Contract Negotiations - Are Reserves in Trouble?

[FlightChic]

I know I keep bringing up the woes of our reserve system but I can't help it. I just received a local E-line and this part really disturbs me.

Who is the Negotiating Team? According to the AFA By-Laws, both the West and the East negotiating team consist of the MEC President, one additional member, and a staff negotiator. The East team is MEC President, Mike Flores, Carol Austin and the staff negotiator, Clair Burt. Ms. Burt is the Manager of Collective Bargaining for the Association of Flight Attendants.

In February I had emailed CA about the reserve maximum hours being unrealistic and mentioned that we're lucky to fly 50 hours and she replied a month and half later in a rather rude and defensive tone. :down: She also forwarded my email to JM and MF. :angry: I was not impressed at all. :down: How can she represent our best interests?

Is the AFA as a whole going to come up with some ideas for a new system before negotiating with the company or is it only the negotiating team that comes up with it? If the latter is the case, then how would they even know what is best for us or how could they even create a system that works and allows us to work and have a better quality of life? I can't speak for the others on the negotiation team but CA gave me the impression that she could care less about us. Let's hope our AFA officers care about us so they will vote no if the negotiating team negotiates a bad system. If the majority are blockholders that don't care about us, we better hope all the reserve flight attendants vote no.

We need a fair an equitable reserve and blockholder system that works for everybody, not the top 5%. I encourage you all to write or call the union and tell them what you would like to see.

 

[beachboy]

Carol is and will always be THE Carol Austin. She has been the woman behind the curtain since I was hired. I really just don't know if she gets the gravity of the situation and how battered the Reserve group is. To truly understand it would require stepping out of the 41 year veterans own world. I don't begrudge her any of the rights she earned during her 40 plus years but, how can someone possibly understand reserve when they don't talk to them and has not sat it since the 1960s? Yes, the reserves are in trouble and I think we may have to vote down the first tentative agreement unless we really make our voice heard. I think CLT is going to shock everyone and exercise their power in the MEC with some sweeping motions. There will be new blood.

 

[EMBFA]

I keep saying it but the reserves need to get together and make sure every one of them is voting and taking action. Why is Carol Austin still around? Does she get voted in or is she life appointed or something? I'm sick of this corpse of an airline. I'm actually feeling more love for the company these days than our union. More of the abuse we've suffered is from the AFA than anyone else. I pay $40 a month to a union that has told my collegues and I several times how unimportant we are. They are biased against reserves, the West and MidAtlantic. I almost think we need to organize within ourselves, a sort of union against the union to represent our interests and put pressure on our real union. And contact the West side of things which shares many of our interests and concerns. This is not going to be Grandmas airline anymore folks, time to reclaim.

 

[N109UW]

You would think that they might asked us, you know, the 18 year rsv's who have lived this for our whole carreer. I just don't think our LECP's or Mike Flores has a grasp on how bad this thing really is. If they did, they would be fighting tooth and nail to change it. Again, I bring up the lack of Pref. Bid, as this was sold to us, just as the LTO system was. Everyone of those folks showed have to bid RSV for a min. of three years. This system has been here for over 3 1/2 years. We need a wholesale change of everyone in office. PHL did it, hopefully CLT is doing it, and then we can get MF out of there also. This crap needs to stop now. Get those damn patsys out of office. I can't aford to have them in anymore.

 

[FlightChic]

I'm actually feeling more love for the company these days than our union.

I know, me too. When people complain about something in our contract I just say it's the union's fault. The union really screwed us over with profit sharing.

 

[beachboy]

Get those damn patsys out of office. I can't aford to have them in anymore.

Oh? What did Philly do exactly? People don't even know what goods they bought Just because something is new doesn't mean it's a better product. And 63% of the PHL base didn't give two rats butts about who represented them. Have the new officers in PHL promised you something they didn't communicate to the rest of us? Pray tell :huh:

 

[N109UW]

Oh? What did Philly do exactly? People don't even know what goods they bought Just because something is new doesn't mean it's a better product. And 63% of the PHL base didn't give two rats butts about who represented them. Have the new officers in PHL promised you something they didn't communicate to the rest of us? Pray tell :huh:

I guess your candidate didn't win. Sorry bout that. They wanted change, but are they going to get it? That remains to be seen. I hear he write a good newsletter(or used to). Yes, that is sad that only 37% of the base voted. Way to low IMO. That 63% shouldn't care then what hapens to them, I guess.

 

[FlightChic]

They are biased against reserves, the West and MidAtlantic.

It is absolutely apalling how they have mistreated the Midatlantic f/as. I heard flight attendants and pilots weren't even nice to you all when you needed to ride the jumpseat on mainline flights. They didn't know what MDA was and acted like they were superior. Why would the union not fight for you so you can get longevity?

I almost think we need to organize within ourselves, a sort of union against the union to represent our interests and put pressure on our real union. And contact the West side of things which shares many of our interests and concerns. This is not going to be Grandmas airline anymore folks, time to reclaim.

If anybody can tell me how to organize our own "union" then I will be the first to start it. Seriously! I already know some flight attendants who said they would help and I am sure the West f/as would come on board with us. I'll do some investigating on this subject. I'm not kidding around with this either.

You would think that they might asked us, you know, the 18 year rsv's who have lived this for our whole carreer. I just don't think our LECP's or Mike Flores has a grasp on how bad this thing really is. If they did, they would be fighting tooth and nail to change it.

They don't have a grasp because they don't care! That's why we have to give them a reason to care!

Again, I bring up the lack of Pref. Bid, as this was sold to us, just as the LTO system was.

If it's not in the best interest of the top 5%, then they aren't going to do it. Period. When I asked about it, their response was that it would cause more furloughs and yada, yada, yada. Whatever!

Everyone of those folks showed have to bid RSV for a min. of three years.

Yes, they should! They wouldn't even last a month! I would love to see them try to live on this system, especially as a commuter. How would they like to have to work EVERY holiday, be assigned trips on their days off, be woken up at 5am by scheduling, be quick called, not make enough money to live on, sit in a crash pad for a week at a time, and being asked by senior block holders everytime you get a "good" trip "Were you quick called for this?" or "How did you end up with this trip?"

That whole line I got from the union about "Every reserve is a flight attendant and every flight attendant has been a reserve" is a load of crap! Not every flight attendant has been a reserve their whole career as a flight attendant, especially on this new system. What makes a blockholder so special anyway?

 

[beachboy]

N109UW- I only can read what I am sent by my local. To date, I have only gotten communication from John McCorkle. What about the rest of the officers? What does John see as the future of the MEC? Just stating I want people who are going to lay thier vision out there. Time for playing the sit on the fence and political game are long gone. He wants to keep the MEC the way it is OK, but why? He wants to change it ok, but why?

 

[2clippedwings]

The West MEC is your ally. Solicit their help. Their workforce is junior and our reserve workforce is vocal.
First priority is forcing change in CLT.
That means rallying reserves to vote for the candidate that best respresents all interests. Someone who will advocate for a new reserve system because they understand it. Not someone 20+ years removed from it.
Just my opinion B)

 

[SKY HIGH]

I know, me too. When people complain about something in our contract I just say it's the union's fault. The union really screwed us over with profit sharing.

sky high states: Didnt YOU ALL have a say in "your contract" by VOTING FOR or AGAINST IT?


only stating opinions.

 

[2clippedwings]

sky high states: Didnt YOU ALL have a say in "your contract" by VOTING FOR or AGAINST IT?
only stating opinions.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question but many many reserves were OFF THE PROPERTY at voting time. Inelible to vote while on furlough.....

 

[SKY HIGH]

Yes, they should! They wouldn't even last a month! I would love to see them try to live on this system, especially as a commuter. How would they like to have to work EVERY holiday, be assigned trips on their days off, be woken up at 5am by scheduling, be quick called, not make enough money to live on, sit in a crash pad for a week at a time, and being asked by senior block holders everytime you get a "good" trip "Were you quick called for this?" or "How did you end up with this trip?"

sky high states: (memory line) Those experiences havent changed in 30 years.
Back when we had three schedulers, Fred used to wake us up at 6am all the time. After he said, "what are you looking for?"....I used to reply, "A gun, Fred. You woke me up!!!"

The reserve system is broken. You need to get flight attendants who are on it, to ROTATE off it. Maybe make the secondary lines available for that? Rotate onto Reserve status once or twice a year and allow a reserve a chance at a secondary line several times a year.

Pan Am did a rotating reserve system many years ago.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS?




only stating opinions

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question but many many reserves were OFF THE PROPERTY at voting time. Inelible to vote while on furlough.....

sky high states: She never mentioned what seniority was complaining about the contract...........she said, when "people" complain about it. Hence, my response.

only stating opinions.

 

[N109UW]

sky high states: Didnt YOU ALL have a say in "your contract" by VOTING FOR or AGAINST IT?
only stating opinions.

Yes, but just because we voted it in, doesn't mean our union will put everything in place. However, if it pertains to being a BH, they will grieve it too no end.JMO

sky high states: (memory line) Those experiences havent changed in 30 years.
Back when we had three schedulers, Fred used to wake us up at 6am all the time. After he said, "what are you looking for?"....I used to reply, "A gun, Fred. You woke me up!!!"

The reserve system is broken. You need to get flight attendants who are on it, to ROTATE off it. Maybe make the secondary lines available for that? Rotate onto Reserve status once or twice a year and allow a reserve a chance at a secondary line several times a year.

Pan Am did a rotating reserve system many years ago.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS?
only stating opinions
sky high states: She never mentioned what seniority was complaining about the contract...........she said, when "people" complain about it. Hence, my response.

only stating opinions.

You would never get one of our local Pres. to support a rotating rsv system. That would be like putting a knife in your union career. The rsv system has changed tremendously over the last 5 years. See, noone in office has lived on it. So, out of site, out of mind. Let AC come out here for 42 months and live on this feakin system. It should have been tied to the implementation of Pref Bid. But no, those feakin idiots didn't do that. They did tie RSV override to Sec lines though, screwing the rsv's out of $400,000, due to the fact sec lines came 5 months late, with no penalty. Someone shpuld have been held accountable for that one. See, noone over here is being hels accountable for thses things and that needs to change.

 

[FlightChic]

sky high states: Didnt YOU ALL have a say in "your contract" by VOTING FOR or AGAINST IT?
only stating opinions.

I was involuntarily furloughed at the time and thus was not able to vote.

The reserve system is broken. You need to get flight attendants who are on it, to ROTATE off it. Maybe make the secondary lines available for that? Rotate onto Reserve status once or twice a year and allow a reserve a chance at a secondary line several times a year.

I think a rotating reserve system is a great idea and I am all for it! I wrote the union and mentioned that we should have a rotating reserve system, but they didn't seem very thrilled by my suggestion.

sky high states: She never mentioned what seniority was complaining about the contract...........she said, when "people" complain about it. Hence, my response.

I hear complaints from flight attendants of all seniority levels from blockholders to top reserves to bottom reserves. I used to ask people who voted FOR the current contract what the hell they were thinking and they said they were afraid of losing their job with US Airways and others said the union sold them the contract and made it sound good. Also, some things were promised and not delivered.

We must put a lot of pressure on the union this time around!