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HAPPY LABOR DAY!
Searching for the JNC Wunderkind
As the joint negotiating committee met
with the Company in San Francisco August 5-9, it would have been an
appropriate time to review  precisely what has been agreed upon since the representation vote ended on June 29, 2011.
The JNC insists that a lengthy negotiation process will be absolutely necessary to maintain "the
history associated with the existing language in our Contracts, because
it carries with it years of precedent on how that language has been
applied, and provides the foundation for how it will be applied going
forward."
With
that in mind, the following is a review of the contract language that
has been reported as agreed upon by flight attendant and company
representatives:
1. Missing, Interned or Hostage (Prisoner of War)
- CAL CBA Section 25 page 25-1 - Missing, Interned or Hostage
- CMI CBA Section 28 page 28-1 - Missing, Interned or Hostage
- AFA CWA CBA Section 28 page 197 - Missing, Internment, Prisoner of War benefits
As is true of much of the CAL and CMI contracts, (CBAs), the wording in these sections is IDENTICAL
therefore there was no need to negotiate anything - the sections stand
as they are. Both contracts' sections consist of two parts, and a form
for naming a beneficiary for the missing, interned, or hostage flight
attendant. They are both a single page in length.
The AFA CWA
contract (CBA) on the other hand is a page and a quarter with six
sections, clumsily enumerating what is stated succinctly in the other
two documents. The chief difference in these sections is that while CAL
and CMI flight attendants are "entitled to full pay and accrual of
all benefits...for an indefinite period of time or until proof of death
is legally determined," UAL flight attendants "shall be allowed
compensation at the basic monthly rate for a a period of twelve (12)
months after disappearance or until such date as death is established,
whichever occurs first. After death is established or the twelve months
has passed."
Further, the CAL and CMI CBAs both require that "a
flight attendant will maintain and continue to accrue seniority and
longevity for pay purposes during periods in which she/he is held
hostage, prisoner or missing-in-action (and) all retirement fund
accruals and contributions will continue during this period." The AFA CWA CBA Section 28.F page 198 also provided the same, but since there is a twelve month limit, once the year has passed, the UAL flight attendant and her/his beneficiary is cut off. And there is no retirement fund.
Strangely
enough, and missing altogether from the CAL and CMI CBAs is the
provision found inSection 28.E on page 198 of the AFA CWA CBA which
states that "the monthly compensation allowable under this Section
shall be in lieu of all compensation provided for by any law in respect
to person interned, held prisoner of war, or missing, and shall also be
in lieu of all salary, expenses, and subsistence during the period in
which a Flight attendant is interned, held prisoner of war, or missing."
The
only way to interpret the AFA CWA CBA provision is to read it to mean
that any additional pay received by the flight attendant on their
unauthorized holiday in a hostile foreign war zone is that their "compensation
at the basic monthly rate of a period of twelve (12) months after
disappearance or until such date as death is established, whichever
occurs first" is meant to replace any money they may have earned
while used as forced labor ("slaves" perhaps??), and such earnings
should be reimbursed to the company.
2. Leaves of Absence
- CAL CBA Section 14.1 pages 14-10,11 - Leaves of Absence
- CMI CBA Section 14.1 pages 14-11, 12 - Leaves of Absence
- AFA CWA CBASection 4.N.o page 20 - General
The
truly glacial pace these negotiations are taking is evident in the fact
that the agreement regarding Jury Duty and court Witness provisions are
not even complete sections - they are merely brief paragraphs in much
larger sections of their respective CBAs.
In the case of the CAL and CMI CBAs they belong to the leaves of
absence section, but the AFA CWA CBA throws it into the catch-all
General Section 4.
Editorially,
Section 14.I.6 in the CAL CBA is found verbatim in Section 14.I.3 of
the CMI CBA. Proof of jury duty may be required in both CBAs and
"flight attendants on leave of absence pursuant to this section will
retain and accrue seniority for all purposes."
However,
the AFA CWA CBA - Section 4.O.2. states that "a flight attendant who is
required to appear in court as a result of being subpoenaed or being
named party in a court action shall be removed from schedule without
reduction to her/his monthly maximum flight time (DNF) (and) such
DNF may be made up in accordance with the open flying provisions." The
CAL and CMI CBAs make no such distinction and require flight pay loss
compensation for any court required activity.
To
summarize, then, the second of these agreements touted by the JNC as
proof of progress, aren't even full sections, but rather paragraphs
within larger sections that haven't even begun to be fully discussed.
3. Alcohol and Drug Testing
- CAL CBA Section 11 pages 11-1-11-12-Alcohol and Drug testing
- CMI CBA Section 13 pages 13-1 - 13-13 -Alcohol and Drug testing
- AFA-CWA CBA Section 7.3.f page 48- Hours of Service and Contractual Legalities
Of
the three sections reported tentatively agreed to by the JNC and the
Company, the Alcohol and Drug Testing has the starkest difference
between the AFA CWA and the CAL/CMI CBAs.
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE CAL and CMI CBAs as they pertain to procedures required in
the alcohol and drug testing policy for flight attendants. Both CBAs
also provide for a twenty dollar payment every time a flight attendant
is tested.
As for the 2010-2016 AFA CWA CBA, Section 7.3.f on
page 48 states that "a flight attendant required to undergo drug or
alcohol testing shall have her/his duty time extended by fifteen (15)
minutes for pay credit purposes only." There is nothing more to
"negotiate" here other than to harmonize the language and pagination
between the CAL and CMI CBAs. The AFA CWA CBA section is weaker than
what has already been negotiated on behalf of the CAL and CMI flight
attendants.
What is most disconcerting is the fact that these three contracts (CAL, CMI, AFA CWA) number roughly more than ONE THOUSAND PAGES. Of that, fifteen pages, at most, have been agreed to
- approximately 1.3% of the total. Unless the UAL MEC drops the
pretense of forging a new, "industry-leading" contract - (a time worn
and bogus phrase used by the AFA CWA repeatedly through the years to
mollify flight attendants at EVERY carrier they represent into thinking
theirs is the next great contract) - and simply accepts that the current
CAL CBA IS THE JOINT CONTRACT, then UAL flight attendants will
continue to labor under the economically unequal financial terms of
separate contracts for no other reason than the fact that..........
THE UA MEC JNC HAS NO WUNDERKINDS.
The Great $$ Disparity Between s-UA & s-CO
There
is at minimum a $1,000 PER MONTH disparity between what a s-UA flight
attendant can earn and what their counterparts at s-CO earn FOR THE SAME
WORK. Yet union "leadership" at s-UA AFA finds that acceptable and will
do "whatever it takes" to continue this charade for the foreseeable
future. To date NOT ONE OFFICER AT ANY LEVEL OF THE UA MEC can
effectively explain the disparity. The
UA MEC will throw around words like negotiating the "best of both
contracts". However, the leadership cannot explain vacation fly
throughs that s-CO flight attendants enjoy nor the fact that they can
split their vacation 5 times in a year. The s-Co new hires based in SFO
with 2012 seniority are lineholders. Nor is there any discussion
about the additional flexibility enjoyed by the reserves at s-CO while
the s-UA flight attendants on A/B rotation have little or no
flexibility which explains why some of the s-UA A/B Reserves fly 140-150
hours during their line months to offset the paltry 78 hours or less
that they are able to fly while on Reserve. There is little mention
from the s-UA MEC about the $10.00 an hour disparity in pay between s-CO
wages and s-UA domestic pay.
The leaders at AFA CWA will look
you straight in the eye and tell you that we have an "industry leading"
contract. The carnage from some of the s-UA flight attendants losing
their homes, family, health and income seems to leave the leadership
unabashedly unaffected while they themselves enjoy incomes that most of
the rank and file cannot even begin to fathom. The disparity in
benefits and income of flight attendants from two subsidiaries, both now
wearing the same uniforms under the same Company name, should be a
shameful legacy shared by the s-UA union leadership.
“The
problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of
doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” ― Charles
Bukowski
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WHO RUNS THE OFFICE?
Happily,
by the end of August, the AFA CWA will have meet the deadline for
submitting the FY 2012-2013 LM-2 and LM-3 reports to the Department of
Labor, which means flight attendants will again have the opportunity to
see precisely what their "representation" and "protection" has cost
them, and vote accordingly for their LEC officers. (More on this in the
next issue of the FACC).
By virtue of its size, though steadily
dwindling in numbers and political relevancy, s-UA will still have a
strong voice at the upcoming AFA Board of Directors meeting, so the
elections of LEC officers at Frankfurt and Washington DC are of great
importance to the entire s-UA AFA membership. Both current LEC
Presidents at these bases are relics of past policy and mainstays of the
rationalizing and excuse-making that is part of EVERY negotiating
failure for which the AFA CWA has been responsible.
For his part,
Andreas Curlee's tenure as a commuting flight attendant and ersatz LECP
of s-UA DCA underscores yet another needed change to policy - that
local officers and representatives never should be commuters. Since
taking office in FY 2008-2009, Mr. Curlee has paid himself $245,920
which included having DCA flight attendants pay for his commuter
apartment. And his largesse continues unabated; for August 2013, he had
over 144 hours of which he is actually flying less than 25 hours. That is only slightly better than the LECPs from DEN, JFK, and LAS, who did NOT FLY AT ALL in August 2013.
When
Mr. Curlee wasn't commuting and away from his base, he was
grandstanding at the CWA level too, as a member of the CWA Finance
Committee. The May 2012 CWA Finance Committee report "welcomes
Andreas Curlee...as a new member of the CWA Convention Finance
Commitee...to educate (the committee) on the (flight attendant sector)
budgeting process and (re-confirm) the commitment made by the Board of
Directors and their International Officers last April to not only keep
expenses within their income and budget, but also to begin contributing
each month toward CWA's National Programs."
His work
with the CWA Finance Committee has extended into 2013, with yet another
report that is essentially a verbatim rehash of the 2012 report. A few
figures have been changed here and there, but little else has been
accomplished other than an attempt to pad his resume as a career
"unionist" despite his weak attempt to convince his constituents that he
will be leaving DCA to transfer to IAH. A dose of reality in the form
of A/B Rotation awaits him once in IAH as there are no German language
lines to hide in on his RSV months while routinely taking AFA drops for
most of those trips.
The DCA LECP earned at least $65,000 last
year and sits on a CWA Finance Committee with no real qualifications.
Mr. Curlee may not run for a third term in DCA but like Jason from
"Halloween", he will be back, unless the membership keeps him out of the
realm of politics, where he has performed dismally in recent years.
With reform candidates running in DCA and in FRA, the status quo will
face formidable challenges getting away with "business as usual" in the
future.
Equipment Deployments
United
management has stated that there are significant overages in the s-UA
Flight Attendant population that still exist in ORD, LAX and DEN.
Transfers to JFK, IAH and SFO will continue but there may be limited
transfers into DCA.
There will be no transfers awarded for December 2013
or January 2014 schedule months during the upcoming annual vacation bidding
period.
The company is also offering 2 month Special Leaves of Absence (LOA) for the schedule months of October and November.
Two
737-900 aircraft assigned to s-UA as replacement aircraft for the
757-200 have already been accepted for delivery and are on the property,
but are not yet ready to be used. The company does not see the 737-900
being placed into schedule until November for the domestic markets.
This
week United also applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for
authority to operate 787-800 service from San Francisco to Chengdu,
China. The launch date is scheduled for June 9, 2014 and will operate 3
times a week for the s-CO Flight Attendants. The new 787 will also fly SEA/NRT as s-CO metal sometime in November, 2013.
The
Houston Training Center is also scheduled to open again in late
January, 2014 for additional s-Co new hire training. Although there are
no firm numbers, there is at least 11-12 classes of 50 that is
initially being considered for early 2014.
2014 is going to be a bumpy ride for s-UA Flight Attendants
History of Labor
1831 - 1,600 women members of the United Tailoresses of New York, strike for "a just price for our labor."
1840 -President Martin Van Buren signs an executive order establishing a 10-hour workday without a decrease in pay.
1865 - 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolishes slavery.
1868 - The first 8-hour day for federal workers takes effect.
1881
- Atlanta, Georgia: 3,000 Black women laundry workers stage one of the
largest and most effective strikes in the history of the south.
1888
- The first federal labor relations law was enacted, applying to
Railroad workers. It provided arbitration and Presidential boards of
investigation.
1898 - Congress passes the Erdman Act, a
more detailed version of the 1888 Railroad workers legislation to make
it illegal to fire workers for their union membership.
1909 - "Uprising of the 20,000" female shirtwaist workers in New York State strike against sweatshop conditions.
1913 - The United States Department of Labor (separate from Commerce) is established by law.
1993 - The Family and Medical leave Act is passed.
1993
- Five day strike of 21,000 American Airlines' flight attendants,
virtually shutting the airline down is ended when Pres. Clinton
persuades the owners to arbitrate the dispute.
2005
- Seven major national unions, representing six million workers,
disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO , form a new coalition called "Change to
Win", devoted to organizing.
Today, We Celebrate the Heroes of Labor
While
the s-UA Flight Attendants, having once numbered over 25,000
in 2004-2005 as a workforce have continued to shrink. The "active"
Flight Attendants number less than 11,000 under the stagnant and corrupt
management of the AFA CWA!
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DEMAND REFORM VOTE!
- DIRECT MEMBERSHIP VOTE IN 2014
(amend the Constitution and By-Laws as was proposed by the s-CAL MEC at
the BOD meeting in 2012 and 2013 to allow flight attendants to vote for ALL MEC Officers) and ALL issues important to our careers!
- FULL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE (full financial disclosure from AFA LEC'S and MEC'S).
- MINIMUM FLYING REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL LEC AND MEC OFFICERS (i.e. quarterly - to be determined by membership).
"The
difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a
democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you
don't have to waste your time voting."
Charles Bukowski
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