negotiations@afaalaska.org

Information for Alaska Airlines Passengers & Community Members

AFA Alaska Contract 2022

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO

afaalaska.org

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  • This week was our second Mediation session with management and the mediator assigned by the National Mediation Board.
  • We made progress on several outstanding provisions, including a tentative agreement on Section 9: Junior Available and Premium Open Time.
  • Our next Mediation session is scheduled for April, and both parties plan to meet separately in March to prepare for future discussions.

Mediation Session 2

This week, our Negotiating Committee and Negotiations Strategic Communications Representative met with management and the mediator assigned by the National Mediation Board (NMB) for Mediation Session 2. *Our Negotiating Committee is supported during this process by AFA International Collective Bargaining and Legal departments.

During this session, we tentatively agreed to Section 9: Junior Available and Premium Open Time (details below). The main gain in this agreement is pay protection for premium pairings in the case of reassignment. We also discussed several outstanding provisions: contactability during debrief, commuter policy, sick leave bank cap, quarterly point reduction form, and retiree pass privileges.

As a reminder, the Negotiations Dashboard is an up-to-date snapshot on progress so far, including agreed upon sections and provisions still in discussion. Six sections remain in discussion, in addition to the overall economic package.

Watch the video recap from Mediation Session 2 –>

Our next mediation session is April 16-18. The mediator is unavailable in March, but we have additional dates scheduled after April. The Negotiating Committee has a prep session scheduled in March to prepare for future discussions.

Tentatively Agreed

Section 9: Junior Available and Premium Open Time:

  • Premium OT pay protection for same day scheduling changes/reassignment (previously only premium on flown TFP)
    • If revised sequence is worth less TFP than original and CS attempted to contact 2 or more hours prior to report, Flight Attendant compensated the difference between sequences on a day-for-day basis at straight time
    • If revised sequence is worth less TFP than original and CS hasn’t attempted to contact 2 or more hours prior to report, Flight Attendant compensated the difference between sequences on a day-for-day basis at original premium rate
  • Flight Attendants may not be JA’d following reassignment (previously no protection)
  • Flight Attendant may trade Premium OT sequences with another Flight Attendant and both pairings retain whichever premium rate is lower (previously no premium)
  • Flight Attendant may SIP or jet bridge trade a portion of their Premium OT sequence after it commences and retain the premium rate for flights flown (codify current practice)
  • Flight Attendants may trade safety positions on Premium OT sequences and retain premium pay (incorporated LOA Premium OT 9.E. and Trading Safety Positions)
  • Incorporated addendum
  • Compensation for stranding into a day off is part of the overall economic discussion

Strike Vote

Our Strike Authorization Vote closes next week on February 13 at 12 PM PT. If you have not done so already, please vote FOR the Strike Authorization. Participation is currently 90% – our goal is 100% participation and 100% FOR CHAOS™! Voting information can be found on the Contract 2022 website.

Voting FOR the Strike Authorization is the best way to show management we are unified in our fight for the contract we have earned.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. PLEASE…After all that the company has put us through…WE MUST DEMAND RETRO PAY before we sign off on any TA.

    • Hi Rose, thank you for sharing your thoughts on retro pay. We are fully committed to demanding retro pay when we come to an agreement on an overall economic package. We are not at that point yet. Stay tuned!

  2. Thanks for all you are doing.

    I am VERY uncomfortable with our negotiator. This is the 3rd time out of 4 or 5 that he has not been able to attend. His actions do not say we are a priority to him, regardless of his situation. If he had a tragedy as was first explained why he missed a couple of session in 2023, then let’s get someone new – that shows commitment to getting things done. We all understand tradegies and how much time they can take, so get us real help!! I’m not so sure if we had tragedies in our lives, we’d be given any leeway. Regardless if we are or not, this contract and its negotiations are insane. I’m fairly new. I can’t believe everyone’s been putting up with this for so long. Isn’t everyone hopping mad?!?

    Thanks for your help.

    • We understand your frustration in the mediator’s schedule but that unfortunately is completely out of our control. It’s important to understand that our mediator is an employee at the National Mediation Board, whose purpose is to facilitate the resolution of labor-management disputes in the rail and airline industries. There are only so many mediators at the NMB. They are cross utilized and are not solely assigned to one company. In our case, our mediator is also assigned to a few railroads, mediating railroad contracts. Thus, we slotted into his current schedule which is understandable. Regardless, we are fully committed to getting work done and money and into Flight Attendant’s pockets as soon as possible.