MEC Hotline Message
Recording: 1-888-3-NWA-AFA
24 October 2008 Hotline Message
24 OCTOBER 2008
HOLIDAY PAY REMINDER
Section 3 of our Contract provides holiday pay compensation for flight attendants who are flying during Thanksgiving Day, two days before, and two days after while maintaining “perfect attendance”. Eligible flight attendants shall receive one hundred dollars for working on Thanksgiving Day and fifty dollars for all other days. The Union was informed that the Company does not plan to offer an additional Corporate Holiday Incentive Plan for Thanksgiving. It’s unknown whether an additional Corporate Incentive Plan will be implemented for the December holiday period.
ANNUAL VACATION BIDDING
The vacation bidding deadline is October 30 at 1200 CT. The second test run will be completed October 28 and the final awards will be posted no later than 1700 CT on November 4. An updated Vacation Bidding Manual is posted on ATLAS under “What’s New”. The Vacation Help Desk is staffed by special assignment flight attendants Monday-Friday from 0830-1630 CT, to assist with your bid-related questions for 2009 annual bidding and 2008 monthly vacation open board bidding. You may contact the Vacation Help Desk toll-free by phone at 1-866-208-3630. E-mails can be sent to IFVACHLP through OWA e-mail, or sent to from personal e-mail.
EXECUTIVE PAY OUTRAGE – DELTA NEARLY DOUBLES NORTHWEST
The Star Tribune recently released a compensation survey on the largest publicly-held companies in Minnesota. It shows that our CEO and President Mr. Douglas Steenland made more than $6,500,000 in compensation and pay in 2007. In fact, while workers have been living under bankruptcy imposed pay and benefit cuts, Mr. Steenland enjoyed a 262% compensation increase from 2006 to 2007. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, in 2007 Delta CEO Richard Anderson received massive compensation to the tune of $11,296,759. Executive total compensation numbers are based on various factors including cash payments, deferred compensation, monetary value of stock awarded, and gains from exercising stock options.
Delta has the lowest flight attendant costs (CPSM) of all major legacy air carriers by far, and their flight attendants were suffering under 40% + pay cuts years before NWA flight attendants were. Apparently savings achieved from painful worker bankruptcy cuts, and savings achieved by keeping union contracts out of Delta, can be funneled into ‘more deserving’ executive contracts. - TOPIC SUBMITTED BY MSP MEMBER
MERGER STOCK & UNEQUAL EQUITY – WHY A CONTRACT MATTERS TO YOU
According to the new NW/DL pilot joint collective bargaining agreement, pilots will reportedly receive 5.88% of the “nearly 10%” - in other words more than 50% - of the equity stake that Delta has promised to all employees after the merger transaction closes at the end of the year. That means about 5.88% of the merger stock will go to about 12,000 DL/NW pilots and 4% of the merger stock will go to approximately 64,000 of the rest of us! Why do the pilots get the lion share of all the stock set aside for employees? Could it have something to do with the fact it is the only employee group at NWA and Delta that is unionized? Of course.
Because Delta is legally compelled to negotiate with its unionized pilots, it had to make a deal that was acceptable to both pilot groups. Without the pilots’ agreement, this merger would never happen. This leaves the rest of the employee groups to divide up the remaining 4% of shares. Even “equity” can be unequal when the Company has no legal duty to negotiate with its employees. NO UNION = no choice. It’s pretty simple.
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR SERIES C STOCK DURING A MERGER?
The Company has informed the Union that your Series C Stock will be converted to Delta stock.
VOTE! – NO MATTER THE OBSTACLE
With less than 11 days left before Election Day, many of you have already voted using your state’s absentee program. For those who have not – and for those who are planning to vote in person – we remind you to exercise your democratic right and vote on November 4th.
With so many working families’ issues at stake – from the economy, to health care, to flight attendant specific issues such as presidential appointments to the National Mediation Board, this may very well be the most important election in our history. Unfortunately for some of you Election Day may not provide the freedom to exercise your right as an American citizen. Instead of being able to go to your local polling place and do something really important, you will be required to attend a day filled with reminders about just how much you count as a Northwest employee. The company has scheduled one of only two DTW bid dates for the November Northwest Experience on Election Day.
We are disappointed that the company did not take your basic democratic right to vote under consideration. The decision to schedule company mandated training on Election Day is yet another reminder of just how out of touch management is with what really matters to its employees.
We remind all of you that you can still vote, even those who will be required to attend this training. Thirty-one states allow early voting. Please click here: http://www.declareyourself.com/index.php and check your state, to find the deadline for absentee ballot application and/or early voting dates. Do not allow this unfortunate obstacle presented by the NWE “team” to keep you from voting and making your voice heard on Election Day, November 4th! - SUBMITTED BY MEC GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS CHAIR ALBERT GARCIA
EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT
Did you know every 23 minutes an American worker is fired or punished for trying to form a union? Did you know workers who belong to a union earn 30 percent more than non-union workers? Did you know a unionized worker is 62 percent more likely to have employer paid health insurance and four times more likely to have a pension? We urge voters on November 4th to support candidates who will fight to pass the EFCA when they are elected. The EFCA, if passed, will allow employees to form, join, or organize labor unions by ending fear, intimidation and stalling tactics used by employers to prevent their workers from bargaining together for better wages, benefits and working conditions. The 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s were considered the Golden Age of American Middle Class where more than one-third of every job was a good paying union job in the private sector. Since 1981, the number of union jobs has dwindled down to around 7% today.
WELCOME ABOARD TOXIC AIRLINES
Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines is a new documentary being shown at the Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival in Toronto from October 22 through October 26 in Toronto. It tells the story of what some airline crews claim is the biggest cover up in aviation history. Passengers and crews for nearly fifty years have been supplied with unfiltered air to breath, taken directly from the engines that are known to contain neurotoxins, carcinogens and other hazardous chemicals.
The film looks at the history, the politics, and the effects of contaminated air on passengers and crews and tells the viewer exactly what the airlines do not mention in the pre-flight safety briefing. For more information about this interesting; film go to the Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines website.
CHECKING IN? YOUR AFA HOTEL COMMITTEE UPDATE
Did you know that Section 4 of our contract includes parameters for selection of layover hotels? Our Agreement with NWA outlines a minimum list of qualifications a hotel mmust pass in order to receive a contract from the Company.
Along with life-altering paycuts and increased productivity, bankruptcy ushered in a “bare minimum” approach to hotel selection. Downtown (or downtown-like) hotels for long layovers all but vanished domestically, and some of our long held, comfortable short domestic layover hotels were downgraded to save money.
Your AFA Hotel Committees’ work with the company has successfully accomplished gradual improvements in hotel standards since emerging from bankruptcy. Your input about quality and safety of layover hotels is vital to continue this progress. The AFA Hotel Committee collects feedback via hotel report forms, which can be found at http://www.afahotels.org/ . If you carry a camera-phone or digital camera, please e-mail pictures of ripped carpet, stains, dirty floors and linens, etc. to MEC Hotel Chairperson Anne Odenwald at . For complete roster of Hotel Committee members please go to the MEC website under committee tab or http://www.afahotels.org/AFA_Hotel_Committee%5B1%5D.pdf.
Q. Which hotel has the dubious honor of receiving the most negative reports?
A. The NH Central Station Hotel in Amsterdam.
Despite recent efforts to clean up the rooms and common areas, NH management changed over the summer and crew members report little change. Please continue to provide feedback for the NH—and any hotel you believe is not within the guidelines of our Agreement. - SUBMITTED BY MEC HOTEL COMMITTEE CHAIR ANNE ODENWALD & DTW LCR DAN GREY
MEMBER ENGAGEMENT/MOBILIZATION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
On October 21 we attended a rally at the University of Minnesota campus for MN Senatorial nominee Al Franken. We were inspired by many speakers, including Hillary Clinton, and were reminded of the importance of volunteerism in any successful campaign. We were asked to volunteer in call centers and go door-to-door to get word out about how important this election is for the changes we expect.
Our campaign to support the Union also requires volunteers and we need this very same ground swell of member engagement to preserve our union contract. Contact your Member engagement office and find out how you can help encourage our union brothers and sisters to vote, in order to keep flight attendant democracy a reality at work. We need EVERY rank and file flight attendant out there on the line spreading the word about how important it is to keep our right to a legal contract as we merge with Delta.
We need flight attendants to sign up and speak up for our cause, OUR UNION! What is missing from the AFA campaign is YOU! -SUBMITTED BY MEMBER ENGAGEMENT CHAIR ANGIE BREWER & VICE CHAIR JARROD ANDERSON
PRE-PETITION BANKRUPTCY AND EQUITY CLAIM PAYOUT CLARIFICATION
As previous hotline messages stated, flight attendants should see his/her portion of these payouts on your paychecks within the coming weeks. It has been determined that Equity Claim payout of $11.26 will appear on the October 27th paycheck. The pre-petition claim will vary depending upon individual circumstance and is expected to be around $100. Pre-petition claims are a result of pre-bankruptcy grievance filings, including the ATLAS charge grievance, and are expected to be paid out on the November 13th paycheck. These claims have been sent to the bankruptcy court for approval before disbursement. Your MEC determined that these claims would be distributed in the same manner as they did with the first Equity Claim.
An “Eligible Flight Attendant” shall be any Flight Attendant on the Northwest Airlines Flight Attendant System seniority List ("Seniority List") during the “Eligibility Period,” who is still on the Seniority List on the “Qualification Date,” provided, however, that any person who would otherwise be eligible who is working in a management position, non-contract or other non-Flight Attendant position on the Qualification Date shall be excluded from eligibility.
The distribution for an Eligible Flight Attendant shall be reduced by the amount of any management, non-contract or other non-Flight Attendant bonus she/he is eligible to receive or has received as of the Qualification Date. The Eligibility Period shall be defined as the period November 15, 2005 through December 31, 2006.
The Qualification Date shall be the date ten (10) calendar days prior to the Distribution Date. For example, if the Distribution Date is set for October 30, 2008, a Flight Attendant who was on the Seniority List during the Eligibility Period would have to still be on the Seniority List at 12:01 am Central on October 21, 2008 to be considered to have met the Qualification Date requirement.
Those who were hired after bankruptcy are not eligible because the situations that led these claims happened before their date of hire. Some retirees are not eligible, if they have left the Company and are not active on the Qualification Date. Your MEC would like you to know that eligibility decisions were made thoughtfully and were aimed to benefit as many members as possible.
KEEPING YOUR EYE ON THE BIG PICTURE
Recently Local 94 DTW hosted a successful Town Hall style meeting that featured distinguished Union Leaders and Delta flight attendants/union activists. If you did not get a chance to attend this informative event in person, MI DL/NW Organizing Campaign State Chair Don Dollar videotaped the highlights and uploaded clips for viewing at a temporary Youtube campaign channel. Additional clips can also be viewed via the MEC website at LEC Meetings under the Events tab; http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Want2KeepmyVoice Please watch these video clips for information straight from Delta flight attendants.
NEW HIRE CENTRAL - WHY DID I RECEIVE A BILL FOR $60?
Per the AFA Constitution and Bylaws, each applicant accepted by the Union for active membership, at all 20 airlines that AFA represents, is required to pay an initiation fee of sixty dollars ($60.00). Because we all understand that newly hired flight attendant wages are comparatively low, this can be paid either at one time on approval of active membership, or on a monthly basis for six (6) months at ten dollars ($10.00) per month. Individuals who were members of AFA-CWA at another carrier are not required to pay an initiation fee upon rejoining AFA-CWA. You can make payments via the bill that you receive in the mail, or on our MEC website at: http://nwaafa.org/resources/dues/. Initiation fees and your monthly dues of $43 are part of our members’ contribution towards upholding our current legal contract, as well as to fund future improvements in the contract that we will negotiate at the new Delta. One member’s $43 doesn’t even pay for your monthly phone bill, but all of our dues together can make real change happen.
Please view our Reserve Tips on the MEC website & let us know your pattern preferences in the Scheduling Survey on ATLAS. We would like to include a piece in next printed quarterly newsletter, from the perspective of our new hires. If you are interested in writing it, please contact MEC Communications Chair Rhonda Taylor at .
Posted by jrook on 10/29 at 10:31 AM