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| Dept of Labor Public Disclosure |
Fifteen of the eighteen bases “governed” by the CWA flight
attendants are required to file an LM-3 report, since receipts to these CWA
locals are less than a quarter million dollars.
Though it makes sifting through the information less onerous than the far
more detailed LM-2 reports required of DCA, ORD, SFO, the UAL MEC, the International Office, and the parent union (CWA), it omits some points of interest of
which the well informed Afa-CWA flight attendant should be aware.
Beginning with CWA Local 21005 (JFK Council 5), total income is
reported as $98,577. Cross reference
that figure with the international LM-2, however, and they reported funding
Local 21005 with $37,499. The additional
$61,058 is flight pay loss compensation, though the LM-3 has no place to report
this. It is only looking at the more
detailed LM-2s from DCA, ORD, and SFO that one can see clearly the reported
reimbursement from the Company to the LEC's for trips paid but not flown by Afa
officers and employees. To simply
reference one report or the other provides an incomplete picture and no
accurate sourcing of funds paid to the LEC for “representational”
activities. These activities can range
from actual work in a Afa office off-site and inaccessible to many flight
attendants, or simply staying at home and thinking about stuff.
On page two, total membership is reported as 668 members,
which means JFK Council 5 flight attendants paid a total of $344,688 but saw only 29% of
their dues money actually returning to the base. This is a wonderful example of trickle-down economics
since our dues money, paid directly into the CWA treasury is apportioned out to
the flight attendant sector international office. After taking their cut, they then parcel it
out to the TWENTY-ONE MECs that exist under the CWA’s umbrella. These payments vary depending on the size of
the carrier, but range from $2,322,220 paid to Greg Davidowitch’s MEC at United
Airlines, down to $57,722 paid to Compass Airlines. (Incidentally, since Compass has yet to
ratify a first contract, the rest of us gets to foot the bill for that. There is no dues money being collected from
Compass flight attendants).
Officers’ salaries are listed on page 3 of the report and
range from a low of $1,564 for LEC Representative Kristina Teller to a high of
$19,113 for LEC Vice President Richard Dagnall ($6,286 in salary and $12,827 in
expenses for conducting representational activities and “union” business. The total spent on these six officers was
$60,728.
Page 4 contains Statement B which lists the total receipt of
$98,577 broken down into the officers’ salaries and reimbursed expenses,
employees’ salaries of $15,753, per capita tax of $1,067 and the vaguely
defined office and administrative expense of $21,029. Everything seems fairly straightforward and
tidy, even frugal, until you reach page five and read question 16.
Past CWA LM-2s consolidated officers’ and employees’
salaries in one convenient location, whereas now, disclosure becomes obfuscation
and transparency, opacity. On the last page there is a short list of officers who
may have been paid additional money from other sources. For instance, the $19,113 paid to Mr. Dagnall
for services rendered to CWA Local 21005 was ONLY what was paid to him from the
JFKSW local. He is also listed as a committee member of
Local 22021 (DCA), the UAL MEC as a committee member, the sector international
as a committee member, and as a part-time employee of the CWA itself, which
paid an additional $27,925. It is only
through cross referencing these additional reports can one discern a total
salary and non-itemized expense reimbursement of $47,038. This is money paid over and above any trips
actually flown during the year.
Ken Diaz’ actual salary works out to a total of $15,784
($4,219 salary and $11,565 expenses) from Local 21005 (JFKSW), another $38,933
from the MEC ($30,757 salary and $8,176 in expenses), $1,991 from the AFA International Office ($1,516 in salary and $475 in expenses), and yet
another $10,707 in salary from the parent union (CWA) itself, for a total
compensation package of $67,415. Without
referencing FOUR separate reports there is no way for the average WORKING
flight attendant to put these figures together to arrive at the total cost of
Mr. Diaz to the flight attendants of Local 21005(JFK).
The final three names listed in the additional information
summary each received money from Local 21005(JFK) as well as from the parent
union. Antoine Belizaire was paid $847
from the JFK local, and another $12,367 from the CWA. Michael Mate was paid $3 by JFK but earned
$41,358 ($27,280 in salary and $14,078 in expenses) from CWA Local 24008 (ORD),
and another $7,265 paid to him by the CWA. Gustavo Taranto was paid $3,640 by
the flight attendants based in New York, and another $13,933 as a part-time
employee of the parent union, the Communication Workers of America.
Stay tuned for more on the LM2's for other UA Local Executive Councils.
(All CWA-AFA LM2 Reports are available on the Dept of Labor website. Click here and use the drop down "union name" menu to locate AFA-CWA).
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