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Delta AFA Flight Attendant Hotline 2/12/2007Today is Monday, February 12th and this is an updated hotline message for all Delta Air Lines flight attendants. LAX flight attendant and AFA supporter, Rick Smaglo reporting... Management Response to Our Request for Seniority List -- DENIED!Over the last few months we've heard a lot of promises from management about protecting our seniority during a merger. But what I want to know is, what "guarantees" are they currently making to protect our seniority at Delta? Two weeks ago Delta AFA activists asked Paulette Corbin for a copy of our system seniority list. On Friday, February 9th she formally denied our request citing Delta's ownership of the list and Flight Attendant privacy. Make no mistake about it, management does not want us to be able to verify when seniority violations occur. We encourage you to review the AFA contracts at every major airline. You will learn that each and every flight attendant covered by such agreement has full access to a printed or electronic copy of their seniority list. AFA members also have the right to challenge seniority violations when they occur. Because of these checks and balances, seniority violations seldom take place. Does this increase conflict in the workplace? Of course not -- it decreases conflict, because it provides accountability. Take for instance our Customized Bidding System. How many times have you wondered if your schedule was awarded in seniority order? When you do have a question, how do you verify it -- who do you call? The IFS Call Center? Many of us have tried and found that process worthless. Without a contract and a mechanism for resolution, once the trips are awarded, it's a done deal. If you're lucky you might get a priority pickup (have fun on your 15 leg three day to Pensacola). The reality is that IFS management does not appreciate what seniority means to us. They don't work our schedules and they unfortunately don't understand how imperative bidding and seniority protections are to our ability to balance our personal and professional lives. With an AFA contract, management must give an updated seniority list to the flight attendants on a regular basis. With an AFA contract, management must also produce a fair accounting of all bid awards and trip assignments. So, again, ask yourself; "Does the existence of an AFA contract increase conflict in the workplace -- or does it bring about a professional balance of accountability and fairness?" More Effects of Having 'No Voice, No Choice...'If CBS problems aren't enough, wait until you hear the next rumor du jour. Actually, this is more of an advance announcement than a rumor. Reliable sources in Delta's top secret department for IFS policy say, "On Tuesday, February 13th, Delta will announce that all Delta Flight Attendants will be required to become Flight Leader qualified." This is contrary to Sandy Gordon's announcement on the February 8th IFS conference call, where she said this coming week IFS would begin soliciting our feedback on the Flight Leader program. Which is it, a 'new policy' or 'we want your feedback' to develop a new policy? Or, is there really a difference between the two without a contract? Let's be frank -- flight attendant feedback has never been a big component in IFS policy making. Remember how our feedback helped define our industry leading holiday pay? Remember how much we all wanted to get rid of our Authorize Leave so we could earn the big bucks by working Christmas. Isn't it nice how our holiday pay has made working the holidays so senior you can't fly Christmas without 35 years of seniority? Okay, my sarcasm isn't very subtle.but if we think our feedback is going to influence their decision regarding the Flight Leader position, well...then I have a Delta Seniority List you might care to purchase. Many of us are still reeling at how long it took management to let us wear plastic gloves when picking up trash in the main cabin. I suppose '10' years to some might seem like progress? A Simple Truth: 'Having a Voice is ALWAYS Better than NOT Having One'Those of us helping to organize AFA recognize that having a union certainly won't keep management from ever making poor decisions. But with a union, we will certainly have more influence in the process. As members of AFA, it is an undisputed fact that we will be in a far stronger position to help create and implement changes to our work lives. With AFA's vast experience at the bargaining table and in the day-to-day operations in our industry, we'll have professional negotiators and staff lawyers who have seen it all. In every forum, AFA's experience on OUR [the flight attendants'] side of the table, exceeds that of management. Wouldn't it be great for once to have that level of expertise and problem-solving working FOR our benefit? Take for example the Flight Leader issue. AFA has confronted issues like this at other carriers and has developed solutions which place 'value' and appropriate 'wage increases' on the added responsibilities. Sadly, the only other carrier where this is currently taking place [without challenge] is at JetBlue - another notorious anti-union airline with no legal power behind flight attendants to stop it. As Delta flight attendants, we need to become more community-minded. We need to recognize that when non-union workers allow our productivity to increase without paying us one more penny, the entire industry begins a new trend. By joining AFA, we can help stop this race-to-the-bottom and begin the restoration and advancement of our flight attendant profession. Having a voice at Delta is the number one reason I support AFA! I'm tired of being treated as an after thought. Like the majority of my peers, I am middle aged and have nearly 30 years of delivering exemplary customer service. I do not need to be coddled or placated -- and I no longer want to sit at the 'kids table'. Like my flying partners, I deserve a professional relationship with management - built on respect and authority. We have a solid investment in Delta Air Lines that should be recognized. In short, we are not only PRO-Delta, we are first and foremost 'PRO-flight attendant'. As Delta flight attendants, we can't honestly say we care about our company if we are simultaneously allowing our profession and the families of hard-working flight attendants to be impacted by poor corporate decisions without mounting a 'counter strategy' of our own. Today I ask you to join in that effort. Send in your AFA card and join the campaign. But please, don't do it because you dislike management or because 'today' we are feeling a little scorned. Do it because the larger goal of restoring our profession in this industry requires it. Do it because our flight attendant families deserve nothing less. Mostly, do it because YOU deserve nothing less than to be part of something proactive, productive and professional. This concludes the hotline message. This message will be updated next week or sooner if necessary. In the meantime, take care of each other out there on the line. -- To Listen To The Hotline, Call 1-800-424-2401, Press 1 Then 720 # -- |
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO
501 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-434-1300 Delta AFA Hotline: 1-800 424-2401, press 1, then 720# |