In an effort to contain and quell the brushfire smoldering over the Side Letter of Agreement allowing American to hire speakers out of seniority and to employ those new hires before recalling those who have been on furlough since 2002, APFA is now changing the story and blaming the backroom deal on the former-TWA flight attendants.
In this APFA E-BLAST, ORD Chair Todd Breckenridge says that Laura Glading was "blackmailed" into brokering the deal to extend recall when a mysterious congressman called Ms. Glading and threatened to attach the Allegheny-Mohawk Amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill, which Mr. Breckenridge states will grant TWA their "full seniority."
SFO-I Chairperson Bob Ross states that it was Congressman Russ Carnahan from Missouri who called Laura Glading and pressured her into extending recall, otherwise he threatened to place an amendment on the FAA Reauthorization Bill that would give seniority rights to the former-TWA flight attendants. DCA Chairperson Heidi Prayon supports the TWA theory as well.
But this contradicts the Congressman's own website. As the following press release clearly outlines, the Congressman has already been successful in adding the Alleghany-Mohawk Amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill, which will give seniority protections in the event of a future merger. Why would the congressman threaten to add something that's already a done deal? I personally called Congressman Carnahan's office to ask about the "blackmail" allegation and his office knows nothing about it.
It's important to note that Tommie Hutto-Blake was a proponent of the Allegheny-Mohawk Amendment, which means that the union's assertion that it was a "backroom deal" is absurd. Just read the excerpt from Ms. Hutto-Blake's Hotline message following.
And Laura Glading, during her 2008 Campaign, went to great lengths to explain her position on Seniority and her support of the Allegheny-Mohawk Amendment. Following is that email
What we have here is a simple case of APFA governance trying to contain and quell a brushfire that's gaining momentum by the day. The idea that APFA would violate our contract in an effort to appease the company without demanding anything contractual in return speaks volumes about this organization's ability to do its job. They keep giving everything away and then complain that the company's stonewalling us. And when we don't believe that excuse anymore, they then turn around and blame it on the former-TWA flight attendants, terrorizing us once again with the seniority issue that they repeatedly assured us was a non-issue.
At what point does this become unacceptable?
Rock Salomon BOS
http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Want-Our-Money-Back/188249054993
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-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Breckenridge <chord@apfa.org>
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2011 13:16:24 -0600
Subject: The Real Story
ORD E-Mail Group,
I'd like to start with an apology in not sending this information out in a more timely manner. I was in DFW all of last week with the Board of Director's Briefing/Meeting on Wednesday, and then I had to stay for the APFA Budget Committee meeting which took place on Thursday and Friday. I did not return to Chicago until late Friday.
The announcement was made on Friday that the APFA and the company have agreed to give the remaining furloughs unlimited recall rights in exchange for the hiring of 30 Mandarin speakers outside the terms of the Contract.
I strongly feel that I need to address some of your concerns and issues.
This whole issue surfaced last week and a Board of Director's (BOD) briefing/meeting was called for this past Wednesday in DFW to brief the Board on how all of this came about. After some very intense and heated discussions, it was decided by the majority of the BOD to support this decision. 368 recalls were planned for this Summer/Fall. Laura was able to get the company to agree to increase the number of recalls in the next 2 rounds by an additional 200 F/A's. After all of these furloughs are brought back, we should have approximately 200+ furloughs left. This group will begin to fall off the Recall List in November and January. Thus, the decision was made to give this last group unlimited recall rights in exchange for allowing the company to hire 30 Mandarin speakers.
First and foremost, a union's primary responsibility is to protect ALL jobs. That is what APFA is trying to do here - plain and simple. It would be irresponsible for us not to do everything in our power not to try and get these F/A's back.
These Mandarin speakers will have certain restrictions places on them:
- They will be placed on the bottom of the seniority list - behind all furloughs.
- They will be fenced in to LAX-I. If the Shanghai route does not pan out, they will be the first to be furloughed.
- They will also be APFA members. Would you rather have another 30 APFA members or 30 members of management on these flights? Does Moscow ring a bell? Those Russian "speakers" were not APFA F/A's - they were management positions. By agreeing to let the company hire the Mandarin speakers as F/A's, they will be APFA members - not management.
Some may say "Why are we giving the company anything, when we don't even have a contract"? I couldn't agree more, and until the BOD meeting, I strongly felt the same way. After our briefing, and after I received all of the facts, I then gained a clearer perspective on why APFA did what they did. I support their decision.
There were some back door negotiations by 2 TWA F/A's with their Congressman from Missouri. One of these F/A's is none other than the current SLT Chairperson, Tim Hunter. This was unbeknownst to APFA. In a nutshell, the Congressman then contacted Laura Glading and basically pushed her into a corner - either grant the remaining furloughs unlimited recall rights, or he would add an amendment to the FAA Authorization Bill granting the TWA F/A's their full seniority. Plain and simple, APFA was being blackmailed!
Questions:
1. Can he legally do this? Yes - any Congressman or Senator can add any amendment to a bill.
2. Would it have passed? Who knows. This bill has been stalled in Congress for quite a while, and the Republicans are now threatening to strip all of the OSHA protection out of the current bill.
3. Why not call his bluff? This is where the real danger lies. I am not willing to put my members at risk - period. You also have to consider how this would have looked to other members in Congress if a Union was not willing to protect Union jobs. Ask yourselves this - If we do not obtain a contract, and it gets sent to a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), how do you think Congress would legislate our new contract? Say goodbye to your pension, your Retiree Medical Benefits, pay, work rules, etc. Why would Congress side with a Union that is not willing to protect jobs? You also have to look at what is going on in Wisconsin and Ohio - the mentality out there is to strip the Unions of all their power.
When you look at all of these things together, I for one am not willing to risk any of this and put APFA's membership in harm's way.
The vast majority of you are extremely frustrated not only with the company, but also with APFA. I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND! In trying to obtain a new contract, not only are we facing a company that is constantly dragging their feet, but we are now on our 4th Arbitrator at the National Mediation Board (NMB). That certainly has not helped our cause. Laura met with the 3 member Board at the NMB earlier last week. She plead our case, and from her statements to the BOD, she feels that the NMB has a much better understanding on where APFA stands, and how far the company is out of touch. We should be hearing soon on what the NMB's recommendations will be.
I have heard many comments lately on how the membership has lost complete faith in the Leadership at APFA. Not to get on my soap box, but I can personally tell you that Laura has worked tirelessly for the members at APFA. She understands your frustration and anger - most of us are at our rope's end - not only mentally, but also financially. Could communication from HDQ be better? Yes - and I will continue to do everything in my power to communicate any information that I know, and when I know it.
On a different note - It was also shared with us that AA is poised for some very strong growth in the not too distant future. And I am not talking about Eagle! I know that I, and all of you, are looking for some real movement. I feel that would help a lot with the extremely low morality that is present. Both Debbie Dent and I fight tooth-and-nail for ORD - we know the bidsheet sucks; we know Reserve sucks; we know the sit time sucks, etc. We would be remorse if we did not fight every day to improve the working lives of every ORD FA. We take that responsibility very seriously.
In closing, I want to personally thank each and every ORD Flight Attendant. Thank you for standing by Debbie and me. We both take extreme pride in representing you! And I will give you my personal guarantee that we will continue to do everything in our power to get you where you need to be.
In Unity,
Todd
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What the BOD did was a very difficult decision for many of us. I personally confronted Tim Hunter upon arrival at the hotel on the morning of the 16th.. I walked up to him (with approximately 6 BOD witnesses), I pointed my finger at him and said, "I want to ask you a question and DON'T LIE TO ME. Have you or Dixie Daniels been in Washington, D.C. in Rep. Carnahan's office spearheading an effort to attach full TWA seniority restoral to the FAA re-authorization bill?" He said, "Spearheading? Uhhh...no I am not spearheading anything. Heidi, I have a full time day job that takes up most of my time and this is my night job. I don't have any time to go to Washington." I said, "Are you lying to me?" He said, "No. You believe me right?" I looked at him in the eyes and, perhaps with great naivety I refused to believe that someone could look at me point blank and lie so pathologically. He had even lied to his own VC about the same.
During the briefing Laura called him out. She said he was lying and that he had been in Sen Carnahan's office the previous Friday. She did not know about the conversation I had had with him) I leaned forward and asked if that was true. He admitted it was. At that point I made sure every member on the BOD know what he had said to me and that NOTHING he said could be trusted..
Basically Jay....he was trying to set us up and I refuse to believe, based on what I witnessed, that Laura was at all involved in his plan. He was voting NO to help make it fail but garnering the possible greater prize...seniority restoral. I do not believe Laura was conspiring with him. I believe her goal was in fact to extend recall rights and it got tangled up with his consistent 10 year goal of seniority restoral. There was just no way we could allow that risk to our native members.
Please remember....there are those of us who are radically opposed to any LOAs that help the company in any way during these protracted negotiations. I am one of those people. While on one hand I wish I could have stood my ground and maintained that principle I was not willing to risk our hard earned seniority and years of work for American Airlines. They have stated they will go to their grave fighting for their seniority but, unfortunately for them, there are those of us who will go to our graves defending the SIA.
This is my account Jay. Agree with it or not...Tim Hunter is leaving APFA office with WHIMPER instead of a BANG.
Heidi Morgan Prayon
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Posted by: "Bob Ross" rross7@comcast.net <http://profiles.yahoo.com/aalsucks1>
Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:10 pm (PST)
I too feel the need to weigh in on this. As Heidi Prayon (DCA Base Chair) said, this was one of the most difficult and contentious votes many of the Board of Directors (your elected Base Chairs) have had to make. I believe everyone on the Board felt like they needed a hot shower and a stiff drink afterwards. And, we knew full well how the membership would view this if only looked at from the surface. Unpopular decisions are never easy for anyone.
As is the case, the LAX-I proffer was held up pending a resolution to this issue. AA needed speakers they didn't have. As a Board member and a voter on this resolution, I agree completely with what you have been told by the DCA Chair. And, I can assure everyone of you that every Base Chair's initial response to any Letter of Agreement (LOA) let alone the idea of a LOA to hire anyone off the street while there are still furloughs, without major company concessions and without the assurance of a contract, was initially a resounding "HELL NO" by everyone.
Then the other shoe dropped. As Heidi explains below, we find out that the current STL Base Chair, in his last ditch effort before leaving office in April, had been working behind the scenes in Washington DC with his Mo. Rep. Carnahan to get the Seniority Integration Agreement (SIA) added to the FAA Re-Authorization Bill. A Bill we need to Pass. Now instead of Laura getting a concession from the company on this speaker issue, she (WE) were basically blackmailed into finding a middle ground we could all live with. Much thought and a fiery debate ensued until we could all wrap our collective heads around the gravity of this situation and a suitable solution. Per Article 11 of the International Agreement I-11G "New Language" states: "... if there are insufficient foreign language qualified Flight Attendants in the International Operation, the company will proffer to the Domestic Flight Attendants the language examination to determine their language qualification for an International bid vacancy prior to "Hiring" employees who possess the foreign language qualification". They can also hire managers to be on the A/C like to Moscow. So they can get their speakers one way or another.
We have been assured that this SIA portion of the Bill has now been removed.. For it we get another 200 furloughs, the remainder with unlimited call back rights, like it or not, and we get on with the proffer. You can all thank Tim Hunter and his ex-TWA Coalition for this underhanded maneuver while he was a active APFA Representative and Base Chair. Trust me when I say I have never been one of Laura's favorite Board members. That being said, I do not believe she had anything harmful or underhanded to do with this debacle.. I, like the membership and many other Board members, am angry with the situation we are in with the contract. But, if the membership wants to be angry with an entity about this, they should be angry with this company for stiffing us the way they have and now using this opportunity to stick it to us again. I can say this is one time I was proud to be a part of a Board of Directors that worked so well together to come to an agreement on this.
This issue and the actions of the current STL Base Chair is not over. Mark my word, it will be a major conversation at the upcoming Board Meeting in March. It's easy to arm chair quarter-back, but when you are confronted with horrific choices that effect many people's lives in different ways, the right thing to do is sometimes the most difficult to explain.
Bob Ross
SFO-I Base Chair
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CARNAHAN LABOR INTEGRATION AMENDMENT LANGUAGE INSERTED INTO FAA REAUTHORIZATION
Contact: Shannon O'Brien
202-225-2671
Congressman Carnahan is a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and sits on the Aviation Subcommittee.
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Today, the House passed H.R. 2881, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2007, which provides historic funding levels for the FAA's capital programs between FY 2008 and FY2011. The legislation included language requested by Congressman Russ Carnahan (MO-3) in regard to labor integration.
Nearly seven years ago, American Airlines purchased TWA, an airline with a long history of service in Carnahan's home state of Missouri. Without any labor protections to look after their interests, TWA employees were unfairly stapled to the bottom of the combined work group's seniority lists. Seniority lists are used to determine work shifts, vacation schedules and furloughs. After the aviation industry downsized as a result of the September 11th attacks, all former TWA flight attendants lost their jobs as a result of their position on the seniority list, though more junior American flight attendants retained their jobs.
"TWA employees were subjected to unfair practices as a result of the American buyout," Carnahan said. "The consequences of the buyout were felt especially strong in Missouri, where thousands of my constituents worked for TWA. To ensure that such an event does not happen again, I am proud to provide labor integration protection for all airline workers."
Carnahan asked Chairman Jerry Costello, who chairs the Aviation Subcommittee, to incorporate labor integration language in the Manager's Amendment of the FAA Reauthorization Act. Chairman Costello granted the request, inserting language that provides that, in cases of future airline mergers, integrations of labor seniority lists will be completed in a "fair and equitable" manner.
This language is supported by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFL-CIO), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Air Line Pilots Association, Transport Workers Union of America, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, and the Transportation Trades Department ofAFL-CIO.
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APFA Hotline 8.3.07
Senator McCaskill takes special care in this letter to dispel any opinions or misbeliefs AA FAs may carry that her amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill contains language requesting any retroactive measures to current Seniority Agreements, INCLUDING the 2001 AA/APFA Seniority Integration Agreement. In other words, her previously-introduced amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill addresses the application of Allegheny-Mohawk provisions to future airline mergers and their employee's seniority lists. This will not affect our current seniority list IN ANYWAY, since it is not retroactive. Furthermore, APFA's Collective Bargaining Agreement already contains Allegheny-Mohawk language in the event of a merger with another airline, so McCaskill's previously-introduced amendment will have no impact on APFA members whatsoever.
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THE BIG SENIORITY LIE
2/8/08
From: Laura Glading To: Heidi Prayon Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 2:00 PM Subject: response to heidi
Heidi,
I will start by again stating:
I have absolutely no intention of changing or reshuffling the APFA seniority list. Furthermore, I did not make a deal of any kind with the former TWA Flight Attendants or the STL Base Reps regarding seniority in order to earn their support. The seniority issue has been settled in the courts. Anything that is being said or posted to the contrary is being done for the sole purpose of scaring the membership into voting for John Ward. Period.
Now, the purpose of this email. I saw your post from last week regarding the seniority issue. I find your message so outrageous I need to respond. I wanted to call and speak with you but you have grossly misrepresented so much in your post that I think it best I respond in writing so that I am not mis-quoted.
With regard to the Alleghany Mohawk (A-M) Provision, here are the facts:
1) There was a full briefing regarding Senator McCaskill's amendment at the Board Meeting last June. IOR Chair Nancy Moehring had it put on the agenda.
2) The Board was informed that the Senator was attaching an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill regarding the Alleghany-Mohawk Labor Protection Provision. She had made some campaign promises in 2006 and she had procured the support of some pretty powerful US Senators including Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and Kit Bond.
3) The APFA made it clear it did not support this provision and Senator McCaskill confirmed this in a letter dated 1-3-08 that is posted on the APFA web- site. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) did support the bill.
4) There were additional briefings regarding Senator McCaskill's intentions and her bill at the June and October Board of Director's meeting (of which you are a member) and the September and December Executive Committee (EC) meetings. Your ad-hoc, Tim Weston, confirmed that he had briefed you on the issue.
5) In December Senator McCaskill detached her Alleghany Mohawk amendment from the Reauthorization Bill and attached it to the (massive) Omnibus spending Bill. This happened in the final hours of horse trading that routinely happens on "The Hill". The final bill was posted on the Congressional website for the required forty eight hours and then passed by a comfortable margin.
6) I was completely unaware of that development until after the bill passed. Again, the APFA was not supporting the Bill and therefore I can only assume that the Senator saw no reason to contact us.
7) On January 4, 2008 the Board was briefed by our lobbyist Joan Wages and Senator McCaskill's chief of staff Sean Kennedy at a Special Board Meeting. They both confirmed the events happened as I have described them. 8) Sean Kennedy went on to make it crystal clear that
Claire McCaskill would not pursue any change to the APFA seniority list. That is confirmed in a letter from the Senator dated 8-3-07 and is posted on the APFA web site.
I firmly believe that this amendment could not have been stopped. Although your message was incomprehensible, it appears you were trying create the impression that I somehow had the power or authority to stop the Omnibus (4,000 + page Government Spending) Bill. That, in itself, defies logic.
Even more curious is, if you believed that there was something to be done, why didn't you do it? You are on the Board of Directors. You were aware of the amendment back in June; it is in the BOD minutes. You are a member of the governing body. Why didn't you try to rally the BOD and put forward a resolution organizing a lobbying event? You even live in DC. Did you once try to meet with your representatives to voice your concerns? Your friend and ah-hoc Tim Weston, who holds the exact same position as I do on the EC, also lives in DC. Why is he not being held accountable? And, are you suggesting that a US Senator's chief of staff and our own lobbyist are collaborators in this conspiracy? Why aren't the other BOD members joining your hysterics? Do they not care about their seniority?
It is very clear what is happening here, politics at its very worse. You obviously do not want me elected. You could have taken the high road and campaigned for your candidate by exalting whatever qualities or accomplishments you believe he may have. Instead you chose to concoct a conspiracy theory and write me in as the main character.
This is the Ward way. Discard the facts, spread rumors that instill fear, and scare people into voting for you. Fascism is rooted in such tactics. And so your message is just part of Ward's campaign of misinformation. Fortunately, our members prefer the truth and that is the very reason they will not vote the Ward ticket.
As for the Alleghany-Mohawk Provision; although we all opposed its passage it is now law. Simply put, it requires that the parties participate in a process to determine the seniority integration. If two carriers merge or one carrier acquires another, and some kind of seniority integration cannot be mutually agreed upon by the parties, the matter is taken to arbitration. The arbitrator resolves the dispute with an integration formula that is based on all of the facts and circumstances. Much of the decision is based on what a carrier brings to the table; routes, aircraft, bases and so on.
If we merge with, or acquire another carrier we would now be subject to the Alleghany-Mohawk process. If elected, I want to assure everyone that I will vigorously fight to protect the interests and seniority of the APFA members in the event of a merger or acquisition.
Laura Glading