Oct. 2011

What’s in our brew this month?A Contract?

New Leaders?

ONE VOICEONE VOICE

ONE VOICEONE VOICE

Resources Sudoku NEW! Crew Meals Commuter Corner

Top Ten

AFL -CIO Rules AGAINST CWA

Expedited Negotiations :Your Roadmap to your future!

CAL AFA Candidates: An Update

October 2011

You can always reach us and read more at www.thefanews.org

The bewitching hour is hovering over us and it is

time at all three airlines to start closely assessing

the issues that deserve our full attention.

At United Airlines, “Expedited

Negotiations”are underway. This is a maiden

voyage of sorts as this process has never been

used before at any airline. Get full details of the

twelve points on the table. One Voice will help

prepare you, with some sample questions to ask

yourself as the process unfolds. Please also note

that we have put the details of the Company’s

proposal for your to review as unfortunately it

was not as readily available on AFA’s website as

AFA’s 12 points were.

DECISION AFFECTING ALL THREE AIRLINES:As this edition goes to print, the AFL-CIO

rendered its decision on a complaint that was filed

by the CWA against the IAM. Read the simple

version of what it means to you, the Flight

Attendant.

THE TOP TEN:All we can say is that it’s hysterical and we all need

a laugh.

CAL CANDIDATES:We are giving you the most up-to-date candidate

information.

CREW MEALS: This will probably become one our your favorite

place to visit. Don’t read this on an empty

stomach!

You know our mission is simple. We just want to

bring you the news in a simple, non drama filled

format. There are many opinions out there (I

think there’s a saying to that effect...hmmm!). We

are not giving you ours. We WANT YOU TO

HAVE YOUR OWN! For that to happen, we all

need the facts.

BOO!

A Letter from the Editors’ Jumpseat

2. A Letter From The Editors‘ Jumpseat

3. Expedited Negotiations: Your Roadmap To Your Future

4. Crew Meals/Commuter’s Corner

5. AFL-CIO Rules Against CWA

6. Top Ten Election Sayings I Never Want To Hear Again/AFA: The Illusion of Satisfaction

7. CAL AFA Candidates: An Update

8. Corrections/Puzzle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All 25,000 Flight Attendants are welcome to submit comments and responses to what they read. We welcome your input and suggestions.

AFA’S 12 NEGOTIATION POINTS @LEGACY UNITEDHourly Rates of Pay (Section 5.A.)Increase pay effective January 07, 2010, with single pay scale and additional longevity step increases

Legal Rest (Section 7.J.)Improve minimum Legal Rest provisions for Domestic and International (12.M.) including Key-in-hand on layover

Expenses (Section 6.A.)Increase Per Diem

Penalty Pay (Section 5.Q. - new)Pay for Contract violations

Schedule Trading (Section 9.G.)Improve Flight Attendant schedule flexibility with trip trading improvements. Also includes limited testing of instant award for trades with Open Flying

Assignment of Open IDs (Section 9.I.)Increase schedule stability with improvements to Reassignment provisions, including Reassignment pay and limitations on time frame for return to Domicile.

Reserve Assignments (Section 10.C.)Improve Reserve control over schedule through preferencing of assignments and limits on Standby and conversions to Ready Reserve

Special Reserve Legalities (Section 10.D.)Improve Reserve quality of life and compensation by increasing minimum days off, Reserve guarantee and trade opportunities

Vacation Pay (Section 18.K.)Increase pay for Lineholders and Reserves

Sick Leave (Section 19.A.)Improve general Sick Leave provisions, including Occupational Benefits and associated attendance points

401(k) Plan Terms (Section 34.B.)Increase Company-paid direct contribution and match, and expand 401(k) investment options

Minimum Duty Rigs (Section 8.A.)Increase compensation through higher guaranteed minimum pay and credit for hours on duty

Flight time and bid line limitations (Sections 7.A., 9.A.2./3., 10.H., 12.G.) Convert from quarterly to monthly system, enhance productivity and enable more hours and pay.

Maximum Duty Day - Domestic and Hawaii (Sections 7.I.4., 12.A.2.) Enhance Productivity and enable more hours per day and potentially more days off per month for lineholders

RIGs (Sections: 8.A./B., N.1.) Promote pay for work and enable more turns and 2-day ID’s and reduced sits.

8-in-24 and 30-in-7 (Sections 7.D./E.) Enhance productivity, and enable more pay and hours, reduced sits, and potentially more days off per month for lineholders.

Personal time off ("PTO") (Section 4.V.) Enhance productivity consistent with U.S. airline industry norm.

Lodging (Section 6.B.5. and Hotel Standards Letter) Continue to lodge Flight Attendants in hotels that are safe, clean comfortable, quiet and with adequate and available eating options, but address some specific restrictions that are costly in relation to their benefits. Adjust threshold for “dayroom” sits, in coordination with other proposals designed to reduce sits.

Accruals for low-time flyers (Sections 18.A./B., 19.A.) Establish incentives for Flight Attendants to work at least 40 hours per month, while maintaining the flexibility to choose to work less.

Reserves (Sections 5.E., 7.G., 10.D.1., 12.U.) Adopt flexibility for Company to adjust reserve days and move to U.S. airline industry norm in regard to override.

Legal rest minimums - international (Section 12.M.1.) Enhance productivity, lower hotel costs, enable potentially more days off per month for lineholders, and create less disruption to scheduled pairings.

Reserves (Sections 5.E., 7.G., 10.D.1., 12.U.) Adopt flexibility for the Company to adjust reserve days and move to U.S. airline industry norm in regard override.

Holidays (Section 2.Q.) Move to U.S. airline industry norm.

Reduction in personnel -voluntary furloughs and special leaves (Sections 21.A., 23.B.) Increase flexibility to deal with system headcount surpluses in a timely and efficient manner, while maintaining the primacy of voluntary options over involuntary furloughs.

UNITED AIRLINES 12 NEGOTIATION POINTS @LEGACY UNITED

THE QUESTIONS YOU MAY WANT TO ASK

Hourly Rates of Pay: Retro is factored into the pay increase. What does “longevity step increases” mean?

Schedule Trading: Why is the union setting a “limited testing?” It works or it doesn’t. Why offer the opportunity for this valuable option to be taken away?

On AFA’s website, a detailed summary of the 12 issues submitted by AFA is readily available. Why has the AFA not made the Company’s detailed proposal, right below theirs, as easily accessible with the Company’s detailed 12 issues?

After two years of “Whatever It Takes” and “No Concessions”, approx.15,000 Flight Attendants are restricted to 12 or less issues to possibly review.

How did we go from being able to only negotiate very few items in two years to a euphoric compromising optimism over an untested procedure offered by the NMB?

Reserves: Remember that AFA promised to negotiated the following: Call-in for at least 65% of the Reserve pool, more pay, 90 hour guarantee, Assignments by 4PM, ability to pass on assignment or trade it with another Reserve,the ability to preference, the ability to pick up trips on Reserve Days even before assignments are made. AFA promised to be your advocate.

Disclaimer of Endorsement The Site may sometimes refer to or offer content supplied by a third party. Any opinion, advice, statement, service, offer, information, or content expressed or made available by a third party is that of the third party and does not necessarily reflect that of One Voice. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by One Voice.

Flight Attendants share their favorite "Bites"? from around the world!

"Eateries"?"Restaurants"?

" Grinds" ?

This months top pic's are........

1. Paddy's Pic............Black Prince Hotel, Beer Garden in Sydney!" Insanely good value seafood, fish, but it's a

taxi ride......also best view of the city and bridge!"

2. Edward's Pic.........The Basque Market in Boise!www.thebasquemarket.com

" Amazing food"

3. Ernie's Pic.............Bonefish Grill in Kansas City!www.bonefishgrill.com

" Try the Bang Bang shrimp as an appetizer and theseared Ahi was excellent! One of the best I'd ever had!

Wednesday, $5 Bang Bang all day!"

4. Linda's Pic.............XL snack bar in Brussels! and Manneken Pis in Amsterdam!

5. Trisha's Pic............The Palm Restaurant downtown Chicago!" $$, but worth it! Great bartenders and drinks! Love their

Dirty Martini with blue cheese and bacon stuffed olives!Had the best burger ever in my life (I swear) and their

Death by Chocolate-served with a knife stabbed into thetop of it- well, is to die for!"

6. Deborah's Pic........The Pine Restaurant, LGA short layover Holiday Inn!

"Yummy Italian! Servings are huge! Favorite dish: ChickenMeatball Soup."

7. Lucy's Pic..........Fatty's Kitchen, International Market Place HNL and Belgium Cafe at The Rocks, Sydney!

8. Rick's Pic..............7-11 Across from Sea-Tac Marriott" Great Caesar Salad and open 24/7. So if you wakeup hungry, you can always get something to eat...and a lot cheaper than eating at the Marriott!"

9. Fiji's Pic................Kihei Cafe in Maui and Elephant Bar in SFO!

10. Scott's Pic...........Spencer’s Restaurant in Spokane!322 N. Spokane Falls Ct.

Crew Mealsby: Pamela Pace

Commuter’s Corner:

SFO Crash Pads:$220/month All Male$220/month 3 bedroom/2 bath setup. Minutes away from the SFO airport. Walking distance to bay trails, shopping, dining and more. Several amenities including a bike, grill, appliances, dishes, wifi, cable, flat screen TV, VCR/DVD players and access to gym/pool. Secure safe premises. Heavy cleaning done every two weeks and towel service also provided every two weeks. Contact Fiji Dezi fijifun77@gmail.com

SFO Crashpad Co-Ed:$250/month 2 bedroom/1 bath setup. Minutes away from the SFO airport. Walking distance to bay trails, shopping, dining and more. Crashpad has several amenities including appliances, dishes, wifi, cable, flat screen TV, DVD player and access to gym/pool. Secure safe premises. Heavy cleaning done every two weeks and towel service also provided every two weeks. Contact Fiji Dezi fijifun77@gmail.com

SFO Crashpad Co-Ed$250/month 2 bedroom/1 bath setup. Minutes away from the SFO airport. Walking distance to bay trails, shopping, dining and more. Crashpad has

What is your favorite haunt?Email us at

crewmeals@gmail.com

AFL-CIO RULES AGAINST CWAWhat it really means to you

without the mumbo jumboThe Communication Workers of America’s Flight Attendant division, also self identified as the AFA-CWA, is just a small division of the 700,000-members industrial union representing many work groups such as telecommunications, broadcasting, cable television, health care, manufacturing, education and other industries. The AFA is no longer an independent, Flight Attendant-Only union. They are a division of CWA.

In July of 2011, CWA (not the AFA-CWA) filed 2 complaints against the IAM with the AFL-CIO. On October 3, 2011 an Impartial Umpire (as they are called in the industry) ruled the following:

The First Charge: The IAMAW hindered CWA-AFA’s ability to represent members. the Impartial Umpire determined:“I therefore conclude that CWA has not yet achieved Article XX protection for the post-merger unit...IAM is not in

violation of Article XX, Section2 of the AFL-CIO Constitution. This means the AFL-CIO (the umbrella which both unions fall under)did not find the IAM had conducted itself improperly toward its “sister” AFL-CIO union CWA-AFA as CWA continues to allege publicly.

The Second Complaint: CWA claimsThe IAMAW publicly defamed the CWA-AFA. The Impartial Umpire determined:“I find no violation of Section 5 by IAM”

What does this mean to us on the jumpseat? Well, basically, CWA is asking the AFL-CIO to tell IAM to stop their protest and that IAM is a bad union for protesting the results of the election. The Impartial Umpire assigned by the AFL-CIO said they will not interfere with IAM’s legal right to dispute the election.

What the AFL-CIO’s Umpire did decide is the following: With regard to the communications CWA provided Flight Attendants during the election, however, the Impartial Umpire ruled:

• CWA-AFA violated the AFL-CIO constitution when it allowed distribution of bag tags that were derogatory toward the IAM;• CWA-AFA violated the AFL-CIO constitution when it posted anti-IAM logos on in-flight crew bulletin boards;• CWA-AFA violated the AFL-CIO constitution when it asserted in communications that the IAM made “quick and dirty” deals with management; and• CWA-AFA violated the AFL-CIO constitution when it insinuated that an IAM representative was in bed with the company because he testified at a Congressional hearing alongside company representatives – especially when “an AFA-CWA representative was at the same table and cropped out of the photo.”

Just like any organization, there are rules in the AFL-CIO for when disagreements arise. Why is it ok for AFA to use the appeals process at Delta Airlines but they would attempt to block the IAM from exercising their right to avail themselves of the same process?

As ONE VOICE was going to print, AFA put out a response to the Impartial Umpire’s ruling.

At One Voice, we realize this is all sometimes complicated and

even boring, so here’s what happened:

CWA filed 2 complaints against IAM.

AFL-CIO determination in both complaints:

IAM was not in violation

CWA and AFA say at www.unitedafa.org:

“...It’s time to move on” Why are they filing an appeal?

ONE VOICE WELCOMES YOUR COMMENTS:WWW.THEFANEWS.ORG

One Voice will be happy to supply an documents with regards to this story and the decisions made by the AFL-

CIODocuments will be made available on

our website SOON!

AFA:  The Illusion of Satisfactionby Robbie Fanning

• • •

Hotels invite you to 'save the planet' by re-using your towel.... hotels are not in business to save the planet, but to save money. So long as your experience at the hotel is positive, you are satisfied with the illusion taking place (everyone knows that hotels are not out to save the planet). The unique thing about the relationship between AFA and legacy-UA F/A's is that AFA's illusion works amid complete dissatisfaction.  Legacy United Flight Attendants are miserable and they know it.  Yet they continue to give a nod to AFA's rhetorical propaganda.  For this reason, AFA has on their side the weapon of portraying members as being in total dissatisfaction with the current circumstances, yet in general satisfaction with AFA.  The former maintains an identity between AFA and Flight Attendants, the later allows perpetual grief towards management. The two work in tandem to ensure the irony of satisfaction amid perpetual stagnation. AFA then attaches the "Solidarity" buzzword to every communication set forth by the MEC, to quell the restlessness of the broke UAL flight attendant, to ensure that management is seen as the enemy, and that forces OUTSIDE of AFA are prolonging the stagnation. This is the irony of satisfaction amid perpetual stagnation:  we're all miserable, dislike the company and fiercely wear the lapel-pin of a union that has done nothing about it.

My Personal Top 10 List of Election Sayings I Never Want To Hear Again

by William Schrul • • •

10.  It's not about the money  Even though we all said it was on the negotiations survey. 9.  Better The Devil You Know  Yes, it's more than just a Kylie Minogue song.

 8.  I've done my homework  When did People Magazine start writing about flight attendant campaign issues? 7.  They just don't know any better over there  They sure know how to spend all that money they're making. 6.  I want my work rules:  So I can waive them. 5.  It's done, get over it  It's a falling piano, get under it. 4.  Why don't you get involved  Been there and all I got was this lime green t-shirt. 3.  Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants   Well, under the umbrella of another totally unrelated organization. 2.  Be careful what you wish for  No, YOU should be careful what I'm wishing for. 1.  Machinist  If you've got nothing nice to say about people, come sit on the jumpseat with me.

 

The 2nd Annual Inflight Formalby Deborah Brancato

 • • •

The 2nd Annual Inflight Formal was held in Houston, TX on September 23, 2001 honoring nine special crewmembers who have generously devoted their time and talents to better our communities and change lives.  The honorees were Jennifer Adkisson, Ken Bridges, Kim Hollis, Cassey Moore, Mary Beth Lavin, Peggy Slay, Michelle Torsleff, Trish Hack-Rubinstein, and Melody Braun-Wilds.   Ask any of these people how you can get involved with the charities and efforts they support.

Following a beautiful presentation of their accomplishments, a man who needs no introduction in the airline world, Gordon Bethune, gave an inspiring speech about “going forward”.  He emphasized the heart of the Continental employee will always be a wonderful part of the New United and that together, both work groups can make the new airline an amazing success.

The event was attended by members of both legacy carriers as well as numerous members of inflight management as a show of support and unity in the efforts to make the New United a success.  The night was not about "saying goodbye" to Continental, but instead about recognizing shining stars among our ranks and saying "hello and welcome" to the New United!

The beautiful and well planned evening included a delicious dinner, live band, D.J., and dancing.   Stay tuned for the announcement of dates for the 2012 Inflight Formal.  Special thanks go out to Bill Kirby, Seglenda Smith and their team of volunteers that made this event a night to remember.

COMMENTARIES

Candidates for local councils at Continental Airlines

EWR Council 62

LEC President LEC Vice President LEC Secretary

Maxwell FisherJoey Guider

Robert KorzuchDennis MooreVickie Warlick

Alfred McGinnesShaun McNultyDonald Molta*

Patrick O’Brien*Tracy Seibel*Daniel Shields

John Bassett*Charles A. Cunningham*

Roy D’LuccaDavid JanousekDennis Jordan

 

CLE Council 63

LEC President LEC Vice President LEC Secretary

Martina MagpocDaniel NelsonShawn Smith

Marcus Valentino

Doreen DrummondJayson JarrellSheryl Kee

Angela RomzaJanice Tagalicod

Gary Washington

Mary Lou EuseHarold HowardKathlene Verib

Mail date 10-14-11

Polls Open 10-21-11

Polls Close/Count date 11-15-11

Mail date 10-11-11

Polls Open 10-18-11

Polls Close/Count date 11-10-11

IAH Council 64

LEC President LEC Vice President LEC Secretary

Lane BaleJeffrey Fannin

Cherrie HildrethJohn Ives III

Manny MirelesNick Ruiz*

Natt BrandtWilliam SandersGrace Valverde

Nick Ruiz*

Kenneth Moore*Sara Panton

Tommy ThompsonTodd Vana*

Mail date 9-22-11

Polls Open 9-29-11

Polls Close/Count date 10-25-11

GUM Council 65

LEC President LEC Vice President LEC Secretary

Suzanne HendricksCynthia IversonPhilip Rayphand

 

Kathleen Domondon Rsei Isim 

Mail date 10-17-11Mail date 10-17-11

Polls Open 10-24-11

Polls Close/Count date 11-17-11

Any nominee with an * by their name was nominated by their peers and have yet to submit a Willingness To Serve letter.

These individuals may not appear on the final ballots.

ONE VOICE WELCOMES YOUR COMMENTS:WWW.THEFANEWS.ORG

Corrections to the September Issue:

• Sara Nelson’s name was misspelled in Applause For AFA.

7 8 2 6

4 5 7

9 4

1 3 4

1 2 5

6 5 8

8 7

9 3 6

2 7 4 3

PUZZLES!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer of Endorsement The Site may sometimes refer to or offer content supplied by a third party. Any opinion, advice, statement, service, offer, information, or content expressed or made available by a third party is that of the third party and does not necessarily reflect that of One Voice. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by One Voice.