The information below is maintained and updated by your Local Council.
AFA Local Council 8 Office is located in Hangar 5 (TK Building)
For more information on how to contact us, please see below...
Thanks for your support!!
DIRECTIONS TO UNITED AFA MEC OFFICE:
From O'Hare Airport, by Car
Take I-190 east towards Chicago. Exit onto north bound River RD. via EXIT 1A. The AFA-CWA MEC office is the green building (says Deerfield on the side of building) on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd.
From O'Hare, by EL/Subway
Take the Blue Line heading toward Chicago. Get off at the Rosemont station. When you exit the station you should turn right on River Rd (north). Walk to the corner of Higgins and River Rd. The AFA-CWA MEC office is the green building (says Deefield on side of building) on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd. There is a Shuttle Service that will bring you to the Deerfield Building from the El/Subway Rosemont station. Please call Executive Shuttle at (847) 318-0554
From Downtown Chicago, by Car
Take the Congress Parkway west out of downtown Chicago. Congress Parkway becomes I-290. The road passes under a building and immediately after that you will need to be in the right hand lane, follow signs for Kennedy Expy/Ryan Expy/I-90 East/I-90 West/I-94 East/I-94, towards Wisconsin. Take the Kennedy Expy/I-90 West/I-94 West exit towards Wisconsin. Continue on I-90 West towards O'Hare/Rockford. Exit onto north bound River RD. via EXIT 1. The AFA-CWA MEC Office is the green building (says Deerfield on side of building) on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd.
From Downtown Chicago, by EL/Subway
Take the Blue Line heading toward O'Hare. Get off at the Rosemont station. When you exit the station you should turn right on River Rd (north). Walk to the corner of Higgins and River Rd. The AFA-CWA MEC Office is the green building on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd. There is a Shuttle Service that will bring you to the Deerfield Building from the El/Subway Rosemont station. Please call Executive Shuttle at (847) 318-0554
L to R:
David Hammonds (VP); Mike Mate (Secretary); Kathy Browne (Council Representative); Stacey Henry (Council Representative); Jason Kandel (Council Representative); T.J. Sesko (President)
- Dispute Resolution Worksheet
- Your Crew Meal is Yours!
- Operational Irregularities
- Contractual Commuter/Emergency Policies
Dispute Resolution Worksheet - Enforce our Contract
If you experience a Contract violation that you are not able to resolve, document the issue by filing a Dispute Resolution Worksheet accessible through the homepage of www.unitedafa.org. Documenting the issue provides our Local Council Grievance Committee with the information necessary to address the issue with management and reach a resolution. Your report may result in a correction to your pay or help us educate a scheduler so our Contract is enforced and all of us experience the Contractual protections we fought so hard to achieve over the years. Each of us plays a role on our AFA Grievance Committee every time we fly. Doing your part to enforce our Contract is one of the most important ways we can support our negotiations.
Your Crew Meal Is Yours!
We have received numerous calls and emails at the Local Council office regarding a commendation that was printed in the recent edition of “Purser Briefing Tips”.
Our members are questioning whether or not the article is suggesting that Flight Attendants should give their crew meals or its components to our hungry customers when the company fails to schedule a meal service on a flight, or when supplies are missing.
The answer is: Your Crew Meal Is Yours!
Our Contract provides for the boarding of crew meals.
For Domestic flights, Section 6.A.2. states, “Meals appropriate to the time of day will be boarded for Flight Attendants at Company expense whenever they are scheduled for a period of duty of eight (8) hours or more without an intervening stop of at least two (2) hours. Whenever possible such meals will be boarded during the first six (6) hours of this period of duty. Section 6.A.3. states, “On charter flights, the Company shall provide a meal for each Flight Attendant if a meal service is provided to the passengers.”
For International flights, Section 12.F.2.a. states, “If meals are boarded for passengers, crew meals shall be boarded on all segments originating or terminating in an international city which are scheduled for three (3) hours or more flight time.” Section 12.F.2.b. states, “On charter flights, the Company shall provide a meal for each Flight Attendant if a meal service is provided to the passengers.” Some people may be confused regarding the provisioning of entrees on international flights. On those flights, the crew meal entrees are boarded with and are included in the UF and UB meal counts. However, the setups are boarded for the crew and are yours.
Although some Flight Attendants have chosen to give all or a portion of their crew meal to a customer, you are NOT REQUIRED to do so, and you should not be questioned for not doing so.
Operational Irregularities
Our Contract, when used properly, allows the airline to respond to operational irregularities while ensuring certain pay and schedule protections for Flight Attendants. It's important to carry your Contract at all times and especially during periods of poor management planning or an operational irregularity keep it close at hand for your reference during a reassignment.
There are certain Contractual Sections that you should study closely under these circumstances. Lineholder Flight Attendants at their home domicile who will be pay protected through line guarantee in Section 8.J.Domestically or Section 12.I. Internationally, may be subject to a reassignment under the same Contract Section. There is an AFAct on our websitethat includes an educational explanation of this Contract language along with examples. Flight Attendants out of domicile should review Contract Section 9.K., Irregular Operationsand Section 12.R. for International Reassignments.
Flight Attendants serving Reserve status may want to download the Reserve Survival Guidefrom our website and carry it on your trips.
Our Contract includes specific direction on order of assignment, or reassignment as the case may be, to an open position. The order of assignment is delineated in Contract Section 9.I.domestically and 12.Q.internationally. This order of assignment includes six steps the company must complete before resorting to drafting for minimum staffing to cover a flight.
Finally, according to Section 9.I.7.,as a last resort the company has the ability to draft lineholders to maintain the operation of the flight - first to the most junior home Flight Attendant who can work the flight and still be legal for her/his next scheduled ID, (if time permits), then to the most junior home domestic Flight Attendant available and finally to any Flight Attendant legal for the flight (in inverse order of seniority, if possible). Flight Attendants serving reserve should take special note that the company may only utilize Section 10.C.13.d.to modify the reserve assignment procedures after fully complying with the Order of Assignment. (Section 9.I.and 12.Q.).
Check our website at www.unitedafa.org for more details on legalities, notification procedures and your resources available through the Commuter and Personal Emergency Policies. Throughout any irregularity or during daily operations, your Contract is your best resource and should always be your first reference.
Contractual Commuter/Emergency Policies
We encourage Flight Attendants to be aware of the possibility of irregular operations and review the Prudent Commuter Policyon page 249. We also encourage those in the affected area to review the Personal Emergency Policybeginning on page 250 of our Contract.
Reassignment Education
Lineholder Flight Attendants at their home domicile may be subject to Line Guarantee reassignments under Section 8.J.of our Contract. There is an AFActs on this subject in our website Contract section that includes explanation of the language and examples.
Flight Attendants on layover should review Contract Section 9.K., Irregular Operations.
Assignment and Reassignment Notification Parameters
Section 9 N.1.states that Flight Attendants must be notified by a face to face or telephone conversation concerning reassignment or a delayed flight. Text messages or other forms of notification are not acceptable. Also the scheduler needs to talk with each Flight Attendant about a reassignment. It is not the Flight Attendant in the purser position who is responsible to call each Flight Attendant on the FLTLOF. These notifications need to be handled by the scheduler.
For more information, please contact us at Local Council 8 - Chicago:
Association of Flight Attendant-CWA
Local Council 8 - Chicago
6250 N. River Road, Suite 4020
Chicago, IL 60018
Phone:
(773) 601-5040/5041/5042
(773) 601-5047 Grievance
(773) 601-5045 fax
(312) 961-5537 President (T.J. Sesko)
Email:
afaord@unitedafa.org
tjsesko@unitedafa.org
Directions to United MEC Office
One O'Hare Center
6250 N. River Road, Suite 4020
Rosemont, Illinois
From O'Hare Airport, by Car
Take I-190 east towards Chicago. Exit onto north bound River RD. via EXIT 1A. The AFA-CWA MEC office is the green building (says Deerfield on the side of building) on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd.
From O'Hare, by EL/Subway
Take the Blue Line heading toward Chicago. Get off at the Rosemont station. When you exit the station you should turn right on River Rd (north). Walk to the corner of Higgins and River Rd. The AFA-CWA MEC office is the green building (says Deefield on side of building) on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd. There is a Shuttle Service that will bring you to the Deerfield Building from the El/Subway Rosemont station. Please call Executive Shuttle at (847) 318-0554
From Downtown Chicago, by Car
Take the Congress Parkway west out of downtown Chicago. Congress Parkway becomes I-290. The road passes under a building and immediately after that you will need to be in the right hand lane, follow signs for Kennedy Expy/Ryan Expy/I-90 East/I-90 West/I-94 East/I-94, towards Wisconsin. Take the Kennedy Expy/I-90 West/I-94 West exit towards Wisconsin. Continue on I-90 West towards O'Hare/Rockford. Exit onto north bound River RD. via EXIT 1. The AFA-CWA MEC Office is the green building (says Deerfield on side of building) on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd.
From Downtown Chicago, by EL/Subway
Take the Blue Line heading toward O'Hare. Get off at the Rosemont station. When you exit the station you should turn right on River Rd (north). Walk to the corner of Higgins and River Rd. The AFA-CWA MEC Office is the green building on the north west corner of Higgins and River Rd. There is a Shuttle Service that will bring you to the Deerfield Building from the El/Subway Rosemont station. Please call Executive Shuttle at (847) 318-0554