Dear AFA: May 17, 2013

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Reported by Allen Ward

Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to Dear AFA, a democratic, Member driven Union of Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants.  Today is Friday, May 17, 2013 and this Allen Ward, Denver Council 9 Volunteer, reporting. 

JNC Update
Our Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) met with United management this week and has provided an update for all Flight Attendants.  You may review the update on the JNC website at www.ourunited.org.

Vacation Passes Missing
We are receiving a number of questions from Members who, after accessing United’s employeeRES site, discover that they are missing Vacation Passes. We have confirmed with United that each time a Vacation Pass is selected and a travel plan is made your vacation pass is placed under “Pending Vacation Passes”.  Once the pass is used, it is placed under “Used Vacation Passes”.  If the pass is not used and the reservation is not cancelled, you may have to contact the Employee Travel Center at 713-324-PASS (7277) or 866- FLY-EPAS (359-3727) to have the pass restored to your bank.  They must run a specific program to bring the Pending Vacation Pass “out of suspension” to credit it back to your Vacation Pass Allocation.  Cancelling your reservation prior to the flight departing should revert the Vacation Pass to your Allocation automatically.

Be Aware of Social Media
The use of Facebook™ and other social media “networks” have become widespread in the last decade, helping us stay entertained, socially engaged and connected to the world.  Yet, social media networks not only have the tendency to propagate inaccurate information, but also bring up issues of personal safety and privacy.  It is important to understand that social media networks can pose threats to our privacy and safety as well as that of others, if not used responsibly. 

We have complied a list for you to consider if you use Facebook:  

• Facebook has many ways to control privacy settings for almost every aspect of your page and content. It is prudent to use these options to protect yourself.
• Be mindful about "checking in” at the hotel when on a layover as this informs people that you are not at home and what hotel you are staying at.
• Be selective about who you accept as your friend, and even then, go ahead and use the “list” feature to control who sees what.
• Regardless of your interpersonal relationship, do not add supervisors as friends.
• Be careful about the photos you take and post. If you do post photos, respect those in the pictures and ask if you have their permission to be “tagged” or posted on Facebook.
• Be mindful of the fact that all postings contain time stamps.
• Be aware of the company Social Media Policies as well as the ramifications of any violation. 
• Do not post derogatory things about other employees or the company.  Use extreme care when posting any reference to the company.
• Avoid the urge to post or become involved in derogatory commentary about other employees and/or the company.

Remember, when using social media (as well as company email accounts) there should be no expectation of privacy.  Where accessing personal e-mail via the company’s computer system those communications are no longer private or confidential.

Resolving Pay Discrepancies within the System
We continue to hear from many of you about your ongoing concerns with the payroll errors and how these errors have diminished your confidence that your pay is correct.  Further complicating your concerns, is your inability to speak to the right people at the corporation to have your questions completely answered in a timely manner.

In an effort to assist you in navigating United’s systems and successfully resolve any issues you may have with your paycheck, we thought an overview of the areas within payroll as well as a number of payroll terms would be useful before you start the process.  You can find the complete helpful article on our website.

Filling Open Premium Positions – First Class Galley on 767ME Aircraft
We have received a number of questions on filling an open first class galley (premium pay) position on the 767 ME aircraft. Section 9.F.7. of our Contract provides the guidelines to fill an open premium position.

Open premium positions are available to any qualified Flight Attendant on the crew.  A Flight Attendant with less than one year of active seniority will not be allowed to assume a premium pay position unless no other more senior Flight Attendant is on the flight.  The premium position remains filled until the end of the original base ID or until the person filling the position leaves the crew.

Section 12.C.7.h. provides that Flight Attendants assigned to language qualified positions shall work non-premium positions. (A specific exception was negotiated to provide that Flight Attendants who are language qualified and also purser qualified may be required to fill open qualified purser positions.)

Open premium positions are filled in the following order:

1.    By the most senior qualified Flight Attendant who elects to fill the position

2.    By the most junior qualified Reserve.  If none is available, then

3.    By the Flight Attendant who picked up the position through Open Flying process.

If the Flight Attendant was assigned the position involuntarily (through drafting or reassignment), she/he is not considered to have picked up the position through the open flying process.  In that case, the position is filled by the most junior Flight Attendant on board with more than one year of seniority.

Section 9.F.7.b.
In the event there are no reserves on board, the most junior Lineholder will be involuntarily assigned to the open premium position(s).

In the event there are no Reserves on board the most junior Lineholder will be involuntarily assigned to the open position. In an instance where you may have junior Lineholders and a senior Reserve, the senior Reserve will be involuntarily assigned to the open position.

Once Filled, Remains Filled
Once the open premium position is filled it is retained by the person assuming it at briefing until she or he leaves the crew, even if she or he has not yet completed one year of service.  This means that a Flight Attendant who is more senior who joins the crew mid-sequence of an ID may not take the position from a non-qualified or more junior Flight Attendant who has assumed the position.

Again, follow the provisions of Section 9.F.7. and instructions in the FAIM Supplement (page 37) when filling open premium positions at briefing.

Ellen Church First Flight Attendant 83 Years Ago Today
In a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, Author Samantha Bomkamp brings focus on that first flight Ellen Church took 83 years ago today.  Here is that article:

“Ellen Church was the first female flight attendant to take to the skies, on a United Airlines flight from Oakland to Chicago. The trip on a Boeing 80A took 20 hours, made 13 stops and carried just 14 passengers. It landed in the Windy City 83 years ago today. That flight now takes about four hours. 

“Before 1930, flight attendants were all male and mostly sons of the men who financed the airlines. When Church and her early peers began flying, the standards were high: stewardesses could be no older than 25, no taller than 5 feet 4 inches and weigh no more than 115 pounds. They also had to be registered nurses to tend to commonly airsick passengers onboard, though they mostly served refreshments and lighted cigarettes and cigars. 

“Church, who was born in Iowa in 1904, went on to serve as a nurse in World War II after her career at United ended and later became a director of nursing at an Indiana hospital. She died in 1965 at 60 after a horseback riding accident. 

“In 2010, United commemorated the 80th anniversary of Church's maiden flight by retracing the route in a Boeing 767 with flight attendants donning vintage uniforms.”

That’s all for this evening!  Thank you for calling.  Remember: One Airline. One Contract. Building Our Future Together!