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United & AFA Reach TA For Flight Attendants-24 June 2016 - ratified 12 Aug 2016

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Old Jun 24, 2016, 9:03 am
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AFA - United is United
We have a ratified contract. With some of the highest numbers in AFA history, over 90 percent participated in the vote with 53% voting to ratify the agreement. You have participated in a historic vote and there is no doubt that every single one of you is deeply engaged and cares about our future.

United Airlines Flight Attendants Ratify Joint Contract

August 12, 2016

CHICAGO, Aug. 12, 2016 – The flight attendants at United Airlines, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), today ratified a contract covering 25,000 flight attendants. Over 90 percent participated in the vote with 53 percent voting to ratify the agreement. This agreement was reached on June 24, 2016, with assistance from the National Mediation Board.

“The high participation in this historic vote demonstrates the deep care Flight Attendants have for their future at the new United Airlines. The contract provides immediate economic gains, sets a new industry standard and ensures Flight Attendants can achieve the benefits of a fully integrated airline," said Sara Nelson, AFA-CWA International President. "This contract would not have been possible without the commitment of Oscar Munoz to unite United Airlines. We appreciate his leadership and the assistance of National Mediation Board Chair Linda Puchala, who was instrumental in helping the parties reach agreement. With the ratification of this contract, we look forward to a great spirit of labor relations at United that fully recognizes the contributions of the people who breathe life into the friendly skies."

Under the new agreement, all United flight attendants will be joined by a single contract, and united by a shared purpose to build the best airline in the world.

“Our flight attendants are the best in the business and deserve this industry-leading contract. I want to recognize the efforts of both negotiating teams, and in particular AFA President, Sara Nelson, for her strong partnership to get the agreement done to move us all forward together in the new spirit of United. When I took this job last year, I promised to turn the page and write a new chapter in our approach to labor and management relations at United. What matters is proof, however, not promises. Thanks to today’s vote, I am proud to say that so far this year we’ve ratified new agreements covering more than 65,000 of our employees,” said Oscar Munoz, United Airlines President and Chief Executive Officer.

The five-year agreement includes double digit pay increases, enhanced job security provisions, maintains and improves healthcare, protects retirement and increases flexibility.
AFA's "Comprehensive Summary of Our Tentative Agreement" - July 2, 2016 (31 pages)

Complete TA - July 11, 2016 (373 pages)

AFA-CWA United Airlines 2016 Tentative Agreement Video


United And AFA Reach Agreement For Flight Attendants

CHICAGO, June 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United and the Association of Flight Attendants announced today that they have reached an agreement on terms of a joint contract that would bring the airline's more than 25,000 flight attendants together into a single work group. The agreement is subject to approval by the Joint Master Executive Council, including all Local Presidents, after which it will become a tentative agreement and will be put out for ratification by flight attendants. The parties will work this weekend to finalize the contract language.
"Today's agreement honors the invaluable role that our flight attendants contribute to United's success and brings us closer than ever to uniting them under a single contract," said United President and Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz. "It's been a long journey and I'm grateful to our outstanding flight attendants – the most talented and professional inflight team anywhere in the world – for all they do to keep our customers safe and comfortable."
United thanks both negotiating teams and the National Mediation Board for working to reach this agreement.
United has joint collective bargaining agreements covering the majority of its represented employees and has reached new agreements with three work groups so far this year. Recently, the company's employees who are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted to ratify new contracts. Earlier this year, United's pilots voted to ratify a contract extension more than a year ahead of their contract's amendable date, following an expedited negotiations process with the Air Line Pilots Association. The company's dispatchers also voted recently to ratify a contract extension. Additionally, the airline is engaged in mediated negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
AFA statement - June 24

A few moments ago, our Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) and the company came to an agreement on the terms of a joint collective bargaining agreement. The parties will work to finalize the language this weekend for review by the Joint Master Executive Council (MEC), including all (CAL, CMI, UAL) Local Presidents. These directly elected leaders of all 25,000 Flight Attendants, will meet in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday, June 27 & 28.
AA Joint MEC Unanimously Approves Tentative Agreement - June 28

AFA contract site

Some of these provisions include:
  • Improved single pay scale with base rates topping out in the 13th year at $62.00 and moving to $67.11 throughout the agreement.
  • $2.00 international override per hour and reimbursement for Global Entry.
  • $5.00 incentive rate of pay for all flying between 200 and 330 hours in a quarter.
  • Preserved our Flight Attendant-specific healthcare plan, with additional Medical Plan options.
  • Profit Sharing
  • Protected Scope language that defines Flight Attendant work as belonging to AFA members on the United Airlines System Seniority list – all CAL/UAL/CMI.
  • No Furlough Letter for all Flight Attendants on seniority list at date of ratification.
  • Holiday Pay for 5 holidays each year.
  • Per diem at $2.20 Domestic / $2.70 for International with automatic $0.05 increase every other year
  • Three (3) hours flight time pay and credit for training, plus up to five (5) hours deadhead pay each way to and from training.
  • Industry-leading Reassignment protections and pay.
  • Commuter Program without usage limit and cabin jumpseat qualifies as an available seat for commuting purposes.
  • No weight restrictions for CJA.
  • 12 days off for Reserves and 12 hours free from duty at home between trips.
  • Reserves have ability to trade assigned trips with Lineholders or other Reserves.
  • New ability for Reserves to pick up flying from Lineholders on days off.
  • Domestic 10 hours free from duty on layovers, with at least 8 hours place of lodging at hotel.
  • 12 hours free from duty at home between trips for Domestic Lineholders, but waivable at Flight Attendant option to 10 hours when trading or picking up.
  • Contractual hotel standards with downtown/downtown-like hotels for layovers of 19 hours or more.
  • Hotel Gainsharing, domestic and International
  • Vacation days ranging from 12 days to 40 days, with an additional 7 day Flex Vacation and optional Vacation Fly Through.
  • Maintained and improved Retirement Plans
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United & AFA Reach TA For Flight Attendants-24 June 2016 - ratified 12 Aug 2016

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Old Jun 25, 2016, 6:45 pm
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by Baze
Oh I understand different work groups and different unions within one company. But 2 groups doing the same job under the same header? FA's flying for United. Once inside the tube when flying United there should be no difference in service levels, types of service etc. It's not like different brands under GM where they are all GM cars, you know when you are getting into a Chevy vs a Buick. Now I've been very lucky and had great service overall from both sides but I can tell the difference in the services offered and how they give the service. It IS like flying 2 different airlines yet they are under the same banner with no sub name like Chevy or Buick. Once inside the tube no passenger should see the difference.
I can tell the difference usually too, and I understand your point that the crews act quite differently. But it has nothing to do with a unified contract. You're going to see that behavior and those differences exist well beyond a single contract.

I think Flyertalkers have tied great expectations to this contract over the last few years, but it's a false hope. One contract, or two or three or four, you would notice the cultural differences and service differences in the crews for years anyway.

My company merged with another company the same year UA and CO merged. No unions. We've been one company for a long time now. The cultural differences are still very apparent, and the differences in the way people do their work are still apparent. In my company, those differences show up in the internal politics and the way we interact with our customers.

Only time will change people, not a contract.
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 7:12 pm
  #62  
 
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Originally Posted by JBord
My company merged with another company the same year UA and CO merged. No unions. We've been one company for a long time now. The cultural differences are still very apparent, and the differences in the way people do their work are still apparent. In my company, those differences show up in the internal politics and the way we interact with our customers.

Only time will change people, not a contract.
I wonder if it's a matter of timing. My firm underwent a merger almost ten years ago. The cultural difference was vastly apparent at first. Now, if you asked me if someone sFirmA or sFirmB, I would not be able to tell you.

For me, if the FAs say they are a flight manager vs. a purser, you know what FA service you are getting. I don't understand why fixing something as simple as semantics couldn't be done.
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 7:21 pm
  #63  
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Originally Posted by PsiFighter37
For me, if the FAs say they are a flight manager vs. a purser, you know what FA service you are getting. I don't understand why fixing something as simple as semantics couldn't be done.
That might be a job title that's contracted, and hasn't been worked out yet. I don't know.

But something as simple as how they serve drinks in F (e.g., 2 at a time vs. get all orders and serve all at once) should be standardized.
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 7:50 pm
  #64  
 
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Originally Posted by channa
That might be a job title that's contracted, and hasn't been worked out yet. I don't know.

But something as simple as how they serve drinks in F (e.g., 2 at a time vs. get all orders and serve all at once) should be standardized.
The new title for FAs working the lead position will be Flight Service Leader (FSL).
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 7:53 pm
  #65  
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Originally Posted by sbm12
Like I said, larger but not worthy of the superlative.
Originally Posted by channa
No, it depends on how many shares each company had. That's the missing piece of your equation.
And how many planes and what size. I've spent over an hour with various versions of "how many airplanes did united airlines have in 2009?" over several search engines, and could not find it. CO, got with first hit.

And let's not forget all Barbie's Dream Jets CO was flying.

IIRC analysts were quite puzzled by the "merger of equals."
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 8:30 pm
  #66  
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Originally Posted by EmailKid
And how many planes and what size. I've spent over an hour with various versions of "how many airplanes did united airlines have in 2009?" over several search engines, and could not find it. CO, got with first hit.
You need better search terms.

FA count at YE 2011:
Continental: 8,506
Continental Micronesia: 258
United: 12,645

Fleet:
Mainline aircraft is comprised of 355 aircraft at United and 346 at Continental. Regional aircraft is comprised of 290 aircraft at United and 265 at Continental.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...260625d10k.htm
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 11:24 pm
  #67  
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Originally Posted by JBord
I can tell the difference usually too, and I understand your point that the crews act quite differently. But it has nothing to do with a unified contract. You're going to see that behavior and those differences exist well beyond a single contract.

I think Flyertalkers have tied great expectations to this contract over the last few years, but it's a false hope. One contract, or two or three or four, you would notice the cultural differences and service differences in the crews for years anyway.

My company merged with another company the same year UA and CO merged. No unions. We've been one company for a long time now. The cultural differences are still very apparent, and the differences in the way people do their work are still apparent. In my company, those differences show up in the internal politics and the way we interact with our customers.

Only time will change people, not a contract.
My company underwent a merger recently too. I was hired midway through the merger, so when I interviewed, I interviewed and was offered by firm A, day 1, I walk in, I'm told I work for firm B now, same boss, same desk, same team, even same email address, just needed a slight edit to my email signature. I really didn't care one way or the other, as long as I got my paycheck, I was happy. No one else on my team gave a rip about the merger, we all had way more important things to worry about, such as getting key reports to our senior execs on time.

It really was the lower level workers who were he most vocal about us losing our identity as "Firm A". The upper level employees couldn't care less about what our company's name was. As long as we were treated well and continued to receive our paycheck, we were more than happy.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 5:14 am
  #68  
 
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Originally Posted by JBord

Only time will change people, not a contract.
This. The people who strongly identify with their former company will eventually cycle out and the newer hires won't care. Years after the NW/DL merger the DL forum was full of snark about which FAs were "PMNW" or "PMDL." The AA forum currently attributes defects in service to the US or AA lineage of the staff.

That said, UA has a deeper hole to climb out of. The entrenched corporate contempt for its employees and passengers seems to be an especially stupid strain of hubris.

There is nothing that is remotely friendly about UA.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 8:07 am
  #69  
 
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Originally Posted by matrixwalker2012

It really was the lower level workers who were he most vocal about us losing our identity as "Firm A". The upper level employees couldn't care less about what our company's name was. As long as we were treated well and continued to receive our paycheck, we were more than happy.
I would agree that this is true, mostly because the senior leaders who don't buy into the new company either leave or are asked to leave pretty quickly after the merger. But it's not that easy at the lower levels, because you need those people to actually do the work and make money for the company . And of course it's even more difficult when a union is involved.

And this is why a new contract won't really feel any different to customers.

I've read a number of threads in this forum over the last year or two where people are positioning the FA contract as a magic bullet, the biggest problem for both the company and the customer. No doubt it's an issue for the company, as a single contract should help UA be more efficient. But as customers, I highly doubt we'll notice any changes other than superficial things like the title of the lead FA.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 8:26 am
  #70  
 
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Originally Posted by JBord
I would agree that this is true, mostly because the senior leaders who don't buy into the new company either leave or are asked to leave pretty quickly after the merger. But it's not that easy at the lower levels, because you need those people to actually do the work and make money for the company . And of course it's even more difficult when a union is involved.

And this is why a new contract won't really feel any different to customers.

I've read a number of threads in this forum over the last year or two where people are positioning the FA contract as a magic bullet, the biggest problem for both the company and the customer. No doubt it's an issue for the company, as a single contract should help UA be more efficient. But as customers, I highly doubt we'll notice any changes other than superficial things like the title of the lead FA.
+1 amen brother - you can't change rotten with a new contract to magically improve service lol...
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 8:31 am
  #71  
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Originally Posted by bmwe92fan
+1 amen brother - you can't change rotten with a new contract to magically improve service lol...
I dunno...it'll almost certainly include a nice bump in pay and typically that does change the attitude of those doing the work.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 9:47 am
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by sbm12
FA count at YE 2011:
Continental: 8,506
Continental Micronesia: 258
United: 12,645

Fleet:
Mainline aircraft is comprised of 355 aircraft at United and 346 at Continental. Regional aircraft is comprised of 290 aircraft at United and 265 at Continental.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...260625d10k.htm
Based on the above and my understanding that a majority of FA hiring since then has been into the sCO side of the house, it still appears that FA population on the sUA side is larger which makes ratification possible.

Moreover growth in the mainline vs regional fleet is what is needed to to ensure that all current FAs whether sUA or sCO are line holders. Ironically the current contract maintains inefficiencies which have a negative impact on UCH's financial performance and will slow down future fleet growth.

Perhaps ratification will provide some sort of early retirement package that will reduce the number of sco downgrades from lines to reserve until fleet growth gets all current FAs back to lines.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 10:22 am
  #73  
 
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Great new I will be happy when this is out of the way. Then I can dream and united will then focus on making flying more fun again.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 10:28 am
  #74  
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Originally Posted by YRKInsider
Perhaps ratification will provide some sort of early retirement package that will reduce the number of sco downgrades from lines to reserve until fleet growth gets all current FAs back to lines.
Didn't they do this already a couple years ago when they believed they had excess staff?
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 11:34 am
  #75  
 
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Originally Posted by channa
Didn't they do this already a couple years ago when they believed they had excess staff?
I'm not sure about buyouts but I do recall sUA FAs (furloughed?) being given the option to transfer to sCO to fill vacancies, which suggests that someone determined they sUA was overstaffed on the FA front.
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