Skymess said:
Ideas like this are the ones I am thinking about. This would also work as a concession for the cabin guys too though. The less cleaning they do the less work they have.
Well, there is the argument that all some of them do is b*tch about the cleaning of a/c...that it takes time away from loading and unloading the planes which is their real job. Also, in some stations, "cleaning" now consists of rolling up the blankets in a ball and throwing them in the overhead bins.
Also, think about it. Who would the company rather have clean? F/As making the princely sum of $1.50/hr expense money? Or, a ramper making whatever their per/hr pay is? IIRC, even the SWA f/as with their new highest paid in the industry contract did not get ground time pay for cleaning which they were asking for. And, they weren't even asking for flight pay--just something like $5.00/hr while on the ground doing turnaround work.
Skymess said:
What's are personal day amount now? Can't recall ever taking one. I didn't know we had an allotment.
We don't. That's the point. Instead of having an allotment of vacation days (which can be taken as PVDs), sick days, and then you go to your FSM for a PO (personal off) for other reasons, you would be given a set amount of days off per year. Just for the sake of argument, let's say 50/yr.
Those would be yours to use whenever and for whatever reason you choose. If you call in sick for a 3 day trip, it uses up 3 of those days. If you schedule vacation over those 3 days, it uses up 3 days. If you have an appointment with your lawyer during the span of that trip, it uses up 3 days.
However, once those days are gone, anything else is time off without pay and would probably be chargeable. So, if you are having some health problems it would not be smart to use up all your days for vacation or "just because you don't like who you're flying with this month." It would be your responsibility to manage your personal time off. You use it frivolously, you lose.
I'm sure there would be some restrictions on it--for instance the "year" would not be a calendar year. Since the days would not be carried over to the next year, it would not be feasible to have everyone taking their days in December to prevent losing them. Also, when it comes to using them as vacation, seniority would still apply for the same reason. We have to accept that not everyone can have Christmas off.
Skymess said:
For the company to see ristriction of output issues they need to hire ghost riders. That costs more than the restriction does. Most flight attendants that I know speak with the person with the lack of output and tell them to get themselves together because we are tired of doing their job.
What makes you think they ever "hired" ghost riders? UORs (unannounced observation rides) were always done by FSMs or staff from a base other than your own. And, since the job title Operational Service Manager (OSM) is being eliminated in all bases except MIA and DFW, there will be some people available to do UORs.
And speaking to the f/a doesn't always work nor is it feasible. If you are the #4 on a S80 and you are junior, and the #1 who is very much senior to you has only 4 people in F/C, but she gives out cans of soda to the 4 passengers in F/C (it's a beverage only flight) then sits down in 3F and reads a magazine for the rest of the flight, you tell me how you approach her--especially when she has already made it clear that she thinks anyone with less than 20 years is totally incompetent and not worth speaking to. (Yes, I was the #4.)
Skymess said:
The people I know who have been losing their jobs due to sick time abuse are not the ones with FMLA. From what I have seen it is the ones who DON'T get the FMLA. How do you get gired if you have the FMLA? Travelling around on the sick list? I know that is still a big problem with some people who just can't seem to comprehend that they can't do it.
Well, the point is
abuse of sick leave isn't it? And, the new, centralized FMLA processing is to our advantage also. There are a group of people who understand it and are well-versed on the ins and outs of FMLA. You know longer have to be concerned that your FSM doesn't really understand the program and denies you FMLA when you are actually eligible for it. However, I would hazard a guess that the great majority of people who are denied FMLA are not eligible for it or the situation does not qualify them for it. The title of the Federal law is the Family
Medical Leave Act. Not the Federal "I don't feel like doing 4 legs today" Act or the Federal "I have issues with the #2" Act.
I know a couple of people who commute to their base--in both cases, there are multiple flights daily between their home city and their base. Both always wait until the very last flight that will get them to base in time for sign-in. If the flight is late or cancels, they call in sick to avoid getting a missed trip. One of those people is in jeopardy of being fired because she is now sick and has no sick leave. And, she refuses to see that she brought this upon herself. It is somehow the company's fault that she has to commute (she does not live in a base city).
It's not just the non-revving while on sick leave that is getting people fired. If you (or a family member) are so sick that you have used up all your sick leave AND you have exhausted the Federally-mandated
12 weeks of unpaid leave under the FMLA, you are too sick to work, period. No company can continue keeping someone on their employee rolls--paid or unpaid--indefinitely.
And, in the case of flight attendants it's even more critical that people show up to work. Reserves are not unlimited, and the FAA is really anal-retentive about minimum crews. If a S80 takes off with even one passenger on it, those rigid guys at the FAA insist that there must be at least 3 f/as and 2 cockpit crew on board.
There are a lot of flight attendants at AA who seem to think that sick leave is just like vacation--i.e., it is theirs to use whenever and for whatever reason they choose. And, if they run out, the company should give them some more. Sick leave is a benefit granted by companies that is NOT required under the law. One of the main reasons for the passage of the FMLA was to give some protection to employees of companies that did NOT grant sick leave. Sick leave is a benefit that you are supposed to use only
when you or an immediate family member is sick. No court in the United States has ever accepted the argument that "I earned it. I have a right to take it." If the company has a picture of you out disco dancing (ok, so I dated myself there
) while you are on sick leave for a back injury, you are not going to persuade the court that you are too sick or too in pain to work.
