Government Affairs Committee
Our Voice On Capitol Hill
The goal of the Government Affairs Committee is to bring issues that affect our careers to the attention of our legislators on Capitol Hill as well as to state and local law-makers. The focus of the committee is to facilitate legislation that improves our careers, taking as many issues as possible off the negotiations table.
Legislate, Not Negotiate!
News
Call to Action!
Dear Members
We are about to begin another major legislative push. Legislation to limit carry-on baggage was introduced by Congressman Dan Lipinski in the House of Representatives recently. As well, we are guaranteed to have a major fight in the US Senate to ensure that a ban on in-flight cell phone usage is included in that chamber’s version of the FAA Reauthorization. So far, Congressman Lipinski is the only Representative supporting our carry-on bag legislation, but we are hoping to garner additional support. Needless to say, the cell phone industry has been out in full force to prevent the cell phone ban from becoming law. These two issues are issues that affect all of us and we should focus on ensuring that we are successful in the passage of this legislation. Otherwise we are looking at a continuation of what I call the “carry-on madness” and the unthinkable situation of having to control an airplane full of business men competing with adolescents on their respective cell phones!
As such, we need to once again crank up our grassroots contacts with the House and Senate. We need everyone to get out there and get letters signed!!! We all know the drill and how it’s done. We did it with FMLA.
The letters may be found to the right of this page. One letter is for the Senate for the Cell Phone Ban and the other letter is for the House of Representatives for a restriction on carry-on bags. Please click on the letter and print it and send the House one to your Representative and print two letters, one for each of your Senators for the ban on cell phones on board the aircraft. You may also sign them and place them in your local mail box and they will process the letters for you.
Our committee volunteers will be out in full force to gat as many of these signed as possible. Your help in getting the word out will help tremendously!
Remember, this is just like our FMLA campaign last year. It is a grassroots effort that will take every opportunity we have to produce results. This means carrying these letters with us when we fly, having them available to your flying partners.
Please, try and get these letters signed and sent in as soon as possible. With so much going on in DC, we need to ensure that our issues get attention.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me.
Thank you for your participation and involvement
Albert Garcia
MEC Government Affairs Chair
415 290-5140
WE CHANGED THE LAW IN MINNESOTA!
As we have been reporting in several communications to you, your Government Affairs Committee has been working closely with Minnesota lawmakers to try and change a statute in the Minnesota law that denied unemployment benefits to our MSP based members taking a company SLIP leave in lieu of involuntary furloughs. For over 2 years we have been meeting with lawmakers making our case that this statute was unfair in hopes of changing the way that the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance department views our MSP members. This past month our efforts came to fruition when a change to the statute was proposed and inserted into the 2009 Minnesota Omnibus Jobs and Economic Development Appropriations Bill and presented to Governor Pawlenty for his signature. The governor signed the bill into law on May 12 and filed by the Secretary of State on May 14 with some specific line-item vetoes made by the governor. For the complete text of the bill and specifically our provision, Article 3, Section 10, BENEFITS PAID DURING CERTAIN VOLUNTARY UNEMPLOYMENT, go to http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/bills/billinf.php?ls=86
This development is a tremendous victory for us and our union. All Northwest AFA-CWA members and especially those that were denied unemployment in the state of Minnesota can feel proud that we were part of something very special. Thanks to the many people that worked on your behalf for the past two years, we were able to change the law in Minnesota and thanks to all our efforts our members based in MSP cannot be denied unemployment benefits when they accept a leave of absence in lieu of an involuntary furlough. However, if you read the law carefully, you will also notice that this applies only when “the election is authorized under a collective bargaining agreement or written employer policy”. This is important to remember because without a binding contract under a collective bargaining agreement, the company may or may not agree and could in fact keep you from receiving unemployment benefits.
We have worked tirelessly to make this happen and we, your union changed a Minnesota state statute. Now it is our responsibility to ensure we keep our union and continue to allow our collective voices to be heard loud and clear, not only in our workplace, but also in the legislative arena.
I would like to personally thank Rene Foss, MEC Communications Chair and NYC Government Affairs Chair as well as Camilla Wolkerstorfer, MSP Local 95 Government Affairs Chair for all of their hard work and persistence in bringing this victory to our members based in MSP and all of us.
Posted by Gov Affairs on 05/31 at 10:35 PMFAA Reauthorization Bill Passes the House
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Act Thursday, May 21, with a vote of 277 to 136. Also known as the FAA Reauthorization Bill (HR915) authorizes appropriations for the FAA for fiscal years 2010 through 2012, to improve aviation safety and capacity, to provide stable funding for the national aviation system, and for other purposes. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) Government Affairs Department worked closely with members of Congress to include provisions that directly improve the flight attendant profession.
One provision included in H.R. 915 continues the current Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ban on inflight cell phone use. Other measures included in the FAA Reauthorization include funding for a flight attendant fatigue study; the inclusion of OSHA workplace safety and health protections; notification of pesticide application on flights; cabin air quality provisions that would initiate development of air quality sensors and filtration; a “Return to the Cabin” program that will allow flight attendants an opportunity for rehabilitation after testing positive for drug or alcohol abuse; temperature standards for aircraft; further definition of provisions restricting foreign control of U.S. airlines; and a ban on smoking on-board charter flights.
The bill will now move to the Senate for their vote. We are confident that the bill will pass the Senate and ensure that all of our provisions in the signed bill will begin to take effect. This is a perfect example of how vital the work of your union is in improving our profession and specifically how legislating our issues will ensure the future of the flight attendant career.
Posted by Gov Affairs on 05/21 at 08:37 PMThe Employee Free Choice Act and us!
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) currently a hot topic in Washington D.C. has been getting much media attention as it is debated in the halls of Congress. The Employee Free Choice Act will help strengthen our economy by making it easier for working people to bargain for better wages, benefits, and job security. This legislation will in effect remove current obstacles to employees who want collective bargaining, guarantee that workers who can choose collective bargaining are able to achieve a contract and allow employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation. However and this is important to remember - The Employee Free Choice Act ONLY applies to workers that fall under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), not us. Aviation and Railway workers fall under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and the National Mediation Board (NMB).
Although as a flight attendant union that is part of the CWA, we strongly support the passage of EFCA, It will not determine how we vote in our representation election or help our collective bargaining process. We support EFCA because it is right and because we believe that with its passage, EFCA will ultimately have a positive influence on our ability to form unions and our collective bargaining. For more information on the Employee Free Choice Act visit http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/
Posted by Gov Affairs on 05/13 at 01:49 PMMinnesota Unemployment Insurance Update - Change is on its way!
This past week the Minnesota State House approved legislation (HF1404 - Voluntary Leave Limited Eligibility for Benefits) presented by Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL) on behalf of our MSP based flight attendants. There was only one dissension by Rep. Sarah Anderson (R).
As you recall MSP based flight attendants who participated in company sponsored SLIP leaves in the past have been denied unemployment insurance benefits due to a state statute that denies benefits to employees taking a voluntary leave. Your Government Affairs committee has been working diligently for the past two years with state lawmakers from both the Minnesota House and Senate on this issue. We persisted and succeeded in educating Minnesota lawmakers of the importance of this issue for our MSP based flight attendants as well as for the state of Minnesota. After listening to us they agreed to introduce legislation that would change this statute. The resulting bill will change the state statute and allow individuals taking SLIP leaves in lieu of more permanent layoffs to receive unemployment insurance benefits. In March the Minnesota State Senate recommended to pass the companion bill, (SF1143).
What does this mean? Our legislation is now part of a larger Omnibus Economic Development and Housing Appropriations bill, (SF2081) which was approved by the Senate. In the House side, as of this date more discussion is planned on the bill, followed by markup and a vote to move it forward for the governor’s signature. Once the governor signs the Omnibus bill, our piece of legislation will also become law. Although it is too soon to declare a victory, we are very close to a resolution for our MSP based flight attendants. This change in Minnesota law is a testament to the persistence and focus of our union and our Government Affairs Committee and proof on just how much can be accomplished when we are represented by a union that works on our behalf. Kudos to everyone that worked on this issue for our MSP members and special thanks to Rene Foss, NYC Government Affairs Committee Chair and MN resident and Camilla Wolkerstorfer, MSP Government Affairs Committee Chair.