AFA and the High Price of Failure

AFA and the High Price of Failure

Here’s another dirty secret that the folks at AFA would rather you didn’t know about. Unfortunately (for AFA), the US Department of Labor requires unions to file an annual LM-2 report. AFA recently filed its LM-2 – the Department of Labor mandated report detailing salaries and reimbursements for union officials – for the period covering June 1, 2007 through May 31, 2008 … and the figures are obscene. (NOTE: PDF file with the numbers was sent to all in my bulk email list, end of post link to actual LM2.)

Keep in mind: these amounts (and it takes the annual dues of 4,339 Northwest flight attendants just to pay the salaries on the MEC and LEC), don’t include any personal expenses that are direct billed (like hotel rooms, rental cars, cell phones), items charged to a union issued credit card, or other costs such as office space, utilities, etc. Is it any wonder AFA can only afford to send us one MEC newsletter per year? As despicable as the figures in the attached report are the actual costs to flight attendants is much, much higher. (NOTE: PDF file with the numbers was sent to all in my bulk email list, end of post link to actual LM2.)

It’s a good thing AFA raised your union dues to $43.00 per month (that’s $516 out of your pockets per year), because AFA has a staggering number of people offline here at Northwest, and it looks like the unelected/appointed ones are raking in the most cash.

The top three:

Danny Campbell
Rolling in at Number 1? None other than good old Danny Campbell, DTW flight attendant and interim AFA MEC Vice President – yup, the same Danny Campbell who the majority of you demanded NOT be reappointed by the LEC Presidents to the MEC, and the same Danny Campbell who argued over and over that union officials should only earn what the highest paid line that flight attendants earn (about $41,000 today).

He told us over and over during the AFA raid on the Northwest flight attendants that AFA positions are ‘volunteer’ positions, and that the only pay is for trips that have to be dropped to conduct union business. Looks like Danny lied again (is anyone really surprised?), unless he expects us to believe (as the attached chart shows) that he really had to drop flying worth 159.36 hours PER MONTH to conduct union business. How much time does it take to sit in a basement and send out a few emails a week? Danny was in charge of the recently failed representation campaign at Delta, and is doing a fine job of missing deadlines in the recent campaign. He couldn’t even drag himself to the recent MEC meeting in Detroit to update the MEC on the campaign. I have previously warned against keeping failed and incompetent people in a position simply to repay a favor, but Pat Friend, former United flight attendant and current AFA International president, seems more interested in greasing political palms than in actually doing anything competent on behalf of her members.

As a consolation prize for delivering the Northwest flight attendant treasury to AFA, Pat knighted Danny with the title of “organizer,” along with a hefty salary of $72,128. That’s right: $72,128, with additional “business expenses” of $3,908 for sending emails, missing NWA MEC meetings, and completely botching the AFA/Delta representation campaign.

Danny’s total reportable cost to flight attendants: $96,231.84. Way to go Danny – you’re Number 1! Of course that amount doesn’t include direct-billed hotel rooms, rental cars or the items you charge to your union issued credit card. Add those in and there’s no doubt you’re in the $100,000.00 club. Woo Hoo!


Bruce Retrum
Squeezing in at a close Number 2? None other than former Danny Campbell adversary Bruce Retrum, an MEC appointed (unofficial) Negotiations Member. And something seems strange about that, doesn’t it? Aside from the fact that he was never elected, and would never be elected by the NWA flight attendants again following his horribly botched presidency of Teamsters Local 2000 during the mid-1990’s, didn’t negotiations end in May 2007 with that sketchy TA3 vote?

So then, how on earth is Bruce able to stay in office and rake in $59,493 in salary and another $15,920 in “business expenses”? Is this the price we pay to have Bruce hold MEC President Kevin Griffin’s hand during meetings with company management? And just what exactly are these so-called “business expenses” – doesn’t Bruce live in Minneapolis, just miles away from the union headquarters? Part of these expenses are the $45.90 (recently raised to $56.00) in daily per diem that can be claimed for days spent on union business – even if working from home. Staffers do not have to submit any proof of the expense. At $45.90 per day, Bruce’s claimed expenses of $15,920.00 represent per diem paid for 346 days of the year. How much does Bruce eat anyway?

Of course some of the claim was probably for mileage to drive to and from the office (do you get reimbursed for mileage to drive to and from the airport?), but what is not reflected on this report are the weeks of direct billed hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn Select in Bloomington, so Bruce could be saved the time and trouble of driving to and from the office.

Now here’s the real kicker: Bruce’s salary is for PART TIME work. That’s right. Despite his HUGE salary, Bruce did not feel compelled to deliver full time work to the Northwest flight attendants. He found plenty of time to fly trips during the year to supplement his ‘volunteer’ work on the negotiations committee.

Add in Bruce’s pay for flying the line and Bruce is also a member of the $100,000 club. Great job Bruce! We knew you could do it! Bruce’s total cost to flight attendants: $92,071.04.


Mollie Reiley
And just smoking by to earn a position in the top three – you guessed it, another former Danny Campbell enemy: Mollie Reiley, veteran Teamsters Secretary-Treasurer of the failed Retrum/Teamsters Local 2000 administration; former “Trustee” of Teamsters Local 2000; and interim MEC President (who you also demanded NOT be reappointed). Like she did with Danny, Pat rewarded allegiance – Mollie was also dubbed “organizer” and granted a salary of $69,132. (Apparently sexism must be alive at AFA as Mollie didn’t make as much as Danny. Or maybe that’s the cost of keeping an extremely low profile.) And, at least Mollie’s failure to successfully organize Delta didn’t cost that much in “business expense” as she managed to keep her expenses down to a mere $463, just enough to almost pay back her AFA dues for the year. Hypocritically, when Mollie was not holding a union position, she tried desperately to limit union salaries with constitutional amendments, but she sees no problem with collecting her almost-six-figure salaries at Teamsters and AFA.

Hey Mollie, your salary is only slightly higher than that of 2 flight attendants at the top of the pay scale flying the line full time. Maybe you can do better this year. We’re pulling for you. Mollie’s total cost to flight attendants: $88,951.00.


Coming in future emails:
*** Base breakdown – Find out if your base is over budget and which base is the most expensive to operate.
*** Most overpaid officers and council reps – AFA positions are considered part-time positions; why are some LEC officers and council reps paying themselves better than full time pay?

Ask questions and find out how some AFA reps have manipulated the system to catapult themselves off reserve and pick up trips at super-seniority. Who’s getting full-time pay, but skips out of the office early to work a second job or go to school. How taking “unpaid time off” for trips to Africa still gets you paid $56,082.00 for the year.

The numbers don’t lie. Are Pat, Danny, Bruce and Mollie looking out for our best interest or their own job security? After all, 14,000 Delta flight attendants X $43/month X 12 months = $7,224,000.00 in additional dues annually.

The attached file to this email provides all the numbers and the official LM2 can be found here: http://www.fainformation.com/FAPages/afacwalm2.aspx

Sincerely,
Jose Arturo Ibarra