Thb's First Apfa Hotline Message

LiveInAHotel

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For all of you who doubted how THB stood on the seniority integration agreement, see the section in red:

Today is August 25, 2004; this is Tommie Hutto-Blake, newly installed APFA President.

By now, you may have heard that the APFA Board of Directors acted unanimously on the findings of the ongoing investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, earlier today. In a letter to John Ward dated August 17, 2004, the DOL Division of Enforcement Chief John Heaney stated (and I quote) “it is the OLMS position that APFA should immediately install candidate Tommie Hutto-Blake to the position of APFA president.†Bottom line: this very close election has been overturned due to the DOL’s ruling that two violations of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act occurred during the runoff election earlier this year.

In short: the DOL determined that 16 ballots previously considered ineligible by APFA should have been considered valid and counted ballots. The DOL opened and counted these ballots on August 12, 2004. John Ward received a total of 7400, and I received a total of 7407. The complete text of this letter appears on the APFA Web site.

Without a doubt, we have a daunting challenge ahead in reuniting our very fractured membership. The primary issue that I want to share with all APFA members in my first Hotline is that your union is secure. We are no longer a divided government on the executive level. I will now join Brett Durkin, APFA VP; Greg Hildreth, APFA Secretary; and Cathy Herman-Lukensmeyer, APFA Treasurer in our collective goal to represent the common interest of the American Airlines Flight Attendants. There will be no changes to our Union’s structure, your Base Representation, or our collective will.

The fear campaign is over – or will be shortly – because I am here tonight to assure you, the APFA members, that along with all of my other responsibilities as president of our union – I remain fully committed to the APFA Board Resolution regarding the Seniority Integration Agreement. I will vigorously protect, enforce, and defend the standing Integration Agreement as it was passed by the APFA Board of Directors in April of 2001.

This issue will no longer continue to divide us and take us away from our focus of standing together shoulder-to-shoulder. We should have no further differences with our brothers and sisters – the former TWA flight attendants and fellow APFA members.

We have spent much too much time focusing on issues that divide us. We must make our collective voices heard as we take on the real issues of restoring our wages, benefits and work rules.

The former President stepped down today following the actions of the Board of Directors to install Tommie Hutto-Blake. John and I will be meeting during the transition to discuss many active issues that we both feel should be in the forefront of our union’s efforts.

I want to announce upcoming round table discussions to be held at APFA HDQ during the month of September regarding the staffing of five departments within APFA. Specific dates and times will be announced on the Hotline this Friday. The primary purpose of these discussions is to offer membership involvement with the leadership of our union. We want to hear your comments and your ideas of how effective the current APFA services are and how you feel these services can improve. From this process of the Health & Safety Summit, the Contract & Scheduling Summit and the Layover Hotel Summit, I will select at least two individuals representing each of these departments to make their presentations to the Executive Committee in September during the next Quarterly Executive Committee meeting. Thus, the EC will assist me in making selections from those interested to fill national coordinator positions for the remainder of the two-year term ending April 2006.

This process was a part of our original “Back on the Right Track†First 100 Days in Office plan. We want to engage our membership by tapping into the future leaders of our union. We want to fully communicate with our membership about our vision for our collective future. This plan begins immediately. We encourage open and honest dialogue with our members.

I plan to have my first membership mailing into the field by the end of next week. I hope it will reach your homes for Labor Day, or soon thereafter! Three years ago we never got to celebrate something that we as a membership did together: our 2001 Contract. The InfoRep Program was a huge part of obtaining that contract. Many of you stepped forward and did your part. We want you back!

During my first ten months in office I hope to cross paths with many of you as I visit each of our ten base cities. Watch for the calendar on our Web site and listen to the APFA Hotline for details on these base city visits. We must move forward and we must do it together.

We have new leadership that will engage, educate, communicate with and train any member who is willing to be an activist in our union. I want YOU to be a part of this new administration. I am “up†for this challenge – please join me in this collective journey of ours.



Whereas, in accordance with Article III, Section 3.A. of the APFA Constitution, the APFA "Board of Directors is authorized and empowered to take any and all lawful action" […] "to safeguard and protect the APFA", as well as "the rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities of the APFA"; and

Whereas, Article VI, Section 5.H. (2) of the APFA Constitution declares that "the candidate receiving the majority of valid votes cast for an office in the run-off election shall be deemed elected to that office and be so notified by the Secretary"; and

Whereas, on August 12, 2004, by order of the Office of Labor-Management Standards of the U.S. Department of Labor (hereafter, "DOL"), District Director Kermit Perkins and Investigator Ann Woodward, validated, opened, counted and certified sixteen (16) additional ballots for the office of APFA President; and

Whereas, on that day and in the presence of the above DOL representatives who certified this August 12, 2004, "Additional Ballot Count", representatives of Whitley Penn, CPAs and Professional Consultants to the APFA, added the DOL tally of sixteen challenged ballots to the formerly recorded certified tally of March 12, 2004; and

Whereas, when combined with the previous totals, candidate Tommie Hutto-Blake received a total of 7407 valid ballots and candidate John Ward received a total of 7400 valid ballots; and

Whereas, pursuant to the authority of Section 601 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) conducted an investigation of this March 12, 2004, run-off election for officers of the APFA; and

Whereas, in a letter dated August 17, 2004, under the signature of John H. Heaney, Chief, Division of Enforcement, U.S. Department of Labor, states that "it is the OLMS position that APFA should immediately install candidate Tommie Hutto-Blake to the position of APFA president, and

Whereas, the DOL in above referenced letter of August 17, 2004 further determined, with respect to the election complaints filed by the unsuccessful runoff election candidates for the other APFA National Officer positions, that there were no violations of law that may have affected the outcome of those elections; and,

Whereas, Chief Heaney's letter further states that "APFA's voluntary installation of Ms. Hutto-Blake to president [sic] for the remainder of the term will remedy the violations of Section 401(e) that occurred during the runoff election," giving APFA a deadline of August 26, 2004;

Therefore, be it resolved, that the Governing Body of the APFA, the Board of Directors, directs the APFA National Balloting Committee to immediately decertify the ballot count of March 12, 2004 on August 25, 2004, for the office of President and in conjunction with Whitley-Penn to recertify the National Run Off Election for president in accordance with the above findings and the DOL tabulations counted effective August 12, 2004.

Be it further resolved, that the APFA Board of Directors by authority of the APFA Constitution and this said Resolution immediately installs Tommie Hutto-Blake to the office of APFA President; and

Be it further resolved, that the APFA Secretary shall notice Candidate Hutto-Blake that she is deemed elected to the office of President effective immediately for the remainder of the term; and

Be it further resolved, that this Resolution shall be immediately prepared for notice and publishing to the APFA Membership on the APFA Hotline and the APFA Web site; and

Be it further resolved, that the APFA Secretary shall notify the Department of Labor of this election recertification and installation immediately upon the completion of both actions.

SPECIAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONVENTION
RESOLUTION #2
MAKER: HODGSON
SECOND: NIKIDES
DATE: AUGUST 25, 2004
TIME: 1205

BOS Carrigan y

BOS-I McCauley y

DCA Weston y

DCA-I Horan y

DFW O'Kelley y

IDF Watson y

JFK Edwards (vc) y

LAX Nikides y

LAX-I Mitchell y

LGA-I Hodgson y

MIA Washbish y

IMA Trautman y

ORD Mallon y

IOR Moehring y

RDU Turley y

SFO Syracuse y

SFO-I LeWinter y

STL Cooper y

(Former) Pres Ward Tie-Breaker
 
LiveInAHotel said:
The fear campaign is over – or will be shortly – because I am here tonight to assure you, the APFA members, that along with all of my other responsibilities as president of our union – I remain fully committed to the APFA Board Resolution regarding the Seniority Integration Agreement. I will vigorously protect, enforce, and defend the standing Integration Agreement as it was passed by the APFA Board of Directors in April of 2001.

We should have no further differences with our brothers and sisters – the former TWA flight attendants and fellow APFA members.

[post="173028"][/post]​


Is that doublespeak or does she mean "besides/except for" that?
 
latreal said:
Is that doublespeak or does she mean "besides/except for" that?
[post="173061"][/post]​


I guess she is smart enough to know that what this union needs now is to unite to help our careers to get back what the "ward" leadership lost!.(focus on work rules) - rather than try the "Ward scare" that he had some special power to keep TWA from retaining their seniority. She knows it is in the courts and out of her hands.
 
jsn25911 said:
I guess she is smart enough to know that what this union needs now is to unite to help our careers to get back what the "ward" leadership lost!.(focus on work rules) - rather than try the "Ward scare" that he had some special power to keep TWA from retaining their seniority. She knows it is in the courts and out of her hands.
[post="173073"][/post]​


BUT...she fully supports, and will contribute the unions resources to the staple.
 
latreal said:
BUT...she fully supports, and will contribute the unions resources to the staple.
[post="173127"][/post]​


She stated that she will support the 2001 BOD decision - but doesn't matter - cause up to the courts to decide.