FRH – 12.15.15

FACT Rep Update –
Flight Attendant Communications Team

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

 

• Telephone Town Hall Meeting – Wednesday, December 16 – LAA/LUS
• Personal Movement Devices Not Permitted on Board – LAA/LUS
• VEBA Prefunding Update – LAA
• Voluntary Leave of Absence (Formerly Bid Leaves) – LAA
• VLOA Openings – February 2016 – LUS
• Deadheading – LAA
• APFA National Officer Election – LAA/LUS

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Telephone Town Hall Meeting – Wednesday, December 16 – LAA/LUS

APFA National President Marcus Gluth & National Officers along with members of the Joint Scheduling Implementation Committee (JSIC) and Joint Implementation Resolution Committee (JIRC) will be hosting a Telephone Town Hall Conference on Wednesday, December 16th at 4pm EST (3pm CST/1pm PST). The telephone conference will consist of a short presentation followed by a live Questions and Answers session, focusing on Contract Implementation of the 2014 Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA).

The Town Hall Conference call-in number is 855-269-4484. All members are welcome to join the call. 

Personal Movement Devices Not Permitted on Board – LAA/LUS

Effective for all passengers and crewmembers with travel originating on or after Saturday, December 12th, Personal Movement Devices (PMDs) such as hover boards, Airwheels and mini-Segways are no longer accepted in the cabin or in checked baggage. Thru flights for passengers and Crew crossing this date and time are exempt. These devices are powered by lithium batteries and may pose a safety risk on board if they malfunction. 

Important: The previous policy regarding personal movement devices is now amended with this more restrictive policy due to recent incidents involving PMDs.

Flight Attendants are not required to check for compliance; however, they should monitor for these devices during boarding. If you notice a passenger attempting to bring a PMD on board, refer them to the agent for additional handling. If the agent is unavailable, or the device is discovered during flight, immediately notify the Captain.

VEBA Prefunding Update – LAA

APFA and the Company were scheduled to meet with the Arbitrator on Tuesday, December 15, 2015. However, the Arbitrator has cancelled the meeting due to his illness. We are in the process of rescheduling this meeting, and are expected to have a decision shortly after both parties meet. APFA has communicated to the Arbitrator and the Company that we are available to meet on a weekend or holiday due to the length of case and importance to our membership. The updated meeting schedule will be announced in an upcoming hotline.

Voluntary Leave of Absence (Formerly Bid Leaves) – LAA

Voluntary Leaves of Absence (VLOA) will replace Bid Leaves (BL) effective January 2016. Please note, LAA Flight Attendants will bid for VLOAs using the ballot on the Crew Resources page of the Flight Service website. HIPVD is no longer used for submitting VLOA requests. Use the link for Voluntary Leave Information to find the ballot and additional information regarding Voluntary Leaves of Absence. Voluntary Leave requests for the following month are due no later than 0900 Central Time on the 15th calendar day of the month prior.  The Voluntary Leave ballot will contain the Open and Close Dates.  The Closing Date may be adjusted to the next business day if the 15th falls on the weekend.  VLOAs will be offered for either a full month duration (1st to 30th) or half month (1st-15th or 16th to 30th) duration. Requests for a full month leave will take precedence over partial month leaves. Therefore if your ballot includes a request for both a partial month leave and a full month leave you will be awarded a full month leave if full month leaves are available at your seniority.  

VLOA Openings – February 2016 – LUS

The Company is projecting an opportunity to award Voluntary Leaves of Absence (VLOA) for the month of February 2016. These VLOAs may be available for the February bid month (effective February 5, 2016) in the following domiciles:  CLT — DCA-US — PHL — PHX

• The February 2016 VLOA begins on the 5th of the month.
• Lineholders are responsible for lead in trips for the award month.
• Reserves are available to Scheduling up to 23:59 on the 4th of the month dependent upon Reserve bid awards.
• Picking up trips via ETB is not permissible while on this leave.
• Required training scheduled for the month must be attended and will be compensated accordingly.
• Accruals for both sick and vacation will continue during the period of the leave.
• Any scheduled vacation will be paid.
• Benefits will remain active for the duration of the leave.

Deadheading – LAA

Beginning January 1, 2016 you’ll begin receiving the greater of scheduled or actual block time when deadheading. Additionally, both lineholders and reserves will start receiving 100% pay and 100% credit for deadhead segments. (Today, it’s 100% pay and 50% credit.)

These changes will be reflected in the January bid sheets and are in accordance with Section 16.A. of the JCBA.

APFA National Officer Election – LAA/LUS

Ballots for APFA National Officer Election were mailed on December 10, 2015, to all APFA members. If you do not receive your ballot by December 16, 2015, please contact the National Ballot Committee (NBC) at [email protected] or 817-540-0108, ext. 8311 to receive your access code.

The ballot packet you will receive contains a Candidate Information booklet along with the Voting Instructions and Ballot. You can also find a copy of the ballot, instructions and candidate booklet on the APFA website under Elections at www.www.apfa.org.

The Candidate Information booklet contains information on the candidates as provided by the candidate or the person nominating the candidate. We ask that you read the information carefully before voting as YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR VOTE ONCE IT IS CAST.

Flight Attendants may cast their vote by phone 1-800-698-3789 or by internet https://BallotPoint.com/APFA.

In order to cast a vote, you must be a member in good standing (no more than 60 days in dues arrears) by 5:00pm CT, January 4, 2016. If you have any question about your dues status, please contact the Dues Department at [email protected] or at 817-540-0108, ext. 8151.

Please be sure you have correctly entered the candidates of your choice. Again, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR VOTE ONCE IT IS CAST.
 
All votes must be cast by 10:00am CT, January 9, 2016.

Steve Chen
APFA Fact Rep. Coordinator
[email protected]