The Burden of Proof, Getting the Facts
and an Eye-opening Work Rules Comparison (Installment 1)
Including a real live IAM-Continental
Trip Pairing
As the IAM campaign to organize the Delta flight attendants attempts to
gain some traction, the campaign itself raises some serious questions that must
be addressed before any Delta flight attendant casts a vote – or even signs a
card that could trigger an election and the resulting laboratory conditions
that freeze the status quo.
After all, this campaign has been underway for several months now,
purportedly with the financial and organizational backing of the IAM and all
they have to show for it is two stolen campaign slogans: one is the Delta
“strive for five” slogan and the second, which is headlining their website’s
home page is a caption they lifted from a magazine ad. And not even a
union-related ad.
The question that is begged to be answered, then, is that if the IAM
campaign is so unoriginal and so unimaginative; if the IAM campaign – after so
many months – is unable to present some compelling reasons to vote for them (or
even sign a card for them); if ALL they’ve got going for them is a couple of
pilfered taglines; if this is all they have to offer now, then how can we
expect them to be original or creative or intelligent at the negotiations
table?
I mean, if they are jumping on the company bandwagon so soon – so early
in this drive to represent the Delta flight attendants, then what is to cause
us to believe that their behavior will be any different in future? They haven’t
answered the significant and profound question of how the IAM will be able to
get the Delta flight attendants anything that Delta wouldn’t present to them in
the first place. If the IAM can’t come up with an original, simple campaign
slogan, how can we possibly expect them to come up with an original, inherently
more complicated contract? Recent history, in fact, shows that the IAM can’t,
although they would like to have you believe that they “could”.
One Trip – Three Sets of Work Rules: You be the
Judge
“Domestic trips don't have to be
ugly....or worth less than nothing. Come on. Lets work together to get this
under control. Unity....sign.” ~
Julianna Helminski, self-appointed IAM Delta campaign leader
You know those IAM “organizers”? The ones that sit in the crew lounges
and accost you when you’re trying to take a break between flights, or create a
hostile work environment by approaching you on the airplane when you’re there
just trying to do your job? You know who I mean? They speak in vagaries and
what-ifs and deftly skirt facts and logic and analysis. You know who I mean,
right?
Not a single one of them has read the most recently negotiated IAM
contract for a legacy carrier. Do you know how I know? Here’s a clue:
“You can google IAM continental flight
attendants and see what there (sic) last contract was (sic). This is public
information. Granted they are with United now but it shows you what IAM can do
for our work group! I'd post the link but I'm new to this ipad and can't figure
it out. Sorry.” ~ Tammy Rustad, self-appointed IAM
Delta MSP local leader and instigator of the “you-can’t-take-bottled-crew-water-off-the-aircraft-when-really-you-can-non-crisis-but-hey-let’s-complain-about-made-up-things-for-while”.
I need to digress for a moment and ask: “Is this for real? Is the IAM
really trying to convince us that we will be competently and diligently represented
(against that big, bad, daddy-d, horrific company they claim we work, nay,
slave for) by union representatives who are struggling to figure out how to
type a web address into an internet browser?!?! For REALZ?!? By the way,
here’s that difficult-to-type link to the IAM contract:
Back to the topic: If any of them have read the IAM contract (that is if
they were able to navigate to the website that contains the PDF of the
contract), they are lying to you about what it contains. Either case speaks to
a lack of transparency, honesty, competence and integrity. And because they are
either unwilling or incapable of telling you the truth, I will present a series
of comparisons between what we have and what we would get with IAM
representation if history is any indication. In this first email, I’ll look at
trip credits and rigs.
Here is an actual trip from the subsidiary Continental flight attendant
analysis (they are still years away from flying together with their United
colleagues – due to AFA’s posturing and delay tactics over there). This trip is
from the May, 2013 analysis for the Houston base. It contains a 18:10 report time
on the first day, flies one leg to Mexico City and lays over for 10:26
(NOTE: under the IAM contract, layover time is
calculated from block-in to block-out time – not from duty release to duty
report time. This is really a 9:11 minute layover from release time to report
time the next morning, with NO provision for a minimum behind the door rest. If
the hotel shuttle is late in the evening or only runs every 30 minutes in the
morning, you are simply out of luck).
The next day you fly one leg back to base and finish the trip.
Total time away from base = 16:32
Total block time (hard fly) hours = 4:36
Total credit hours (or actual pay hours) for this trip = 4:36
That’s right: a 2-day trip with 16:32 hours away from home pays out at
only 4:36 x your hourly flight pay. You’ll notice something if you ever look
through the subsidiary Continental trip analyses: the credit time always
equals the block time. IAM gave away ALL of the credits and rigs in the
Continental flight attendant contract. There is no duty period minimum 4:15.
There is no duty period averaging 4:45. There is no 1 for 2 duty period credit.
There is no 1 for 3:30 time away from base credit rig.
All you ever get paid is your flight hours.
BASE: ----> IAH MAY 03-JUN 01, 2013 737 FLIGHT
ATTENDANTS
DAY|EQ|DHFLT|DPS|ARS|DEPL|ARRL|BLK|GRND|S|TBLK|TDUTY|LAYO|TYP
DAY|EQ|DHFLT|DPS|ARS|DEPL|ARRL|BLK|GRND|S|TBLK|TDUTY|LAYO|TYP
H1024 FM=00/FA=03 MO TU WE TH FR|SA SU
F/A --> 18:10
1 73J 1030 IAH MEX 1910 2124 2:14 2:14 3:44 10:26
(Hotel Information omitted for confidentiality reasons)
(Hotel Information omitted for confidentiality reasons)
F/A --> 07:05
2 73J 1023 MEX IAH 0750 1012 2:22 2:22 3:37
TOTAL CR: 4:36 TOTAL BLK: 4:36 TAFB: 16:32
2 73J 1023 MEX IAH 0750 1012 2:22 2:22 3:37
TOTAL CR: 4:36 TOTAL BLK: 4:36 TAFB: 16:32
In the interest of fairness, honesty, transparency and objective
analysis, let’s see what this trip is worth in dollars under the IAM –
Continental contract; the old AFA – Northwest contract and the Delta work
rules:
IAM – Continental Contract:
(No rigs/credits apply)
Hourly top pay: $52.53/hour
International override: $0 (does not apply to Mexico or Canada in the
IAM contract)
Per Diem: $1.95/hour
Flight time = 4:36
Duty/Credit rigs = 0 hours
Hard fly plus credit hours = 4:36
Flight pay: 4:36 X $52.53 = $241.64
Credit pay: $0
Hard fly plus credit pay: 4:36 X $52.53 = $241.64
International pay: $0
Per Diem: 16:32 TAFB X $1.95 = $32.23
Total pay to flight attendant (hard fly,
credit, international and per diem) under the IAM Continental contract =
$273.87
========================================
AFA – NWA Contract:
(4:15 minimum duty day applies)
Hourly top pay: $41.37/hour
International override: $1.25/hour flown
Per Diem: $1.85/hour
Flight time = 4:36
Duty/Credit rigs = 3:54 hours
Hard fly plus credit hours = 8:30
Flight pay: 4:36 X $41.37 = $190.30
Credit pay: 3:54 X $41.37 = $161.34
Hard fly plus credit pay: 8:30 X $41.37 = $351.64
International pay: 4:36 hours flown X $1.25 = $5.75
Per Diem: 16:32 TAFB X $1.85 = $30.58
Total pay to flight attendant (hard
fly, credit, international and per diem) under the AFA-Northwest contract =
$387.97
========================================
Delta Work Rules:
(4:45 duty period averaging applies)
Hourly top pay: $49.96/hour
International override: $1.25/hour flown
Per Diem: $2.60/hour
Flight time = 4:36
Duty/Credit rigs = 4:54 hours
Hard fly plus credit hours = 9:30
Flight pay: 4:36 X $49.96 = $229.82
Credit pay: 4:54 X $49.96 = $244.80
Hard fly plus credit pay: 9:30 X $49.96 = $474.62
International pay: 4:36 hours flown X $1.25 = $5.75
Per Diem: 16:32 TAFB X $2.60 = $42.98
Total pay to flight attendant (hard
fly, credit, international and per diem) under Delta work rules = $523.35
========================================
“Some FAs think that work rules hinder
us. In fact, when negotiated, work rules improve trip construction greatly;
improving quality of life.” ~ Julianna
Helminski, self-appointed IAM Delta campaign leader
Interesting point Julianna . . . so why is it, exactly, that you are
advocating for a union that GAVE AWAY ALL OF THE WORK RULES AT CONTINENTAL?
What is the quality of life for a flight attendant who has to fly a month of
2-day trips that are only worth 4:36 a piece? Why are you advocating for a
union that allows a company to build trips that are worth HALF the pay that we
would currently get for the same trip?
The collective Delta flight attendants have to wonder about the credibility
of a small group of people who keep trying to convince us that we are in some
sort of frying pan in order to convince us to jump, without ever explaining the
fire that awaits us at the end of the leap.
We have to wonder whether they are looking out for our collective
interests or if they are just interested in their potential personal gain (i.e.
union positions) by bringing a union on the property. I think you’ll find a
clue when you follow the timeline:
The same people who previously supported AFA later dumped AFA to support
TWU. Then when AFA and TWU teamed up to organize the Delta flight attendants,
this same group decided that one plus one does not equal two and dumped that
coalition in favor of the IAM campaign. All the while, they have been dragging
along the Delta flight attendants as they (according to their own words) “learn
from their mistakes”.
If they were truly interested in the collective good, they wouldn’t be
union-hopping as often as they do. They would have performed their due diligence
at the very beginning, done a side by side, objective analysis of all the
options out there and they would have interviewed established unions to see
what they could offer the Delta flight attendants. If they had done that from
the very beginning, it would be evident in their campaign, and we wouldn’t be
hearing re-hashed taglines as campaign slogans, and ambiguous proclamations
about how great other airlines have it, but “oops we can’t really show you,
because it’s too difficult to figure out how to type a web address into my
browser” excuses.
In my next email: Don’t like our domestic 9:00 minimum layover rest? Then
you probably won’t be a big fan of the IAM domestic 7:45 (release to report)
minimum layover rest.
Sincerely,
Jose Arturo Ibarra
