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Delta AFA Flight Attendant Hotline 6/11/2007Today is Monday, June 11th and this is an updated hotline message for all Delta Air Lines flight attendants. SLC based flight attendant and AFA supporter, Paul Tanner reporting... Professional RespectRecently there was a call for flight attendants on the Employee Involvement Resource team to step up and volunteer for a charter flight from ATL to JFK and back. Besides holding this charter out from open time [thereby negating seniority once again] there was an additional hitch. The flight attendants will be paid flight time, but during the 5-hour turn time in JFK they would be required to clean the aircraft. Yes, you read that right. Clean the plane for free. Go back and re-read that if it still hasn’t sunk in. Or better yet, here are the actual words from the email: "Must also be willing to participate in the "Delta After Dark" cleaning event from 1830 to 2300 - PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PORTION OF THE ACTIVITY IS "VOLUNTEER"...ONLY THE ACTUAL TIME ON THE PLANE IS PAID." (Capitalization is their own) This is disturbing on many levels. First, I was under the impression that we had exited bankruptcy prepared to be a profitable airline. Volunteering sounds more to me like something one would do for a non-profit organization. Does Delta’s profitability depend on a volunteer workforce? Secondly, the very fact that flight attendants are asked to do this indicates that management doesn’t respect us professionally. I certainly wouldn’t call a plumber and ask him to clean my kitchen before he fixes my sink. He is a professional with a job to do and asking him to work for free is taking time from him and money out of his pocket. We are not seen as professionals in management’s eyes, rather it seems we are perceived as replaceable workers who can be forced to do any bidding asked. It isn’t because we deserve such designation; it is because we allow it. Without legal protections like the Scope protections outlined in AFA-CWA contracts, which clearly define flight attendants' work environment, we continually will be seen as a loose knit group of worker bees. Standing together for representation can show that we see ourselves otherwise. This charter will occur on June 26th.
Flying Right Into Your Days OffThe Fly Right work rules handbook says that Crew Tracking will make every attempt to get you home within 10 hours of your scheduled arrival if it is necessary to reroute you into your off day. How does one know if every attempt has been made? How does one know if ANY attempt has been made? Would it be safe to assume that if the flight attendant could find a better solution than Crew Tracking that solution would be used? Don’t bet your bonus on it. Without any recourse to scheduling, without the transparency to scheduling guaranteed, earlier this year, but not yet seen, you have nothing but your rotation to go by. A legal contract would define exactly what course of action you could take in this situation. Until then, pack extra underwear.
Our Activist Numbers Continue to Grow!We are seeing a steady increase in the numbers of your peers willing to step up and get involved in moving us towards representation. We can always use more. If you are interested in helping to speed the process along please refer to this map http://www.deltaafa.org/Map.htm for a clickable path to your local activist leaders. Also we are looking for ATL flight attendants to help join IAM, who are active in a campaign organizing our fellow employees on the ramp, in passing out cards and information in the employee parking lot. Here’s the info: WHEN: Every Tuesday thru Thursday CONTACT:
Delta AFA Newsletter NOW AvailableFinally, while you are waiting for Crew Tracking to finish your reroute, or just waiting for your plane you can have some great summer reading material. The summer edition of our newsletter is available for download at http://www.deltaafa.org/Docs/DeltaNews_sum07.pdf. This newsletter has also been mailed to your home. Stay focused on our future and the future of Delta. Only when we have a legal voice will we get the respect and guarantees that we need for long-term, career protection. Send in your AFA card today. Join the campaign and lend your voice to the 1,000's of Delta flight attendants who believe we are worth more. We encourage you to subscribe to JoinTogether by sending an email to jointogether@afanet.org and to visit the Crew Lounge discussion forum at www.ItsTimeDelta.net. 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# |