03.15.10

Update for 3.15.10

WHERE ARE WE?

As announced in a press release dated March 3, 2010, and outlined in APFA Chief Negotiator Anne Loew’s YouTube video, lock-down mediated talks ended on Thursday, March 3. Talks ended 10 hours prior to the agreed-to end time with the company’s team walking out of the meeting, and the building, without even a response to APFA’s last proposal — showing a complete lack of respect for the Flight Attendants and for the negotiations process.

Where does that leave us? APFA President Laura Glading has scheduled a meeting with the National Mediation Board (NMB) this week. The NMB controls the process and schedule while we are in mediation. During this meeting, President Glading will formally request of the NMB, a release into a 30-day cooling off period — the last step before the parties are free to engage in self-help.

There are a couple of scenarios that could result from that meeting. Scenario 1 — The NMB could schedule us for an additional meeting with the company. Scenario 2 — The NMB could issue a proffer of binding arbitration. If either party rejects the proffer of arbitration, the NMB would grant the release into the 30-day cooling off period.

What happens, and how quickly, should scenario 2 result from this week’s meeting? A decision coming directly after the meeting is unlikely. But should the NMB feel that the parties are at an impasse, they will proffer binding arbitration. Should either party reject binding arbitration, the NMB releases the parties into a 30-day cooling off period. A date will be set and the countdown will begin. The parties could continue to meet during those 30 days. This is commonly referred to as “super mediation”.

Should the 30 days end with no agreement reached, the parties are then free to engage in self-help. On the 31st day, or any day thereafter, the union is free to engage in a strike or other form of self-help and the company could impose a contract containing items they proposed during bargaining. Self-help does not have to begin on the 31st day. Depending on our strategy, a job action may not occur for several days or weeks following the end of the cooling-off period.

STRIKE?

There are questions out in the field as to APFA’s plan for a job action.

First of all, we are not yet at the self-help stage. We will not announce our strategy this early in the process.

Our next step is to send a Strike Ballot to the membership. The APFA Board of Directors passed a Resolution in November 2009, approving the Strike Authorization Ballot.

APFA would not expect you to vote for strike authorization without fully understanding for what you would be voting. Therefore, we will be scheduling Road Shows at all base cities to coincide with the strike authorization vote. Dates will be announced as soon as they are firm. A detailed mailing will also be sent to all Flight Attendants explaining why strike authorization is necessary. The strike authorization vote does not initiate a strike, but authorizes the APFA Board of Directors to allow the APFA President to call a strike should the need arise. A very strong “YES” vote to the strike ballot will send a very strong message to management. The threat of a strike is as powerful, if not more so, than the strike itself.

The outcome of this week’s meeting with President Glading and the NMB will determine our next steps and our schedule moving forward. Again, the NMB controls the process.

What form of self-help we will choose will not be made public this early in the process. There are many forms of self-help. Should we make it to that step, ALL members will be made well aware of whatever legal job-action we take or combination of job-actions planned. Make no mistake, the course APFA chooses to proceed, should we be released into self-help, will be a course that will put us in the best position to obtain the contract we all deserve.

It’s OUR TURN now and we will not back down!

STAY UNIFIED — STAY STRONG — STAY INFORMED