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Afa Puts "Lipstick on a Pig"? Davidowitch's "special thank you to those who were able to avail themselves of the benefits afforded while on a Voluntary Furlough and the Partnership Program while saving a job of a flying partner."
Afa neglects to consider the economic harm caused by their failed policies to those f/a's who remain. These self-supporting flight attendants will face fewer flying opportunities, A/B rotation reaching deeper into the seniority ranks, coming base closures, and another furlough later in the year.
For afa, after ninety days, the supposed economically advantaged UA flight attendants on "voluntary" furlough no longer pay dues. The loss in UA dues is more than offset by the steady stream of new hires and their money filtering through the CAL Houston training center. Afa after all, has always been adept at "buttering both sides of the bread". Of course, that would be afa's bread, not the membership.
The Truth About "Involuntary"? The hard line of demarcation for the 495 flight attendants that were slated for "involuntary furlough" was the knowledge that if they "volunteered," they would at least retain their paid health insurance benefits. Hardly "a great collective success," as Davidowitch claimed.
Nothing is stated about the ongoing "reallocation" of CAL flying routes previously flown by UAL. The Letter of Agreement in the Tentative regarding future furlough protection does nothing to protect flying ratios that continues to tilt in Continental's favor because of their flexible, and efficient work force.
According to Davidowitch's January 20th FANN newsletter, "Our Negotiating Committee pushed management well beyond what they were prepared to do and reached a Tentative Agreement without trading off our benefits and working conditions to achieve higher pay rates and other economic improvements".
Wow! Bragging about an industry lagging contract suggests that afa is "delusional". Modifying 8 in 24 to 8.5 in 24 and 30 in 7 to 35 in 7 are changes in work rules. The ones they were NEVER going to give up. And Afa gave it up for 15% over 4 remaining years of this tentative. Soon they will be selling igloos to the Eskimo's! Voting "No" or "Yes" The tentative has options for flight attendants hoping to "crossover" for an immense pay raise, avoid involuntary furlough, or are planning for retirement with the "early out".
It should have been incumbent on union leaders to put the May 2010 offer from UA management to a vote of the membership and let them decide for themselves. They have finally put the same "crossover" offer in the January 2012 Tentative, but not before CAL hired over 400 new flight attendants, that under current language will be senior to any crossover flight attendant.
A "No" vote assumes the AFA negotiating staff, who took three years to bring this horrible tentative to us, has the talent and competency to bring us back something better. The last "No" vote on a tentative agreement was in 1996. Afa brought us back another tentative with 40% of flying on International routes done by international domiciles. That left the other 60% to be flown by U.S. domiciles. How did that work for you?
A "Yes" vote (as ugly as that sounds) might take us into a combined contract negotiations, if you believe Afa. Perhaps the experienced and successful CAL MEC can take on the burden of assisting our incompetent UA negotiators. CAL will become stakeholders in the future combined agreement. CAL MEC is now accepting proposals from the CAL flight attendants to exchange opening letters on March 2nd for their contract which is amendable in September 2012. But can UA MEC work with CAL MEC and make nice after making wild and false accusations about CAL not having any work rules?
The "Crossover" Road Ahead  The CAL IAM Contract stipulates "the Company shall not furlough any flight attendant prior to the amendable date of this Agreement who was on the Continental System Seniority List as of the date of ratification of this Agreement."
The amendable date of the CAL contract is September 2012. What happens to the flight attendants who cross over after the amendable date of the Agreement if CAL needs to furlough? And if Continental does have to furlough, who will be furloughed first? The Crossover flight attendants or the new hires? And what happens if there are no positions on the United side available when and if Continental furloughs?
The Crossover Letter of Agreement, recently re-posted on the Afa website, does not specifically state how many crossovers will actually be offered. Are you willing to gamble?
It is "advisable" for any United flight attendant considering a crossover to be very clear on the language in the new Letter of Agreement for the Crossover that is posted.JOIN THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT COALITION FOR CHANGE AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN 2012!
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