7.14.00 – (LAA) – Negotiations Update, Domestic Coach Travel

July 14, 2000

Hello, This is Peter Day, International negotiator for APFA’s Team 2000 with Negotiations News for the week ending July 14, 2000.

Team 2000 is pleased to announce that after more than a month of discussions, the APFA and American have reached an agreement on future contractual language for Article 1 of our contract. As a reminder, Article 1 is an extremely important section in our contract because it literally establishes that APFA is the exclusive bargaining agent for AA Flight Attendants. This new agreed upon language will now include merger and acquisition governing rules into our future Contract. We encourage you to review our CURRENT contract language in Article 1 – Recognition. There are now 3 Ω pages of extensive language agreed upon governing job protection in the event of the acquisition of another carrier, a merger with another carrier or AA being the acquired airline. Our Negotiating Committee is very satisfied with this new language. It will provide AA Flight Attendants with some of the strongest merger and acquisition protection in the industry. Article 13 – Seniority was reopened at APFAís request and signed off this week.

Article 6 – Vacation was signed off this week as well. This will provide for an increased amount of PVDs awarded throughout the year, Vacation buy-back at the Flight Attendants option, more vacations awarded during July, August and December and the ability to contribute part of your vacation to your 401K.

We would like to remind our membership that each tentative agreement agreed upon by both parties is building toward a total agreement. Once the parties reach a total agreement all of the contractual language will be sent to our membership for full review prior to any ratification vote. No language will be forwarded to the membership BEFORE there is a complete contractual package. As a further reminder, WE ARE NOWHERE CLOSE TO THE END PRODUCT in this round of negotiations. All of the economic items are still to come as well as many other issues.

Next week, we anticipate possible sign-offs on Article 26 – Sick Leave and IOD and Article 30 – Crew Meals. Other items to be focused on during next week’s discussions include Article 11 – Language, Article 8 – minimum pay and credit and Article 34 – Purser. The rest of the month will be slated for Article 9 – Scheduling. It does seem as though the pace of Negotiations has quickened. The team will be meeting next week in White Plains. The last week of July and the first week of August will be spent in internal meetings and beginning August 8th the team will be meeting weekly through the end of the month back in the DFW area.

Stay tuned for the rest of this week’s APFA HotLine…

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator with APFA HotLine news for the week ending July 14, 2000.

Hot off the presses! AA issued a statement today with great improvements for Domestic Coach travel. Straight from Jetwire: “Coming soon in personal travel… Employees with five but less than 25 years of seniority will get service charge waived domestic coach travel. So will their spouses, dependent children, domestic partners and/or registered companions. It goes on to explain that employees with 25 years and more of service and their spouses, domestic partners and registered companions continue to fly service charge waived in coach and keep their discounts in premium class domestically and internationally. Now, their dependent children will receive the same privileges as well. Each employee will receive 4 one-way D1 passes. Premium class charges will be reduced by 30 percent on all 3-class transcon service. The company is also going to change the boarding priority for parents traveling alone. They will board AFTER all D-2 employees have been given a seat. They will also be increasing the amount of time that new employees are required to wait for travel privileges to 6 months. A-3s (Pilots and F/As) who travel to training or deadhead will be able to make confirmed reservations and so will A10, A11 and A12 Business travel. Domestic travel includes Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. For more detailed information check out AA’s Flight Service’s web site.

From the Safety Department, please note, when attending EPT’s, you must have an up-to-date manual, including all revisions, bulletins and P.A. Cards. You will be turned away if your manual is not up-to-date. With regards to bulletins, you must insert all bulletins in your manual, regardless if you are qualified on the equipment discussed or not. AGAIN, ALL BULLETINS MUST BE CARRIED IN YOUR MANUAL UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO REMOVE THEM. Speaking of safety, Wednesday, July 19th is Flight Attendant Safety Professional Day. This was established by George Bush in 1990 in an effort to urge Public Awareness and Recognition for Flight Attendants nationwide. Keep up the good work!

From the Hotel Department, LAX Airport Authority has advised us that 5-Star Limo can have only one van waiting for an arriving crew at a time. This, even if there are too many crew members for one van. A second van will be waiting but because of the summer traffic at the airport, it may take up to 15 minutes for it to arrive. 5-Star Limo is working with other van companies to change this policy.

From the Communications Department, our new web site with a secured “MEMBERS ONLY” area is nearly complete and ready for publishing. Check back in the next few weeks and log on to our new site. Michael Garza and Bill White have been working non-stop on updating the information and formatting the new APFA web site. Please ensure that APFA has your social security number on file by either e-mailing us at [email protected] or leaving a message at AFPA headquarters, Ext. 8153. Don’t forget to include your employee number and full name along with your Social Security Number. The last four digits of your Social Security Number will be your password to enter the site. The address is www.www.apfa.org.

As we have been reporting for weeks now, AA management has once again elected to manage Flight Attendants by intimidation. Unannounced observation rides are continuing throughout the system and management is issuing discipline constantly. Flight Attendants are being severely disciplined for first time offenses with no regard to anyone’s past record be it exemplary or not. Vice-President Jeffrey Bott has had numerous discussions with AA management on this issue and will keep us posted on this matter.

We have an InfoRep/Base meeting scheduled for Seattle on July 20th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Raddison Hotel, Seattle Airport. The address is 17001 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, Washington. The phone number is 206-244-6000. Encourage your fellow Flight Attendants to attend. It is your chance to meet our new National Officers and members of Team 2000 and get answers to their questions about Negotiations. All members in good standing are welcome.

Chicago Domestic Base Representatives will be in Operations July 18th for their monthly “Reps-in-Ops” Day. Stop by and visit Liz Mallon and Steve Wilson to have your questions answered regarding Scheduling, the Contract, or any other. DFW and IDF will be in Terminal A on the 19th of July from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and in Terminal C on the 20th of July from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

In industry news, no confirmation has been made by either side on the supposed bid of 3.7 billion dollars by AMR Corp. for the purchase of Northwest. The conjecture is that AMR offered $44 per share and that Northwest was looking for in excess of $100 per share. APFA will keep you posted on any and all updates when they occur.

James Hoffa, Jr. sent a letter to his Flight Attendants at Northwest Airlines promising that his organization, the Teamsters, will “fight” to quote: “ensure that American Airlines does not swallow Northwest” if the two carriers decide to merge. The letter went onto say: “With 24,000 Flight Attendants at American Airlines, their independent Union will attempt to ‘endtail’ all 11,000 Northwest Flight Attendants jobs ending your seniority rights.

85% of the voting Pilots for Trans States Airline have rejected the T/A that averted a strike on Memorial Day weekend this year. The Union stated that the proposed pay increase was an improvement, but the overall contract by the St. Louis-based airline is substandard.

That’s it for this week! Wear your Union Pin proudly and thank you for calling the APFA HotLine.