Mourning a Great Loss
It is with great sorrow and heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of one of our own, ATL based Flight Attendant Jerry Sluka. Brother Sluka passed away after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones.
Voluntary Draft List
There’s been questions raised regarding the new ‘Voluntary Draft Tool’. We have worked extensively to ensure this is within the contractual guidelines, which it is 100% in compliance with the ERJ CBA and something we are still working on for the CRJ CBA.
Please refer to the ERJ CBA Section 5.L.1.a. and you will see the first step in drafting an ERJ FA should be assigning those that are willing if time permits
L. Drafting
- Drafting is the mandatory assignment of open time to a flight attendant who is on a day off or completing her/his last scheduled segment of a trip before going off duty. Trips may be assigned in reverse order of seniority to line holders by drafting them when no reserve flight attendants are available and eligible for the assignments. Drafting is accomplished in the following order:
a. Time permitting, the Company may assign the trip in seniority order to any flight attendant who is legal and willing to work the trip assignment ;
This new tool only makes it quicker and more operationally feasible for the Company to utilize willing volunteers prior to moving on to those who would be in a forced drafting situation. Also, keep in mind this new system will only be implemented after red flag has been raised.
If you are contacted, you are not required to work the trip; it is still completely voluntary. The goal is to assign trips to crew members who want to work before moving to someone who may not have wanted to.
We are still actively researching and working with the Company to attempt to make this option available to CRJ flight attendants as well but we want to ensure we are also following the CRJ CBA. If you are a CRJ flight attendant with questions or concerns please contact
Meetings with Management
If you have a meeting with management that may result discipline, you are entitled to have a union representative present. Even if you believe you are guilty of a violation of policy, or you believe it to be an informal meeting, please always bring a union representative with you. If you do not have contact information for your local union representative(s) please email with your name, CRJ or ERJ, and your base.
ERJ
Company Blatantly Disregards 1/7 Violations
Unfortunately the Company chose to deny several Step 2 grievances regarding 1/7 violations that were heard last week. These are simple violations that we have typically been able to settle with base management prior to filing a grievance in years past. For some reason the Company is arguing, those that were violated were made whole by giving them an RDO, which they already have a contractual right to when their day is rolled. The Union contended the flight attendants affected by the 1/7 violations, whether the Company intended to vomit the violation or not, deserved a remedy. We plan to pursue these violations to the fullest extent possible and they will be appealed to arbitration by next week.
ERJ Grievance Update
Currently there are no outstanding Step 2 grievances waiting to be heard. However, recently several Step 1 grievances were denied in ORD, MCI, CLE and EWR and after review those will most likely be appealed to Step 2 very soon.
CRJ
ATL Coverage
On the evening of June 19th we experienced an issue with Red Arrow days. Upon review of the bucket list and schedules, the week of June 21-27 was signified as Red Arrow days and RSV coverage looked extremely low. This was a drastic change from earlier the same day. This was immediately addressed with the Company and subsequently corrected.
PBS Bid Award
The bid award went well last week but the award was particularly challenging for DTW. However, IAM PWG Chairperson Anita Deen worked very hard with Crew Planning to ensure the best result possible for our members. Multiple parameters had to be adjusted until a legal result was achieved. Below is a chart of the final numbers:
Settings ATL FT ATL PT DFW DTW
Min 75 34 75 75
Max 86 50 100 78
TLV 80 40 80 75.5
Lineholders 611 53 135
Reserves 141 14 50
% Opentime 2.89 2.29 2.63
Please remember there may be more junior flight attendants that are able to hold a line prior to those slightly more senior due to pre-awarded credits such as vacation or training, or if they have less restrictive bidding preferences. If you have any questions or concerns with your bid, please email PWG Chairperson Anita Deen at
Grievance Update
We have setup a grievance meeting for all of the CRJ grievance representatives in ATL on July 16th.
Just an update; throughout the most recent months, one ATL grievance was sent to the District for appeal in April, and has subsequently been appealed to grievance mediation. No CRJ grievances were submitted for appeal in May, and so far, there is one ATL grievance in June, that is in the process of being submitted for appeal to mediation. Grievance mediation is still scheduled to be held in Atlanta on August 5th and 6th.
