November 21, 2019
Where is the printed Contract?
As I have told you in previous newsletters, the printing of this Contract has become a crazy and unexpected time issue.... but to add insult to injury, the first proof of the printed Contact came back with the font size too small and despite the printer's best efforts to fix it on their own, it had to come back to AFA International to be re-sized and re-fitted to the pages. This process is finalizing and we are hopeful that a new printed Contract will be in your V-Files soon.
We have begun our initial meetings with NAV BLUE, our new PBS bidding system. We are still expecting a start date with the new bidding system in May of 2020. Prior to the start date, there will be training and tutorials, as well as practice bids to get you familiar with the system. There will be more information on the timeline and the system as we get further into the process.
Please remember, we are still working diligently to Implement every part of our new Contract. During this process, there will continue to be hiccups or glitches which need to be modified so that the Contract works in the way that it was intended for both the Flight Attendants and the company.
The following changes were voted on and approved by the MEC and are now found in Letter of Agreement (LOA) 7.
(For those of you paying attention, you will notice that we went from LOA 5 to 7. LOA 6 was not approved by the MEC, so our next LOA may end up being numbered 6 to make sure we don't actually skip a number.)
A copy of LOA 7 can be found here and at AFAF9.org
We will also, in the near future be adding it to the index and to the pages of the Electronic Contract, also found at AFAF9.org.
The changes in the sections are as follows.....
Article 12.B.2 and 12.B.3 shall be modified to read as follows:
2. If a Flight Attendant has been de-qualified during a leave of absence, she/he will be scheduled for training including reinstatement and POE if needed and allowed to bid. However, should she/he call out sick or otherwise not successfully complete training a Reserve schedule will be constructed for them. The Flight Attendant will not receive pay protection for the original schedule.
3. A Flight Attendant returning from a Leave of Absence who is required to complete reinstatement, must coordinate her/his schedule with an Inflight Instructor to make certain the Flight Attendant’s manual is current.
The modification to 12.B.2 & 3. is AFAs (our) request to allow people returning from leave to bid even if they need to attend RGS or other training instead of being placed on reserve.
Article 5.L.2.k shall be modified to read as following:
For purposes of Add/Swap/Trade requests, a minimum of one (1) Calendar Day free from duty during every 7-day period will be required. Additionally, if there is not a 24-hour break in the last six (6) calendar days, the Flight Attendant must be scheduled to be released no later than 2200 on the 6th day.
This modification to 5.L.2.k. is a company request to try and prevent Flight Attendants from breaking the 24/7 FAR and illegally fly into their 7th day by adding a 2 hr buffer.
Article 5.M.1.a.vi. shall be modified to read as follows:
Except during a DIO, a Flight Attendant is entitled to schedule integrity which is defined as the right to fly her/his bid Trip and not be Rescheduled provided that her/his or her Trip operates, and she/he is legal to fly it. In the event that it becomes necessary to cover an uncovered flight and there is no Flight Attendant on Reserve who is legal for the assignment who could operate the flight without delaying the flight, the Company will attempt to contact a replacement Flight Attendant in inverse seniority order. The replacement Flight Attendant must be legal and available for the Reroute. Additionally, at the time of the Reroute, the Reroute must be projected to reduce the delay as compared to using a Reserve to cover the flight. If a Flight Attendant does not have a 24-hour break in the last six (6) calendar days she/he will not be removed from the last leg(s) unless it is projected to release later than 2200 on the 6th day.
This modification to 5.M.1.a.vi. is company request to allow them to replace a Flight Attendant on their trip if the projected release on day 6 is projected to go past 2200....again to prevent an illegal 7th day. Green highlighted area is only thing that changed in this paragraph.
The last item on the LOA is the bottom part with the chart from Article 5.G. the Bid Period Time Table. This is is the new bid schedule for line holders and reserve Flight Attendants.
In the chart the Line holders bid publish is one day earlier and the reserve bid moves up one day and ends on the current schedule...giving crew planning 48 hrs to run the reserve bids.
In Unity,
Jen Sala and the Contract Implementation Team,
Andrew Kothlow, Erika Schweitzer and Pam Thomas