  So, the earliest combined contract will not BEGIN negotiations until 2013!?!  There will be TWO separate amendable contracts on the property and no real attempt to negotiate a joint agreement!!! UA flight attendants, meanwhile, are going to struggle to make a living with low projections and A/B rotation reaching further into the seniority list with each passing month.  At worst, involuntary furloughs will be announced in another few weeks despite  CWA-afa's assertions to the contrary. CAL will be negotiating their 4th contract in the same period we have had one 13 year contract! Expedited Negotiation Ends on Jan. 6th! Demand a Combined Contract Now!  JOIN THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT COALITION FOR CHANGE AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Subscribe Today!