This is a letter I received from THB on Tuesday, August 10th. This just shows how professional and what a great person she is.
August 2004
Dear AA Flight Attendant Colleague,
It is my hope that this update will be my last communication to
my co-workers as an "activist in exile" awaiting the Department of
Labor's (DOL) final ruling concerning my election complaint stemming
back to the March 12, 2004 APFA national officers' run-off
balloting. I will assume that anyone reading this letter remembers
that I lost the office of APFA President by a margin of 5 votes on
that date. Following the certification of this election I filed an
election complaint with a focus on the 412 voided ballots. The
purpose of this letter is to give the members of APFA the best update
that I can, almost five months into this process, particularly since
our union is choosing to remain all but silent regarding this matter.
Here are the current facts that make up the chronological history
concerning my election dispute. I filed a timely election complaint
with my union in accordance with the APFA Constitution on March 23,
2004. Our current constitution has a two step internal process to
review an election complaint.
Step one - the APFA National Ballot Committee (NBC) reviewed my
complaint. I received a letter from the NBC in April sharing their
research regarding this complaint. They informed me that their
research had found 3 voided ballots that in their opinion should have
been counted; further, that since these 3 ballots would not have
impacted the presidential race they would not be opening these said
ballots. Later that month I filed a timely appeal with the APFA
Executive Committee (EC).
Step two - the EC on the last possible date allowed in accordance
with our current constitution, held two days of research and review
in May and found 13 more voided ballots that the majority of the EC
found should have been counted. Steven Ellis, a member of this
executive body and who was also a presidential candidate in the
primary of this national officer's election, authored a resolution to
direct a count of these now 16 ballots. On three separate meeting
dates (May 11, May 18, and June 28, 2004) this Ellis resolution was
entered into the EC record, as a resolution both seconded and
discussed, but never voted on due to three members of this APFA
executive body refusing to participate in the vote. By either
refusing to be present or choosing to leave the meeting these 3
members prevented any further EC action on this matter. This is due
to the requirement in our current constitution of a 7-member quorum
of the EC "in order to conduct the business of the APFA" (page 15 of
the current constitution).
Since my internal election dispute was blocked at the
constitutional EC appeal level, and thus no decision was made, on May
29, 2004 I filed a timely election complaint with the U.S. Department
of Labor (DOL) in accordance with the Labor Management Reporting and
Disclosure Act (LMRDA). On July 13, 2004 the DOL District Director
of the Office of Labor-Management Standards wrote to the president of
our union with a pre-determination and very specific preliminary
investigative findings. This was following 6 weeks of investigation
and three agreed to extensions of time limits.
The current APFA President shared this above information with the
APFA Board of Directors late in the day on the final day of their
recent meeting (July 27, 2004), urging no action to these specific
DOL's findings. Two board resolutions stemmed directly from these
closed session board discussions regarding this matter - Resolution
#17 and Substitute Resolution #17. Though the presentation from the
president and general counsel of our union were only heard by the
Board members and Executive Committee members in closed session, both
resolutions are on the record of this 4th board meeting in 5 months.
Substitute resolution #17 directed the NBC in conjunction with
neutral parties to open the sixteen questionable ballots, as
determined by both the Ellis Resolution and the initial DOL findings -
this resolution failed by a 7/yes - 11/no vote. Resolution #17,
which passed by a vote of 11/yes - 7/no, found that no action was
necessary at this point regarding the July 13, 2004 DOL's
investigative findings. You will be able to read the complete text
of both of these resolutions and how your base representative voted
on these issues on the APFA website.
There are two other current important issues for the AA Flight
Attendants that I would like to address in this public
communication. At the most recent EC meeting in June an internal
Election Procedures Task Force was established as formal policy.
Many of us feel this election process overview, with a serious
internal audit, should have taken place shortly after the April 2003
AA/APFA Restructuring Participation Agreement election fiasco. After
more than a year, via another EC Ellis Resolution in June 2004, an
internal election task force had been installed as formal policy.
This task force had just begun their work at APFA headquarters during
the week of July 19th. What amazes me beyond belief is the fact that
the Board of Directors in Resolution #15 during last week's meeting
voted to disband this task force, again by a vote of 11/yes - 7/no.
This is another resolution I urge you to review. In one person's
opinion our union must thoroughly review both the March 2004 national
officer's election process as well as the history of the April 2003
election complaints.
The second additional issue that I believe APFA members need to
be aware of concerning this recent Board Meeting is the Board's
continuing dialogue regarding a contractually required "pocket-sized
copy" of our current ratified collective bargaining agreement
(CBA) "to be distributed as soon as possible following
ratification." I'm sure that I don't need to remind you that you and
I are currently working under hugely altered workrules, wage
structures, and benefits; yet effective today we have no printed copy
of our current CBA. As a former president and vice-president of our
union and current LGA based flight attendant, I became so enraged
over this huge noncompliance of our contract after speaking
repeatedly with both union and management personnel, that in April
2004 I filed my own individual grievance (Notice of Dispute). In my
opinion this is a clear contractual violation in accordance with
Article 28 A.2.a. (page 261) and Article 24 A. (page 224) of the
APFA/AA Agreement.
During last week's board meeting, this issue was once again
raised formally and the current president said he would "look into
this matter." Please, I urge you to raise your own voice regarding
this issue with both your union and your base management. Both the
pilots and the ground workers have received a printed contract. This
is a real injustice that should be argued in front of a neutral
referee to force compliance to the terms and conditions of our CBA.
I have certainly taken up enough of your time as you read through
this open letter to APFA members. I just hope that you can try to
understand how it feels to be a union advocate of well over 30 years,
who watched with total dismay as my union after months of denial
following 9/11 and flight 587, finally joined the other labor groups
who had been in preparation and discussion months ahead of APFA. We
went in late and we got our asses kicked in concessionaire
bargaining. APFA went in under prepared, with the most inexperienced
negotiating team in our history. APFA under valued our 2001 Contract
and produced a product (the RPA) that has set us back as a workgroup
by more than 25 years. These facts cannot be blamed totally on
management - much of this responsibility is with the union president.
Again, there is much work to be done. I urge you too to get
involved. Our union is currently in grave danger. We need effective
and strong leadership at this time in our history.
Beginning in the early '70s there was a slow and steady process
of turning a once short termed dead-end job into a career with a
respectable retirement. We must not give up now. Stand with me and
see to it that true leadership is restored to our union. Please
remember that you will have another chance to vote in the upcoming
Base Elections. Again, I urge you to stay informed and get involved.
In closing, the final deadline for the U.S. Department of Labor
to enter into Federal Court to force a remedy in my election
complaint is currently on or about September 7, 2004. This is the
day after Labor Day. It just may be the date we take our union back
and then the REAL WORK will begin.
With hope for our collective
futures,
Tommie Hutto-Blake
LGA flight attendant
August 2004
Dear AA Flight Attendant Colleague,
It is my hope that this update will be my last communication to
my co-workers as an "activist in exile" awaiting the Department of
Labor's (DOL) final ruling concerning my election complaint stemming
back to the March 12, 2004 APFA national officers' run-off
balloting. I will assume that anyone reading this letter remembers
that I lost the office of APFA President by a margin of 5 votes on
that date. Following the certification of this election I filed an
election complaint with a focus on the 412 voided ballots. The
purpose of this letter is to give the members of APFA the best update
that I can, almost five months into this process, particularly since
our union is choosing to remain all but silent regarding this matter.
Here are the current facts that make up the chronological history
concerning my election dispute. I filed a timely election complaint
with my union in accordance with the APFA Constitution on March 23,
2004. Our current constitution has a two step internal process to
review an election complaint.
Step one - the APFA National Ballot Committee (NBC) reviewed my
complaint. I received a letter from the NBC in April sharing their
research regarding this complaint. They informed me that their
research had found 3 voided ballots that in their opinion should have
been counted; further, that since these 3 ballots would not have
impacted the presidential race they would not be opening these said
ballots. Later that month I filed a timely appeal with the APFA
Executive Committee (EC).
Step two - the EC on the last possible date allowed in accordance
with our current constitution, held two days of research and review
in May and found 13 more voided ballots that the majority of the EC
found should have been counted. Steven Ellis, a member of this
executive body and who was also a presidential candidate in the
primary of this national officer's election, authored a resolution to
direct a count of these now 16 ballots. On three separate meeting
dates (May 11, May 18, and June 28, 2004) this Ellis resolution was
entered into the EC record, as a resolution both seconded and
discussed, but never voted on due to three members of this APFA
executive body refusing to participate in the vote. By either
refusing to be present or choosing to leave the meeting these 3
members prevented any further EC action on this matter. This is due
to the requirement in our current constitution of a 7-member quorum
of the EC "in order to conduct the business of the APFA" (page 15 of
the current constitution).
Since my internal election dispute was blocked at the
constitutional EC appeal level, and thus no decision was made, on May
29, 2004 I filed a timely election complaint with the U.S. Department
of Labor (DOL) in accordance with the Labor Management Reporting and
Disclosure Act (LMRDA). On July 13, 2004 the DOL District Director
of the Office of Labor-Management Standards wrote to the president of
our union with a pre-determination and very specific preliminary
investigative findings. This was following 6 weeks of investigation
and three agreed to extensions of time limits.
The current APFA President shared this above information with the
APFA Board of Directors late in the day on the final day of their
recent meeting (July 27, 2004), urging no action to these specific
DOL's findings. Two board resolutions stemmed directly from these
closed session board discussions regarding this matter - Resolution
#17 and Substitute Resolution #17. Though the presentation from the
president and general counsel of our union were only heard by the
Board members and Executive Committee members in closed session, both
resolutions are on the record of this 4th board meeting in 5 months.
Substitute resolution #17 directed the NBC in conjunction with
neutral parties to open the sixteen questionable ballots, as
determined by both the Ellis Resolution and the initial DOL findings -
this resolution failed by a 7/yes - 11/no vote. Resolution #17,
which passed by a vote of 11/yes - 7/no, found that no action was
necessary at this point regarding the July 13, 2004 DOL's
investigative findings. You will be able to read the complete text
of both of these resolutions and how your base representative voted
on these issues on the APFA website.
There are two other current important issues for the AA Flight
Attendants that I would like to address in this public
communication. At the most recent EC meeting in June an internal
Election Procedures Task Force was established as formal policy.
Many of us feel this election process overview, with a serious
internal audit, should have taken place shortly after the April 2003
AA/APFA Restructuring Participation Agreement election fiasco. After
more than a year, via another EC Ellis Resolution in June 2004, an
internal election task force had been installed as formal policy.
This task force had just begun their work at APFA headquarters during
the week of July 19th. What amazes me beyond belief is the fact that
the Board of Directors in Resolution #15 during last week's meeting
voted to disband this task force, again by a vote of 11/yes - 7/no.
This is another resolution I urge you to review. In one person's
opinion our union must thoroughly review both the March 2004 national
officer's election process as well as the history of the April 2003
election complaints.
The second additional issue that I believe APFA members need to
be aware of concerning this recent Board Meeting is the Board's
continuing dialogue regarding a contractually required "pocket-sized
copy" of our current ratified collective bargaining agreement
(CBA) "to be distributed as soon as possible following
ratification." I'm sure that I don't need to remind you that you and
I are currently working under hugely altered workrules, wage
structures, and benefits; yet effective today we have no printed copy
of our current CBA. As a former president and vice-president of our
union and current LGA based flight attendant, I became so enraged
over this huge noncompliance of our contract after speaking
repeatedly with both union and management personnel, that in April
2004 I filed my own individual grievance (Notice of Dispute). In my
opinion this is a clear contractual violation in accordance with
Article 28 A.2.a. (page 261) and Article 24 A. (page 224) of the
APFA/AA Agreement.
During last week's board meeting, this issue was once again
raised formally and the current president said he would "look into
this matter." Please, I urge you to raise your own voice regarding
this issue with both your union and your base management. Both the
pilots and the ground workers have received a printed contract. This
is a real injustice that should be argued in front of a neutral
referee to force compliance to the terms and conditions of our CBA.
I have certainly taken up enough of your time as you read through
this open letter to APFA members. I just hope that you can try to
understand how it feels to be a union advocate of well over 30 years,
who watched with total dismay as my union after months of denial
following 9/11 and flight 587, finally joined the other labor groups
who had been in preparation and discussion months ahead of APFA. We
went in late and we got our asses kicked in concessionaire
bargaining. APFA went in under prepared, with the most inexperienced
negotiating team in our history. APFA under valued our 2001 Contract
and produced a product (the RPA) that has set us back as a workgroup
by more than 25 years. These facts cannot be blamed totally on
management - much of this responsibility is with the union president.
Again, there is much work to be done. I urge you too to get
involved. Our union is currently in grave danger. We need effective
and strong leadership at this time in our history.
Beginning in the early '70s there was a slow and steady process
of turning a once short termed dead-end job into a career with a
respectable retirement. We must not give up now. Stand with me and
see to it that true leadership is restored to our union. Please
remember that you will have another chance to vote in the upcoming
Base Elections. Again, I urge you to stay informed and get involved.
In closing, the final deadline for the U.S. Department of Labor
to enter into Federal Court to force a remedy in my election
complaint is currently on or about September 7, 2004. This is the
day after Labor Day. It just may be the date we take our union back
and then the REAL WORK will begin.
With hope for our collective
futures,
Tommie Hutto-Blake
LGA flight attendant
