... From the west:
As stated at our January 4, 2006, LEC meeting, we have been in discussion this past week with the Company and our counterparts at US Airways East over a Transition Agreement.
Today, your MEC reached a Transition Agreement that contains important provisions concerning the job security of America West Flight Attendants. The Transition Agreement eliminates the threat of hundreds of US Airways furloughees from displacing active America West Flight Attendants from the Phoenix domicile on the date of the integration of operations. The Transition Agreement also provides that there will be no rebid of jobs in the system wherein more senior US Airways Flight Attendants would be allowed to displace current America West Flight Attendants out of Phoenix when the operations integrate.
The Transition Agreement does not contain the long-lasting fence protections that we believe America West Flight Attendants deserve. For this reason, we are extremely upset with Doug Parker and the new US Airways management team, who abandoned America West Flight Attendants after months of hollow promises. In November, the Company betrayed promises to America West Flight Attendants and rejected the joint AFA America West/US Airways MEC proposal on fence protections, which would have provided fence protections through 2009.
In reaching agreement on this transition agreement, your MEC was faced with a decision: moving on to single contract negotiations with no transition/fence agreement at all or locking in protections we determined were essential for our membership. For us the choice was clear—our membership absolutely needs the protections that are included in this document. It is imperative that America West flight attendants have written, legally binding protections preventing the displacement of almost half of our membership. And that Doug Parker and his management team put their signature to those protections.The events of the last few months should make it absolutely clear that we cannot rely on management’s mere promises to protect us.
The Transition Agreement provides the following:
The proposal provides for Flight Attendant participation in the US Airways profit sharing plan at the same rate as US Airways Flight Attendants, eliminating the disparity of America West Flight Attendants being the sole group without participation in the plan.
Allows America West Flight Attendants to jumpseat on US Airways jumpseats. (It says a lot about the mindset of this management team that we had to fight hard to get what should have been a simple matter.)
That Embrair 190 Aircraft, if operated by US Airways Group, will be placed in the US Airways or America West fleet and paid at regular flight attendant rates. No B scale!
Provides that US Airways furloughees who take an offer for positions at America West will be at the bottom of seniority until operational integration or until offered recall-whichever date comes last, but will be able to utilize longevity for pay purposes on the America West pay scale. For instance if they accured 1-2 years of longevity at US Airways – prior to their furlough – they’ll be paid at the 1-2 year pay scale in the America West contract if they accept a position here. No paid move to PHX, nor paid housing while in training provided.
Procedures on negotiating a single agreement.
Protects America West Flight Attendant flying by preventing the Company from transferring existing aircraft to US Airways during the period of separate operations.
Protects America West Flight Attendants from the company eliminating aircraft in our fleet below a certain percentage. The company cannot return a significant portion of our fleet to a leasing company or transfer a significant portion of our fleet to the US Airways fleet.
Beginning with the announcement of the merger in May 2005, your MEC committed to fighting to protect the interests of America West Flight Attendants in the merger process. We used our Scope Section discussions in the America West Section 6 negotiations to press the Company to provide protections for our membership. In October, we took the fight to the AFA Board of Directors, pushing for a revision of the AFA seniority merger policy. Your AFA MEC Merger Committee took the fight through six months of intensive negotiations over a fence agreement, where we aggressively advocated for strong, comprehensive, and long-lasting fence protections.
We face many challenges in the coming period. In single contract negotiations, we face a management team intent on slashing our vacation, cutting our health care and providing minimal increases to our senior Flight Attendants until 2012. We vow to continue to fight to protect the interests of America West Flight Attendants.
The Transition Agreement is posted on the AFA website at www.afa66.org.
Additionally, a question and answer hotline is being drafted and will be out shortly.
A full walkthrough of the Transition Agreement will be on the agenda for our next scheduled LEC meeting on February 1, 2006.
Gary Richardson- MEC President
William McGlashen- MEC Vice President
Mary Cost- MEC Secretary Treasurer
http://www.unionvoice.org/amer_west/notice...tter_id=1545878
... From the east:
TRANSITION AGREEMENT REACHED BETWEEN AFA AND US AIRWAYS
Last Friday, after several months of negotiations, the Association of Flight Attendants at US Airways and America West reached a tentative Transition Agreement with the Company. The US Airways AFA Master Executive Council ratified the agreement on January 16, 2005. The agreement will govern the activities of the two flight attendant workforces and the Company during the period of separate operations. As specified in the agreement the period of separate operations will be from the effective date of the agreement until no later than twelve (12) months following the later of (i) completion of the integrated flight attendant seniority list and (ii) negotiation of the Single Agreement (contract) provided that the airline has secured a single FAA operating certificate. Our current contract will remain in full force and effect during the duration of the Transition Agreement and/or until a merged contract is ratified.
Throughout the transition negotiations the US Airways MEC and merger negotiating committee maintained the position this merger would be treated no differently than any previous merger at USAIR or US Airways. It was our goal to keep this merger consistent with respect to seniority integration and transition period fences. The Transition Agreement will provide us with that consistency. The agreement also provides for reciprocal jump seat and the hiring of involuntarily furloughed US Airways into job opportunities at America West.
The agreement will keep the two workforces separate during the transition period. The separate flying, except as provided in the agreement, is largely governed by both the ratified ALPA Transition Agreement and our contractual provision that tie our flying to that of US Airways pilots. The agreement requires aircraft in the service of the individual airlines at the time of the merger announcement be flown by pilots of the respective carriers. In short US Airways pilots will fly US Airways aircraft and America West pilots will fly America West aircraft. Our contract and this agreement dictate that flying done by US Airways pilots on US Airways aircraft is flown only by US Airways flight attendants.
This Transition Agreement took more time to reach than previous merger agreements for several reasons. One reason was the fact that during the period of separate operations America West will be hiring flight attendants. Rather than hire off the street the Company proposed involuntarily furloughed flight attendants on the US Airways seniority list be offered those job opportunities and allowed to utilize their US Airways longevity for pay and benefits. Negotiations over provisions of this proposal were difficult but in the end the joint merger committee representing America West and US Airways AFA agreed on the company proposal and job opportunities will be offered to US Airways flight attendants recognizing their US Airways longevity for pay and benefits. The company also contributed to the length of the process by creating unreasonable expectations among the America West membership about long term fence protections and seniority integration.
With the Transition Agreement in place the next step will be to negotiate a merged contract or "Single Agreement". That process has begun with internal meetings of the joint negotiating committee last week in PHX. The joint committee will meet several more times prior to beginning direct negotiations with the Company in late February. The negotiations will produce a merged collective bargaining agreement that will cover the merged flight attendant workforce. There are vast differences in the two agreements regarding scheduling, vacation, compensation and other contract sections. The company will no doubt try to co-opt the least desirable elements of each agreement into the merged agreement. We will be doing the opposite. A meeting schedule and negotiating committee participants will be published when they are finalized.
One of the benefits of the Transition Agreement the agreement will now unite the two AFA leadership groups in the pursuit of better working conditions for all members. America West AFA had been in section 6 contract negotiations when the merger was announced and those talks have been put into recess by a federal mediator. The decision by the mediator was very disturbing to both the America West AFA leaders and members. We agreed with those sentiments and believed it was a slap in the face to our fellow AFA members.
As I have said before we are no longer forced to negotiate in the shadow of the bankruptcy court and we expect improvements from a company no longer hanging by a financial thread. While our two contracts and experiences are different, the America West AFA leadership has demonstrated they are extremely capable with the skill and compassion necessary to jointly work for the betterment of all of our members.
A further discussion of the key components of the Transition Agreement will be published in a subsequent MEC Eline and will be available on our website later this week.
Thank you,
Mike Flores, President
The US Airways Master Executive Council
http://www.afausairways.org/Eline/jan18_06.htm
... from the company:
Copyright © 2006... can be found at
http://www.shareholder.com/americawest/Rel...eleaseID=184717
- - -
Transition Agreement:
http://www.afa66.org/transitionagreement.pdf
Attachment A - fleet count:
http://www.afa66.org/attachmenta.pdf
Attachment B - fleet plan:
http://www.afa66.org/attachmentb.pdf
Attachment C - labor committee
http://www.afa66.org/attachmentc.pdf
As stated at our January 4, 2006, LEC meeting, we have been in discussion this past week with the Company and our counterparts at US Airways East over a Transition Agreement.
Today, your MEC reached a Transition Agreement that contains important provisions concerning the job security of America West Flight Attendants. The Transition Agreement eliminates the threat of hundreds of US Airways furloughees from displacing active America West Flight Attendants from the Phoenix domicile on the date of the integration of operations. The Transition Agreement also provides that there will be no rebid of jobs in the system wherein more senior US Airways Flight Attendants would be allowed to displace current America West Flight Attendants out of Phoenix when the operations integrate.
The Transition Agreement does not contain the long-lasting fence protections that we believe America West Flight Attendants deserve. For this reason, we are extremely upset with Doug Parker and the new US Airways management team, who abandoned America West Flight Attendants after months of hollow promises. In November, the Company betrayed promises to America West Flight Attendants and rejected the joint AFA America West/US Airways MEC proposal on fence protections, which would have provided fence protections through 2009.
In reaching agreement on this transition agreement, your MEC was faced with a decision: moving on to single contract negotiations with no transition/fence agreement at all or locking in protections we determined were essential for our membership. For us the choice was clear—our membership absolutely needs the protections that are included in this document. It is imperative that America West flight attendants have written, legally binding protections preventing the displacement of almost half of our membership. And that Doug Parker and his management team put their signature to those protections.The events of the last few months should make it absolutely clear that we cannot rely on management’s mere promises to protect us.
The Transition Agreement provides the following:
The proposal provides for Flight Attendant participation in the US Airways profit sharing plan at the same rate as US Airways Flight Attendants, eliminating the disparity of America West Flight Attendants being the sole group without participation in the plan.
Allows America West Flight Attendants to jumpseat on US Airways jumpseats. (It says a lot about the mindset of this management team that we had to fight hard to get what should have been a simple matter.)
That Embrair 190 Aircraft, if operated by US Airways Group, will be placed in the US Airways or America West fleet and paid at regular flight attendant rates. No B scale!
Provides that US Airways furloughees who take an offer for positions at America West will be at the bottom of seniority until operational integration or until offered recall-whichever date comes last, but will be able to utilize longevity for pay purposes on the America West pay scale. For instance if they accured 1-2 years of longevity at US Airways – prior to their furlough – they’ll be paid at the 1-2 year pay scale in the America West contract if they accept a position here. No paid move to PHX, nor paid housing while in training provided.
Procedures on negotiating a single agreement.
Protects America West Flight Attendant flying by preventing the Company from transferring existing aircraft to US Airways during the period of separate operations.
Protects America West Flight Attendants from the company eliminating aircraft in our fleet below a certain percentage. The company cannot return a significant portion of our fleet to a leasing company or transfer a significant portion of our fleet to the US Airways fleet.
Beginning with the announcement of the merger in May 2005, your MEC committed to fighting to protect the interests of America West Flight Attendants in the merger process. We used our Scope Section discussions in the America West Section 6 negotiations to press the Company to provide protections for our membership. In October, we took the fight to the AFA Board of Directors, pushing for a revision of the AFA seniority merger policy. Your AFA MEC Merger Committee took the fight through six months of intensive negotiations over a fence agreement, where we aggressively advocated for strong, comprehensive, and long-lasting fence protections.
We face many challenges in the coming period. In single contract negotiations, we face a management team intent on slashing our vacation, cutting our health care and providing minimal increases to our senior Flight Attendants until 2012. We vow to continue to fight to protect the interests of America West Flight Attendants.
The Transition Agreement is posted on the AFA website at www.afa66.org.
Additionally, a question and answer hotline is being drafted and will be out shortly.
A full walkthrough of the Transition Agreement will be on the agenda for our next scheduled LEC meeting on February 1, 2006.
Gary Richardson- MEC President
William McGlashen- MEC Vice President
Mary Cost- MEC Secretary Treasurer
http://www.unionvoice.org/amer_west/notice...tter_id=1545878
... From the east:
TRANSITION AGREEMENT REACHED BETWEEN AFA AND US AIRWAYS
Last Friday, after several months of negotiations, the Association of Flight Attendants at US Airways and America West reached a tentative Transition Agreement with the Company. The US Airways AFA Master Executive Council ratified the agreement on January 16, 2005. The agreement will govern the activities of the two flight attendant workforces and the Company during the period of separate operations. As specified in the agreement the period of separate operations will be from the effective date of the agreement until no later than twelve (12) months following the later of (i) completion of the integrated flight attendant seniority list and (ii) negotiation of the Single Agreement (contract) provided that the airline has secured a single FAA operating certificate. Our current contract will remain in full force and effect during the duration of the Transition Agreement and/or until a merged contract is ratified.
Throughout the transition negotiations the US Airways MEC and merger negotiating committee maintained the position this merger would be treated no differently than any previous merger at USAIR or US Airways. It was our goal to keep this merger consistent with respect to seniority integration and transition period fences. The Transition Agreement will provide us with that consistency. The agreement also provides for reciprocal jump seat and the hiring of involuntarily furloughed US Airways into job opportunities at America West.
The agreement will keep the two workforces separate during the transition period. The separate flying, except as provided in the agreement, is largely governed by both the ratified ALPA Transition Agreement and our contractual provision that tie our flying to that of US Airways pilots. The agreement requires aircraft in the service of the individual airlines at the time of the merger announcement be flown by pilots of the respective carriers. In short US Airways pilots will fly US Airways aircraft and America West pilots will fly America West aircraft. Our contract and this agreement dictate that flying done by US Airways pilots on US Airways aircraft is flown only by US Airways flight attendants.
This Transition Agreement took more time to reach than previous merger agreements for several reasons. One reason was the fact that during the period of separate operations America West will be hiring flight attendants. Rather than hire off the street the Company proposed involuntarily furloughed flight attendants on the US Airways seniority list be offered those job opportunities and allowed to utilize their US Airways longevity for pay and benefits. Negotiations over provisions of this proposal were difficult but in the end the joint merger committee representing America West and US Airways AFA agreed on the company proposal and job opportunities will be offered to US Airways flight attendants recognizing their US Airways longevity for pay and benefits. The company also contributed to the length of the process by creating unreasonable expectations among the America West membership about long term fence protections and seniority integration.
With the Transition Agreement in place the next step will be to negotiate a merged contract or "Single Agreement". That process has begun with internal meetings of the joint negotiating committee last week in PHX. The joint committee will meet several more times prior to beginning direct negotiations with the Company in late February. The negotiations will produce a merged collective bargaining agreement that will cover the merged flight attendant workforce. There are vast differences in the two agreements regarding scheduling, vacation, compensation and other contract sections. The company will no doubt try to co-opt the least desirable elements of each agreement into the merged agreement. We will be doing the opposite. A meeting schedule and negotiating committee participants will be published when they are finalized.
One of the benefits of the Transition Agreement the agreement will now unite the two AFA leadership groups in the pursuit of better working conditions for all members. America West AFA had been in section 6 contract negotiations when the merger was announced and those talks have been put into recess by a federal mediator. The decision by the mediator was very disturbing to both the America West AFA leaders and members. We agreed with those sentiments and believed it was a slap in the face to our fellow AFA members.
As I have said before we are no longer forced to negotiate in the shadow of the bankruptcy court and we expect improvements from a company no longer hanging by a financial thread. While our two contracts and experiences are different, the America West AFA leadership has demonstrated they are extremely capable with the skill and compassion necessary to jointly work for the betterment of all of our members.
A further discussion of the key components of the Transition Agreement will be published in a subsequent MEC Eline and will be available on our website later this week.
Thank you,
Mike Flores, President
The US Airways Master Executive Council
http://www.afausairways.org/Eline/jan18_06.htm
... from the company:
Copyright © 2006... can be found at
http://www.shareholder.com/americawest/Rel...eleaseID=184717
- - -
Transition Agreement:
http://www.afa66.org/transitionagreement.pdf
Attachment A - fleet count:
http://www.afa66.org/attachmenta.pdf
Attachment B - fleet plan:
http://www.afa66.org/attachmentb.pdf
Attachment C - labor committee
http://www.afa66.org/attachmentc.pdf
