Negotiations
Your IAM joint contract negotiations committee met from Monday, July 20, 2015 and continued through Thursday, July 23, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Proposals were passed on the following Sections:
Section 5 Travel Expenses
Section 6 Training
Section 9 Sick Leave
Section 11 Leaves of Absences
Section 23 General
We expected much more progress to be made on these Sections, unfortunately due to inaction on the Company’s part that was not possible. In addition, vast division remains on several key issues contained within these Sections.
In Section 11 Leaves of Absence, one of the most extensive sections in the CBA, we focused on sick and vacation accruals, along with medical benefits while on different types of leaves. Section 5 Travel Expenses has very few open items but those contain substantial differences. We were able to resolve most issues in Section 6, Training. Section 9 Sick Leave has been whittled down to just a few open items as well but some of those items have the potential to greatly impact the membership, which is not being taken lightly. Section 23 General, encompasses many different topics such as out of base parking, commuter clause policy and jumpseating. We are aware that these issues will affect the day-to-day quality of life of our members, so we are continuing to fight hard to protect your rights.
We remain determined to achieve an industry leading agreement, while the Company has shown that it is their intent to negotiate a subpar agreement. Your negotiations committee is unified in our resolve to bringing our membership a contract that they deserve, as safety professionals.
Negotiations will continue on September 14 through September 17, 2015 in Houston, Texas.
The dedicated website for negotiations can be accessed at: www.iamoneuniononevoice.org
Emergency Events
Please keep in mind that during a decompression event your oxygen needs may be different than passengers due to the fact that you may still be moving around the cabin and still performing your safety related duties. In any emergency situation it is of the utmost importance to exercise good Crew Resource Management and communicate any physical symptoms you may be experiencing. Also, during the Captain’s brief at the beginning of your trip is a good time to discuss our oxygen needs with the Captain in the event of a decompression.
Heat Issues
We have continued to see an uptick in heat exhaustion and want to remind you again of the importance of making sure to stay well hydrated.
To work on better improving the system and these conditions, the proper method of reporting is to do an IOR. I encourage all of you to please, take the time to do an IOR each and every time you are encountering an aircraft that has extreme heat issues during these hot summer months. If you are getting customer complaints that the aircraft is too hot–do an IOR. If there is a maintenance issue where something is inop and deferred and the interior cabin temperature is above 80 degrees, please be proactive with your Captain on this and do an IOR. If there are several IORs per day submitted, this will be an action item that gets to the proper departments immediately.
As always, be safe, stay hydrated and be proactive. Should you have any questions or concerns you can reach me at .
Commuter Clause
There have been several instances in the last few weeks where both ERJ and CRJ Flight Attendants have had issues with the Commuter policy.
For CRJ please refer to your CRJ Contract, Section 31,Letter of Agreement #1. Flight Attendants must sign up for the election of commuting status (designation of airports). This can be found on xjt > documents> e-forms > election of commuting status. Section 31, LOA #1 3.d. “The Flight Attendant must specifically inform the Crew Scheduler that she/he is invoking the commuting Flight Attendant policy.” Please familiarize yourself with the commuter clause and be sure to follow it precisely in order for it to be approved. Please contact your Grievance Representative if you have any questions.
Under the ERJ CBA please let the Crew Scheduler you are “invoking conscientious reporting”. At that point the Crew Scheduler can exercise the following assignment options for the flight attendant under Section 3.W.5.:
- She/he maybe directed to report to her/his original trip or to a portion of the original trip, joining it at a later point; or
- She/he may be assigned a substitute trip scheduled to fly on the same days as the original trip; or
- She/he may be assigned a substitute trip which begins on any day following the start of the original trip, so long as the substitute trip terminates on the same day as the original trip; or
- She/he may be assigned Airport Alert duty in her/his domicile on any day or consecutive days contained in the original trip; or
- She/he may be given any other substitute assignment, which is mutually agreeable to the flight attendant and Crew Scheduling.
CRJ
Grievance Update
D142 Special Representative, Marche’ Johnson-Cooper met with the Vice President of Inflight and the Director of Inflight on Monday, August 10, 2015. The following was addressed on behalf of the Flight Attendant group:
Open Time – Open Time continues to be addressed, from August 1 to August 13, 2015, there have been 150 pairings placed in Open Time, this is a total for all domiciles.
Crew Pay– We conveyed to the Company that it would be beneficial to the Flight Attendants to have someone available in the crew room to discuss crew pay concerns.
Online Check-in– The Company feels this is a subject for negotiations.
If you are called into a meeting with a Chief Flight Attendants, always ask, “can this discussion this lead to discipline?” If the answer is “it’s possible or yes”, request that the meeting be scheduled at a mutually agreeable time to allow for Union Representation.
Our next grievance mediation session is scheduled December 1st – 2nd.
ERJ
Grievance Update
Currently, there are four grievances that have been appealed to Step 2 and are pending a Step 2 hearing. These grievances are scheduled to be heard August 20th, in Houston, Texas. In attendance will be General Chairperson, Sara Gonzales and Special Representative, Melissa Brennan for the Union along with the Director of Inflight and Manager of Contract Administration representing the Company.
We are also in the process of scheduling a follow up meeting on the grievances that have been appealed to arbitration. In addition, we have scheduled a meeting with the National Mediation Board appointed mediator, Jim McKenzie to review outstanding ERJ grievances on September 29th and 30th in Houston, Texas and our first grievance mediation session is scheduled December 1st – 2nd.
