AFA-CWA ASKS NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD TO RECOMMENCE MEDIATION FOR FORMER AMERICA WEST FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
Phoenix, AZ - America West flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFACWA), today requested that the National Mediation Board (NMB) resume Section 6 mediation in order to reach an agreement which would cover the Phoenix-based flight attendants. After the America West merger with US Airways in 2005, AFA-CWA has spent three years attempting to negotiate a single contract for all flight attendants, but those talks have been stalled by US Airways management’s failure to agree to reasonable proposals to merge the agreements.
“While US Airways CEO Doug Parker states that we are now one company, wages for our flight attendants still differ up to 40 percent with our co-workers on the East,†said Lisa LeCarre, AFA-CWA America West President.
“America West flight attendants and our US Airways flying partners perform the same safety duties and wear the same uniform. It is time that Mr. Parker starts to honor his word instead of stalling the process for thousands of employees.â€
Prior to the merger, America West flight attendants spent considerable time negotiating a new contract, but those negotiations were paused with the expectation that US Airways would reach a merged contract with both groups.
Flight Attendants at America West have not received general wage increases since November 2002. US Airways management has repeatedly rejected proposals by AFA-CWA for interim parity increases for West flight attendants. Flight attendants from US Airways East are receiving modest wage snap backs that were negotiated into their 2004 concessionary contract so the gap in pay parity between East and West flight attendants continues to increase each year.
“The current America West contract, negotiated for a five year duration, is now ten years old. Our flight attendants have gone six years without any wage increases. We simply can not continue to drag along these negotiations with no relief in sight.†said LeCarre.
America West flight attendant negotiations began in February 2004, with the US Airways merger following in September 2005. Negotiations for a single, merged flight attendant agreement have been ongoing since February 2006.
Q&A: AFA Requests to Resume Section 6 Negotiations for America West Flight Attendants
Last week the Joint Negotiating Committee met with Company negotiators in Charlotte to exchange a counter proposal on Scheduling. The JNC was very disappointed by the proposal that was handed back from the Company. After spending considerable time and effort, taking a very rough proposal and crafting a Scheduling section that would benefit all flight attendants, the Company countered with a proposal that resembled the original, in essence eradicating ten months of negotiating effort.
Based upon this very clear indication to the JNC that the Company is not serious about reaching agreement with the flight attendants, AFA west negotiators, MEC President Lisa LeCarre and MEC Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Albers, supported by the entire JNC, sent a letter today, requesting that the National Mediation Board resume Section 6 negotiations with the Phoenix-based flight attendants.
The original America West flight attendant agreement became amendable in May 2004 and Section 6 negotiations had began in February of that year. America West and US Airways merged in September 2005. With few remaining items open in those negotiations, AFA filed for mediation for America West flight attendants in September 2005. The first mediation session was held in December 2005 and then placed into indefinite recess. Negotiations for a single, merged agreement began two months later in February 2006 and, three years later, have not reached conclusion.
AFA has compiled answers to some of your questions below. If there are questions that we have not addressed, we ask that you email those to mec@afa66.org. We will compile those questions and answers and put them out in a following E-Communication. The JNC will continue to provide additional updates regarding this request to resume Section 6 negotiations.
What is the difference between Section 6 negotiations and Joint Contract negotiations?
A section 6 negotiation is direct talks between a single represented group (such as America West Council 66) and management. Section 6 negotiations are named after the section of the Railway Labor Act that governs the amending of labor contracts. Joint contract negotiations occur in order to merge two or more contracts into one single contract. Joint Contract negotiations follow the general guidelines of the RLA, but are not specifically addressed under the RLA and rely on the Good Faith Bargaining of all parties to reach agreement during mergers. Therefore, timelines, and other procedures addressed in Section 6 negotiations do not apply to merged negotiations.
Why is AFA Council 66 requesting to resume Section 6 negotiations? Our AWA contract became effective in May 1999 for a 5-year duration. We are now approaching 10 years on our original agreement, keeping us from negotiating cost of living increases or any other improvements. We are confidant the federal mediator, when recessing our Section 6 negotiations in 2005, did not anticipate that management would have failed to reach a merged contract 3 years later.
Critics may say that AFA Council 66 is trying to stall Joint Contract negotiations by attempting to return to Section 6 talks. Is there any truth to this? This could not be further from the truth. Management has failed to reach an agreement with the Flight Attendants in merged contract talks. The cost of living has risen dramatically, while West Flight Attendants have not seen an increase in pay or per diem in over 6 years. Now that the East Flight Attendants are receiving their contractual pay increases, the disparity in pay between the East and West Flight Attendants ranges from 5% to 40%. This is unacceptable! Your MEC will exhaust all avenues to in order to assure that West Flight Attendants are a priority when it comes to achieving a living wage.
What is the expected time frame for the NMB to render a decision to our request to resume Section 6 negotiations? According to AFA Negotiator Joe Burns, the NMB has no specific time frame to render a decision. We anticipate the NMB could take a few weeks to decide whether or not Section 6 talks with management should resume.
In the event the NMB (National Mediation Board) accepts AFA’s (West) request to resume Section 6 negotiations, will Joint contract negotiations be suspended? Joe Burns, AFA International Staff Negotiator, had a very short answer to this question, “Joint Contract Negotiations would continue as scheduled.â€
You’re saying that Section 6 negotiations and Joint contract negotiations would run concurrently. How would that work? We believe that pursuing this two-track strategy achieves the goals of both negotiations without compromising either. The outstanding Section 6 negotiations need to be revisited in order to achieve financial relief for our flight attendants. The Section 6 request may convince the Company of our serious intent to negotiate financial relief and contract improvements for all flight attendants in merged contract talks.
Speaking of Joe Burns, are the Flight Attendants at a disadvantage having him represent
Council 66 in Section 6 negotiations and while representing the Joint Negotiations Team in Single contract talks? Joe Burns worked with Council 66 in the previous Section 6 negotiations that were eventually placed in recess by the Federal Mediator in 2005. Joe’s extensive experience working on Council 66 issues relating to in our contract, coupled with his current work with merged contract talks, would be a definite benefit for us should we resume Section 6 talks with management.
When AFA Council 66 was negotiating under Section 6, we were negotiating with the assistance of a Federal Mediator. Should we resume Section 6 negotiations, would we still be under Federal Mediation and would we have the same Mediator that placed our previous talks in recess? We would continue with the process under the guidance of NMB mediation with the original federal mediator.
Would we resume Section 6 negotiations from where we left off or do we start from “scratch�
Section 6 talks would resume from where the process was left off, and not from scratch.
What has been the East response to Council 66 possibly returning to Section 6 Negotiations?
The JNC is in complete support with the decision to return to Section 6 negotiations for the America West Flight Attendants. They share our disappointment in the Company’s lack of pay parity in this merger and our disappointed with the counter proposal by Company negotiators last week.
US Airways East MEC President Mike Flores states, “The JNC and the US Airways Master Executive Council stands behind the America West flight attendant’s decision to request a return to Section 6 negotiations. It is time for US Airways’ management to realize that flight attendants need good faith negotiations and we will do whatever it takes to get to that point.â€
(or at least compared to what we have now!) We all actually made more money then than we do now! Don't throw a tomato at me cause I reminded y'all of the good ole'days :disguise: 
