AFA Admits to Delay in Reaching New Contract for NWA Flight Attendants

AFA Admits to Delay in Reaching New Contract for NWA Flight Attendants

In the January 9th NWA AFA hotline message (below), AFA openly stated that they will not file for a representation election until the FA work groups have been fully merged.

Apparently they are not interested achieving improvements to the NWA Flight Attendant contract for at least another three years!

This is the same contract that, based on 75:00 per month, puts NWA FAs below Southwest FAs by $17,952 per year, Continental FAs by $6,672 per year, American FAs by $5,184 per year and Delta FAs by $3,072 per year.

Maybe AFA decided that since we are on par with the other big AFA Flight Attendant groups (United and US Airways), we don't really need raises and other important work rule and benefit improvements.

I don't know about you, but regardless what the other AFA carriers are earning I sure could use an extra $3,000-6,000 per year TOMORROW - not three or more years from now!

Why three or more years? Well, we can't be fully merged until we are all trained - and given the training timeline laid out for the 21,000 Delta FAs, that will not occur until the end of this year or early 2010. So that is one year.

And given that the combined Delta FA group is comprised of former Northwest, Republic, Western, Pan Am and Delta FAs that all have varied interests they hope to achieve in a new contract, it will take at least a year to elect a negotiation committee, develop a survey, collect and analyze the survey results, write an opening proposal, conduct road shows, create a member mobilization team and phone tree, etc.

And we all know that contract negotiations take at least a year and usually two or three - especially with a guy like tricky Dicky at the helm. Just filing a grievance over letter 35 over the pilot raises has taken 18 months - and it hasn't even been arbitrated yet.

Three or more years before the NWA Flight Attendants receive raise. That is a very bleak outlook indeed - even without the initial one year delay caused by "our" union.

How is this delay in the best interest of the NWA Flight Attendants? It is not.

AFA has stated that they will not be pushed by Delta management to "rush" an election - they will do it when they are right and ready and not one second sooner! Perhaps they can be pushed by the very members they are supposed to be representing and who pay their very salaries.

It is time for AFA to call for the election - tomorrow! AFA needs to get this election behind us now so we can start negotiating as soon as possible if we are to have any hope of a meaningful raise sometime within the next 2 years!

Please call/send an email message to AFA today asking them to conduct the election tomorrow!

Think of this action as an investment in your future - because it is.

In solidarity,
Andy Damis
SEA flight attendant

09 January Hotline Message
NMB RULES ON SINGLE CARRIER STATUS FOR FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
Ruling Not for Flight Attendants - On Wednesday, January 7, the NMB rejected Delta’s argument that a single carrier finding for pilots, flight dispatchers and meteorologists also applies to the other unions including AFA, the IAM and AMFA. The NMB ruled that for purposes of representation, the merger of Northwest and Delta has created a single transportation system for the pilots, flight dispatchers and meteorologists, but affirmed AFA’s position that a representation election can only be initiated by an employee or a Union. AFA will file for a single carrier determination when the respective flight attendant work groups have been fully merged. For a review of the full NMB findings, please go to the MEC webpage or click HERE http://www.nwaafa.org. To review AFAss press release please click HERE http://www.afanet.org/default.asp?id=7.—Update by AFA Legal