12.21.08

InfoReps,

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
There was a great deal of activity concerning negotiations the past two weeks. Most recently was Fridayís announcement via press release that APFA and American have applied for Federal Mediation. Your APFA Negotiating Team will continue to meet internally and hope to be back at the table soon.

Here is a recap of Articles with activity during the past two weeks:

Article 5-Uniforms: Tentative Agreement
Article 7-Hours of Service: Internal Discussion
Article 8-Minimum Pay and Credit: Internal Discussion
Article 9-Scheduling: Internal Discussion
Article 10-Reserve: Continued Discussions
Article 18-Moving Expenses: Tentative Agreement
Article 19-Leave of Absence: Tentative Agreement
Article 20-Medical Appeals and Arbitration: APFA/AA Countered
Article 21-Hotels and Transportation: Tentative Agreement
Article 24-Copies of Agreement: Tentative Agreement
Article 27-Bereavement/Personal Emergency Leave: APFA/AA Countered
Article 32-Health and Safety Committees: AA Countered
Article 34-Purser: APFA Countered

Earlier this week, we sent you a special InfoRep Hotline announcing the ìVolunteer to Fly" (VTF) Program. This program will operate for 60 days at DCA/DCA-I and DFW/IDF. As there will be additional questions that may not have been addressed when the Q&A Document was first released, we will continue to update and post the document on the www.apfa.org website.

TEXT MESSAGING
During the Negotiations Road Shows in July, we mentioned the upcoming use of Text Messaging as a means of communicating to InfoReps. We initiated APFA Text Message Alerts with the announcement of the VTF program and again with the Federal Mediation Application Press Release. If you did not sign up for Text Messaging at one of the road shows and would like to begin receiving text messages from APFA, please update your information by clicking the InfoRep tab on the www.apfa.org main page. Standard text messaging rates will apply and you can ëopt outí at any time.

DE-ICING PAY
Now that we are in the thick of the de-icing season, Members need to be vigilant and ensure that they are being properly paid per Article 8.J.2.b. of our Contract. This provision provides that Flight Attendants will be paid flight time pay and credit when de-icing is performed at the gate. Some cockpit crews will file for this time, while others will not due to the lack of similar language in their agreement. On any flight where you have experienced de-icing at the gate, check your HI3 for the sequence. Look for the code ìDEIî and the time paid at the end of the ìACTî entry for that flight. If your cockpit crew does not file for the de-icing time at the gate, please use HICLAIM to file for this time. Use the remarks section of the form to indicate that the reason for the claim is de-icing at the gate. If you experience any problems in receiving proper pay, please contact the either the Contract or Scheduling Departments.

DID YOU KNOW?
In the CBA of 1963, Article 3A-Premium Pay from the 1960 CBA was incorporated into Article 3-Compensation and renamed Incentive. This incentive of 1963 was dependent upon years of service, the type of equipment flown, and was paid above 70 monthly hours; similar to the way it is structured in Article 3-Compensation, of our current CBA. In a Stewardess’ first year, incentive pay was $3.50 for work on a piston engine aircraft. Incentive topped out at $6.30 for a Stewardess in her 9th year, flying "Jet Aircraft".