Negotiations News from 10/24/2022
Proposals Exchanged
4. Safety & Health – The open issue here is still fatigue calls. We have proposed a real fatigue program, where flight attendants may call in fatigue and be placed into rest without discipline. Unfortunately, nothing regarding fatigue calls was resolved this week.
5. Benefits – We made our initial proposal for this section. A number of the current benefits are not listed in our contract and we have proposed to include them. We’ve also proposed an increase in our 401(k) match and a cap on our cost to participate in the insurance plan.
6. Expenses – A number of improvements were proposed in this section, including; higher per diem, full parking pay, expedited passport renewal, minimum hotel standards and long and short layover hotels.
17. Furlough – Although the company made a proposal for section, it did not contain any move in our direction in the one open issue – furloughing in system seniority issue instead of by base.
18. Filling of Vacancies & Displacement – No progress to report with this section, either. What we wrote in the last eline still applies. Dedicated crew and purser upgrades are the open issues in this section. We want to be notified prior to the announcement of a dedicated crew bid because we may need time to discuss this program with management before it opens. The company proposed some changes to the purser subsection in this section. They want to remove the requirement for flight attendants needing recommendations from three purses and to remove the word “major” in 18.F.2. Currently, a flight attendant may be denied a purser upgrade if they have an instance of major discipline in the last twelve months. We can’t agree to a provision which allows the company to deny a purser upgrade due to a minor infraction. Management says that is not their intent, but the issue is still unresolved. The final unresolved issues involves home basing/gateway basing. We would like to be home based and management says that will cost way too much money.
Other Sections/Not Discussed this Week
10. Sick Leave – AFA has proposed to increase the number of sick days accrued each year, increase in the amount a flight attendant is paid when calling in sick, eliminate the FML bank and sick leave cash out when leaving the company. We’ve also proposed that new hire flight attendant accrue sick leave and have the ability to use their accrued sick leave once probation has ended in addition to not using a sick day on a day we’ve already worked and company provided and procured meals when sick at an outstation and unable to do that ourselves. Management has not accrued to any of our proposals and did not propose any changes to this section.
11. Leaves of Absence – Our proposal includes an increase to the number of bereavement days and duration of maternity leave and the right to return to our base and position upon returning from a leave. The number of bereavement days is still open because it’s an economic issue (and those are normally resolved towards the end of negotiations). Management has acknowledged that our current maternity leave of 3 months is not sufficient and their last proposal was for 9 months. We think that 12 months would be better.
12. Training- Our proposal added more days on which recurrent training would not occur – such as Independence Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, etc. Management agreed to not conduct recurrent on Independence Day and Thanksgiving, but not the other days which we proposed. They also proposed a change to this provision. Currently, the contract allows a flight attendant to refuse to attend training on the listed holidays. But they company wants to change that in the instances where those are the only days when the necessary equipment is available (such as using a third-party vendor for door simulator).
16. Seniority – We’ve proposed to shorten the amount of time a flight attendant who goes into management is allowed to remain on the seniority list. Currently, an Omni flight attendant may transfer into a non-bargaining unit position within the inflight department, such as supervisor or director of inflight, and remain on our list accruing seniority longevity while in those positions. A flight attendant who transfers into a non-inflight position retains and accrues seniority and longevity for 12 months. After the 12 months, that person is removed from the seniority list. Management has not responded to our initial proposal, so we don’t know if they are proposing any changes to this section.
22. Uniforms – Management has not made a uniform proposal yet, so we don’t know what, if anything, they are proposing to change in this section. Our proposed improvements include an increase to the number of uniforms we are given if the company changes the uniform, an increase to the number of wings and name tags provided and an increase to the $100 uniform allowance. We also proposed to change some of the rules which apply to female flight attendants. We want them to be able to wear pants instead of the dress or skirt, to wear flats and to carry a purse without having to put it into another bag (that is so stupid!).
23. General – There are several open issues in this section. Subsection B. regarding tidying/cleaning of the aircraft will be resolved with other economic issues. Other open issues include the FAPPH not containing anything which conflicts with our contract (anytime this happens, the contract rules, but it can be confusing for people who don’t understand that), a requirement for the company to work with AFA in obtaining reciprocal jumpseat agreements with other airlines), a “me too” with the pilots regarding the number and quality of crew meals and reimbursement for transportation expenses to and from a drug test in base. We also proposed a new subsection for the e-fam’s. Management has not responded to our initial proposal, so we don’t know if they are proposing any changes to this section.
Changes to Scope, Definitions, Compensation, Vacation, Scheduling, Hours of Service and Duration have not yet been proposed by either us or management. Those are the more difficult sections to resolve and we are working our way towards those sections.
TA’d Sections
These sections have been tentatively agreed upon, 7. Management Rights, 8. Union Business, 9. Medical Exams, 19. Grievance, 20. Union Security and 21. Hostage.
Negotiations Calendar
Negotiations are scheduled to continue the weeks of December 12th, February 20th and March 13th. Other dates TBD. There are no negotiations during November and January because of availability.
December Negotiations Zoom
Please join us in December to talk about negotiations!
Time: Dec 13, 2022 18:30 Eastern Time
Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81628712196?pwd=RVlBTUc4MS9QV1I1bldYRTdWbFFBZz09
Meeting ID: 816 2871 2196
Passcode: 771750
Look Up Call-in Numbers: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbM8X2NvfO
Section Status Chart
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AFA/Omni Status Chart 10/19/22, after negotiations |
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Section |
Last AFA |
Last Omni |
Comments |
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1. Scope |
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2. Definitions |
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3. Compensation |
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AFA 1st draft done |
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4. Safety & Health |
10/18/22 |
8/10/22 |
Co owes response (fatigue program open) |
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5. Benefits |
10/18/22 |
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Co owes response |
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6. Expenses |
10/18/22 |
10/19/22 |
AFA owes response |
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7. Management Rights – TA’d June 2022 |
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8. Union BUSINESS - TA’d 8/9/22, signed 10/18/22 |
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9. Medical Exams – TA’d June 2022 |
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10. Sick Leave |
8/8/22 |
8/8/22 |
AFA owes, hold for economic discussion (accrual rate and sick while on trips) |
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11. Leaves |
8/9/22 |
10/19/22 |
Co owes response (bereavement leave/travel home from trip, parental leave, returning from a leave) |
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12. Training |
6/8/22 |
8/9/22 |
AFA owes response (I open issue – training on holidays) |
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13. Vacations |
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All economic issues |
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14. Scheduling |
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15. Hours of Service |
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AFA 1st draft done |
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16. Seniority |
6/8/22 |
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Co owes response |
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17. Furlough |
8/8/22 |
10/19/22 |
AFA owes response (1 open issue – furlough/recall by system seniority) |
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18. Vacancies & Disp. |
10/19/22 |
10/19/22 |
Co owes response |
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19. Grievance – TA’d June 2022 |
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20. Union Security -TA’d 8/8/22, signed 10/18/22 |
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21. Hostage – TA’d June 2022 |
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22. Uniforms |
6/8/22 |
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Co owes response |
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23. General |
8/9/22 |
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Co owes response |
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24. Duration |
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Sideletters |
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In Solidarity,
Negotiation Committee: Beth DeProspero (AFA), John Reise, Debbie Parker, Brian Mortenson