December 4, 2016

Dear Members of Council 11,

Last Friday, the DOT ordered the approval of the NAI application. This decision has the potential to put our aviation jobs in jeopardy. We must act. We urge you to please call your Representatives, details are below.

As a reminder, the Local CAUSE Foundation®, will be at hosting an annual Holiday Bazaar in the SFO Domicile on December 5th and 6th. Be sure to stop by.

In addition to direct contributions or payroll deductions, you can also help while doing your holiday shopping through the Amazon Smile and iGive.com Programs. Please follow this link for more information.

http://thecausefoundation.org/wp/shop/

We congratulate all our newest Council 11 Members who are coming off probation during the month of December. You have all done a great job!

U.S. and EU Aviation Workers Double-Crossed by DOT NAI Decision:
With no advance warning, the DOT has ordered approval of the flag-of-convenience Norwegian Air International (NAI) application. By this action, the DOT has failed to acknowledge the labor protections of the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreements and sets a precedent that risks hundreds of thousands of U.S. aviation jobs.

In consultation with the best legal & regulatory minds and working with the TTD, AFL, our affiliated Unions and our Congressional allies, efforts have immediately begun to review the order. In a statement issued this afternoon, AFA International President Sara Nelson emphasized “This decision must be reversed immediately by the Obama administration. It is a betrayal to hundreds of thousands of aviation workers. The DOT decision overrides carefully negotiated workers’ rights and designs a new playbook that rolls out the red carpet for foreign corporations by trampling workers’ rights.”

“The U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement contains the only labor provision in all 120 Open Skies agreements.”

Congress must be prepared to act next week. President Obama must reverse this harmful decision and stand up for working people across this country. We cannot and will not accept this decision. We will act and will never stop because we will never accept abrogation of our rights.

AFLAC Open Enrollment Begins Tomorrow:
The upcoming Open Enrollment for Aflac/CAIC voluntary supplemental insurance benefits for pre-merger United Flight Attendants begins tomorrow. Enrollment will be from December 5, 2016, through January 15, 2017. During this enrollment period, there will be multiple ways to enroll and we will have licensed benefits educators available on site and by phone to help educate and enroll you.

Insurance plans include Short-Term Disability, Accident, Critical Illness (including cancer coverage), and Hospital Indemnity.Flight Attendants enrolling during this open enrollment will have an effective date of February 1, 2017, for their policies. All policy premiums will be payroll deducted for your convenience.Beginning December 5, 2016, visit: unitedafa.org, and click on the Aflac banner where all enrollment information will be available. The site will include dates and times when Benefits Educators will be available in your domicile and instructions on scheduling an onsite or call center appointment. You’ll also find a “self-service” enrollment option, along with plan summaries, rates, and a question and answer document.

In Council 11, Benefits Educators will be in the SFO Domicile weekdays from 12/5 thru 12/15 from 0800-1800.

Phase III Vacation Bidding Now Open:
Phase III (tertiary) Vacation Bidding is open now. Please ensure that your Phase III Vacation bid is on file by the close of bidding on Wednesday, December 7, 2016, at 0830 local domicile time. Awards will be posted no later than December 11, 2016, at 0830 local domicile time.

For more information on the 2017 Vacation Bidding process visit our website.

San Mateo Labor Council and Community Services Union Food and Toy Drive
The San Mateo Labor Council Community Services division is conducting their annual Food and Toy drive this week. This annual food and toy drive provides hardship assistance to local Union Families. The plan is to distribute toys to 350 children this year. Please bring donations of new, unwrapped toys for children of all ages by December 9. We are also accepting donations of nonperishable, high-protein canned food such as tuna, peanut butter, stew, soup, pasta, vegetables, and fruit. You can coordinate your drop-off by calling the AFA office at 650-952-6144 or by calling Stan Kiino directly at 415-902-5764. In either case, can ensure your donation is taking directly to the San Mateo County Central Labor Council. We appreciate you help again this year.

Reminder: Local Council Elections:
POLLS OPEN: 11-17-16.09:00 AM PST. The polls opened and voting began
POLL CLOSE: 12-14-16.11:00 AM PST. The polls close and the count takes place.

If you have not received your Voting Instructions, containing your 16 digit activation pin in the mail, please contact the AFA Ballot Helpline at 1-800-424-2401 EXT 706 (press 1 then 706). If the call is not answered, please leave a message. All calls received by 5 pm ET will be returned the same day.

The AFA Ballot Helpline can provide you with a new 16-digit activation code. This will allow you to enter the voting system and cast your vote. The 16-digit code will be sent via email along with instructions for voting.

When calling to obtain a new 16-digit activation code please verify your email address and current status with AFA. If you must leave a message, please make sure you leave your name, airline, employee ID & telephone number along with your email address.

For additional information visit: afacwa-elections.org

Irregular Ops - Drafting:
Irregular operations and bad weather can negatively impact our IDs while at work. It’s important that you know what our contractual legalities are when confronted with a drafting scenario. Sections 2, 9 and 12 of our Contract deal with drafting.

Drafting is defined in Section 2.I. of our Contract. Lineholders shall be considered drafted when assigned, while off duty, in inverse order of seniority and in priority among those available and qualified. In addition, Lineholders shall be considered drafted when removed from their assigned flight for which they are legal, available and in position to fly, and assigned to cover any other flights.

Drafting is provided for under the Contract after exhausting the Order of Assignment as set forth in Sections 9.I. and 12.Q. of the Contract.

Furthermore, Section 9.H.3. of the Contract provides that drafting assignments shall not be made more than six (6) hours prior to scheduled departure. Flight Attendants may not decline a drafting assignment. Keep in mind, however, that once the company applies the drafting provisions of the Contract, there are pay ramifications of which everyone should be aware.

First, once drafted, there is no further reassignment under Section 8.J. of the Contract. For example, if drafted from a three day ID to cover a one day ID, there is no further reassignment upon return to the home domicile. In addition, any drafting assignment that would result in a Flight Attendant being illegal for a subsequent ID is pay protected as part of the drafting assignment and the company may not reassign the affected Flight Attendant under Section 8.J. on return to the home domicile.

In addition, there are pay ramifications involving the holiday pay when drafted. When drafted away from a holiday ID to fly a non-holiday ID, the scheduled holiday pay must be considered when making the flight pay calculation. A comparison must be made between the dollar value of the ID flown (including any applicable holiday pay) to the value of the ID from which drafted (including holiday pay.) If the value of the ID from which drafted (including holiday pay) is greater than the value of the ID to which flown, the Flight Attendant is entitled to the pay differential, or the greater of the two. This differential, once calculated as a result of the comparison will be posted in the DFAP in the form of an hour and minute posting.

When given a drafting assignment, we encourage you to have the scheduler clarify that you have, in fact, been drafted and under which section of the Contract this is being done. Request the scheduler remark the ID appropriately indicating "DRFT". This will assist Flight Time Records when making their manual review of pay associated with each drafting situation.

New Hire Corner: Christmas Wish List Requests
Pre-merger United Flight Attendants on Reserve for the month of December, have an opportunity to preference where they would like to layover for the three (3) days preceding and two (2) days following Christmas. Section 10.C.13.c. of the pre-merger United Contract provides for the Reserve Christmas Wish List and for these assignments to be made in seniority order. When submitting your requests, you will be asked for your Reserve LOF number as well as your Reserve status (CLLR/RSV). Requests may be submitted for up to four locations.

You may submit your holiday layover requests at http://unitedafa.org/wishlist/ on our AFA website. We encourage you to put an initial request on file early and modify your request if your circumstances change later in the month to take full advantage of the flexibility of our programming. The last request on file will be the request that will be considered at the time of assignment. The submission page will detail the dates of your request and must be finalized to be considered.

During the Christmas Wish List Period the CLLR Preference System in not run. All assignments are done manually to award as many requests as possible.

Please remember all submissions prior to December 4, 2016, will be deleted. We ask you to please wait until December 5, 2016, to submit your holiday layover requests.

For a full list of deadline dates for the holiday period, as well as more detailed information please visitunitedafa.org/wishlist. United Crew Scheduling will make every attempt to accommodate the Reserve Christmas Wish List layover requests to the best of their ability.

In Solidarity,

Kaitlin White, President
AFA-CWA, San Francisco, C-11

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