What is a contract? Depends on who your union is. NWA pilots get increases again . . .

. . . and AFA represented flight attendants get nothing – AGAIN!

Letter of Agreement 35 (paragraph 2.A. (text below) specifically states that if the bankruptcy imposed concessions of any labor group is reduced as a result of improvements to that group’s contract, then the company must give proportionately similar improvements to us.

The pilots have improved their contract twice since NWA emerged from bankruptcy: once just weeks after AFA International stole the TA 3 vote and again last week when the merger was approved. Why haven’t we received the improvements that our contract stipulates? What is AFA doing to hold the company accountable? Why has Kevin Griffin and the MEC not informed us of the actions they are taking to enforce this side letter? Is he too busy sealing secret deals for his own benefit in company backrooms? What is the point of having a contract if AFA is not going to keep it legally binding? What else is AFA willing to give up from our contract in their desperate and single-purposed grab for our dues dollars, so they can retain their well paid staff positions and generous expense accounts? When is Griffin going to start earning his hefty salary, and five figure expense account?

Once – just once – AFA should consider actually doing the job we hired them to do over two years ago, which is to negotiate and maintain a livable contract, instead of wasting time on their frantic fear campaign, attacks on individual members, political in-fighting and attempts to distract us from the real issues.

C’mon AFA, get to work! When are you going to start acting like a union? Instead of spending time and money sending us postcards that compare a legally binding contract with a policy manual, why don’t you spend some time and money to SHOW us, by actually enforcing our contract?

Letter of Agreement 35, paragraph 2.A.
2. Covenants
A. The Company agrees that it will not provide or agree to, without offering a comparable arrangement to the AFA, (i) any profit sharing program, incentive program, stock option plan, or any other form of financial return for any unionized employees which, in the aggregate, net of any offsetting labor cost savings, materially diminishes the value of the $1,126 million in average annual savings in labor costs set forth in Paragraph 1 above, or (ii) any pension or retirement plan benefits for any union employees which, in the aggregate, net of any offsetting labor cost savings, materially diminish the value of the $1,126 million in average annual savings in labor costs set forth in Paragraph 1 above, and which are materially more favorable than (i) the replacement plan provided to Flight Attendants under this Letter of Agreement, and (ii) other Defined Contribution Plans provided at other network carriers to the equivalent class or craft of employees whose plan is being challenged as providing a materially more favorable benefit. Should the Company’s defined benefit plans terminate, any savings in pension contribution costs generated by such termination shall not be used to offset or refund the labor cost reductions causing any union to fall below the required applicable labor cost reductions. Costs related to severance or early separation programs will not be considered to diminish the value of average annual labor costs savings. The Company shall provide sufficient relevant information necessary to perform an audit of the terms referred to herein. Disputes over any violation of this provision shall be resolved pursuant to the Expedited Board of Adjustment Procedures contained in Section 1 of the AFA Agreement.