| | | Inside this issue: | Time Changes
Fiscal Transparency Resolution Update
Inez Izumi Memorial Service
Updated Vacation Accruals Now in Unimatic:
Primary (Phase I) Vacation Bidding
Company Offered Leaves of Absences (COLA) Information:
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Dear SFO Council Members,
Happy Halloween! It’s hard to believe that we are now in the November Schedule month! Yesterday on October 30, the European Union adjusted their clocks back an hour to Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). As a Reminder the US and Canada “fall back” to Standard Time on Sunday, November 6 at 0200.
Fiscal Transparency Resolution Update
During our most recent Local Council meeting on September 27, a resolution requiring all Council 11 expenditures, including Flight Pay Loss and a list of those receiving it, to be posted electronically was introduced. The resolution was unanimously adopted by the members attending the meeting. The work of researching and compiling the expenditures in the format requested was undertaken. However, our research further revealed that the posting of the information requested would be a violation of the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws (C&B), Section IV.G.5 that provides the following: "The actual B&E reports are available for viewing by members in good standing. The reports are internal, not to be published either in print or electronic form." We have confirmed our understanding of this provision with our AFA International Office and understand the resolution should never have been presented. Understanding the will of the Membership for fiscal transparency in how our dues dollars are being spent, we are, at the same time, all required to abide by the Constitution and Bylaws of our Union. Members in good standing are always welcome to meet with your Local Council officers to discuss any concerns you may have about the budget. We encourage those who have questions about the budget or who wish to see the work that was done in compiling the expenses, including Flight Pay Loss, to call the Local Council office to set up a time to meet.
Inez Izumi Memorial Service
On November 5, 2016, a memorial service celebrating the life of Inez Izumi will be held at the Monterey Buddhist Temple in Seaside, CA at 2:00 pm. Members attending are encouraged to wear their uniform.
http://www.montereybuddhist.org/
Updated Vacation Accruals Now in Unimatic:
Since Thursday, we have received several inquiries from pre-merger United Members questioning the vacation accruals that were loaded into the VACBID screens. AFA has followed up with representatives from the company’s Vacation Team and a review of the accruals has been completed. As a result of this review, VACBID screens with corrected accruals have been reloaded in Unimatic. In addition, Unimatic DIS pages with 2017 allotments have also been loaded in Unimatic. Vacation bidding opened at 0830 Local domicile time on October 29. 2016. We encourage Flight Attendants to review these updated VACBID screens if you had questions about your 2017 Vacation accrual.
Primary (Phase I) Vacation Bidding opened Saturday, October 29, 2017, at 8:30 Local Domicile Time (LDT) and will close at 8:30 Local Domicile Time (LDT) on November 7, 2016.
Section 18.E. of our Contract provides the timeline for annual Vacation bidding.
Our annual Vacation Bidding article is now available on our website.
Company Offered Leaves of Absences (COLA) Information:
The company has announced the offering of a four (4) month Company Offered Leave of Absence (COLA) starting with the December 2016 Schedule Month, as provided under Section 15 of our Joint Contract, for pre-merger United Flight Attendants
Bidding for this COLA will close Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 8:00am Central Standard Time. Flight Attendants can submit their request using the Unimatic command LOAREQ. When completing the DIS page enter the schedule month dates of:
· November 30, 2016 (11-30-2016) through April 1, 2017 (04-01-2017)
Should you choose to bid for this COLA it is important to carefully consider the following:
1. The duration of a COLA can be up to one year in length.
2. Bid seniority (SW Classification seniority) accrual continues for the duration of the COLA.
3. Pay and longevity steps accrue for 180 days.
4. There is no vacation or sick leave accrual during the COLA.
5. Insurance benefits are available for the duration of the COLA with the Flight Attendant responsible for the full cost of coverage.
6. Online pass travel benefits are available for the duration of the COLA.
Flight Attendants wishing to take advantage of this opportunity should make an informed choice and consider not only the benefits but also the potential consequences of this and all Leaves of Absences. Flight Attendants can download a copy of United’s Leave of Absence package by going to Flying Together > Inflight Services > Administration > Inflight Services - Flight Attendant Support Team > Leave of Absence Information. Please note once awarded a COLA. It cannot be rescinded.
Leave of Absence Provisions now in Effect:
As of the Date of Signing, a number of provisions within Section 15 of the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) became effective. The Joint Implementation Team (JIT) conducted a review of the entire section and as of now the following provisions of Section 15 are currently in effect:
- Accruals - Section 15.A.2.
- Other Employment - Section 15.A.3.
- Transfers During Leave - Section 15.A.5.a.
- Return to Work - Sections 15.A.6.a, 15.A.6.b., 15.A.6.d.
- Company Offered Leave of Absence - Sections 15.B.1., 15.B.2., 15.B.3., 15.B.6., 15.B.8.
- Personal Leave - Sections 15.D.
- Medical Leave - Section 15.E.
- Maternity Leave - Section 15.F.
- Parental Leave - Section 15.G.
- Adoption Leave - Section 15.H.
- Family Medical Leave - Sections 15.I.1., 15.I.2., 15.I.3.c., 15.I.3.d., 15.I.5.a., 15.I.5.b.
- Military Leave - Section 15.J.
- Bereavement - Section 15.K.
- Union Leave - Section 15.L.
- Jury Duty / Court Witness - Section 15.M.
- Leaves of Absence Chart - Section 15.N
Transfers while on Leave of Absence Implementation:
Section 15.A.5.a. of the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA), Flight Attendants on a leave of absence may request and will be awarded a transfer. This language is already in place for pre-merger CAL and CMI Flight Attendants and now expands to pre-merger UAL Flight Attendants. For more information please review the terms in the JCBA under Section 15.A.5..
Days off Preceding/Following Vacation Implementation:
Section 12.C.4. of the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) becomes effective for the bid month of November 2016 for all United Flight Attendants. This language states:
“Days off preceding and following a scheduled vacation period as shown in a Flight Attendant’s schedule shall be considered part of that vacation period, if she/he so desires.”
This language of “days off preceding and following a scheduled vacation” is based on the Flight Attendant’s original line of flying. These days are considered part of a Flight Attendant’s vacation and are “sacred” days which are treated in the following manner:
· The company cannot assign training on those days, unless a Flight Attendant has specifically bid for the training. It is still the Flight Attendant’s responsibility to ensure that she/he maintains her/his qualifications.
- The company cannot schedule meeting on those days, without the Flight Attendant’s consent.
- The company cannot reassign a flight attendant to infringe on those days, if there is an ability to return the Flight Attendant to base before the start of a sacred day.
- Flight Attendants may not be drafted on a sacred day.
- Sacred days are considered part of vacation for purposes of Section 18.E. of the pre-merger CAL Agreement and Section 20.E. of the pre-merger CMI Agreement. If the combination of scheduled vacation days and sacred days are more than 14 days, the 30 day period referenced in these Sections (discipline) is extended by that number of days (ex. 7 days of vacation + 6 days off preceding vacation + 6 days following vacation = 19 days; 30 day period is extended by 19 days)
- A lineholder who picks up open flying on one of the days off immediately following a vacation period has signaled the end of her/his vacation. Any remaining days off are treated simply as regularly scheduled day off - not as additional vacation days.
This language is already in place for pre-merger UAL Flight Attendants and now expands to pre-merger CAL and CMI Flight Attendants.
New Hire Corner - First Time Vacation Bidding:
We have received several questions from our newest Flying Partners with regards to vacation bidding.
We recommend that New Hires submit bids in the Primary (Phase 1) Vacation Bidding Phase, because that is when the greatest number of days are available. We are available to answer any questions that you may have regarding this process. As a reminder for those Flight Attendants with less than 12 days of Vacation, splitting of vacation is not permitted. All vacations days must be bid in one vacation period.
In Solidarity,
Kaitlin White, President
AFA-CWA, San Francisco, C-11
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