Source: AFA E-Lines

Our new Contract provides for improvements in Reserve Vacation Pay (Sections 5.D. & 18.K.).  Unfortunately, following the implementation of this improvement, management failed to properly apply the new Vacation Pay improvement for Reserves.  Specifically, the company reduced a Reserve Flight Attendant's guarantee of 78 hours when a Reserve had vacation in certain circumstances.

In March of 2012, we filed an MEC Grievance (5-12) disputing the company's misinterpretation.  In addition to the filing of this Grievance, we continued to work to address our concerns through all avenues to achieve resolution to this dispute.

This week management agreed to resolve this outstanding dispute and Inflight Scheduling is now compiling the data necessary to issue checks for the back-pay settlement to the affected Flight Attendants.  By the time the automation is in place to correct the programming that reduced a Reserve Flight Attendants minimum guarantee, it is expected that the value of this Reserve back pay will be approximately $1,000,000.

For example, a Reserve Flight Attendant on vacation in April 2012, upon the award of their Line of Flying, showed a reduced minimum of 71 hours, due to the company reducing their guarantee as a result of vacation.  The company will restore that minimum to 78 hours, and pay the 7 hours in a separate adjustment check as soon as possible.

The end result will be the company will restore the Reserve minimum to what it should have been from the beginning of the dispute, which began April of 2012.  We expect the automation to be in place to eliminate a Reserves minimum guarantee being reduced due to vacation by the February schedule month.  That will ensure a Reserves minimum will not be reduced below 78 as a result of vacation. 

Along with MEC 5-12, we also filed two additional Grievances.  MEC Grievance 6-12 related to the company not providing Flight Attendants a Legal Rest to, or greater than, for Domestic Duty Period which exceed 10:30 (Sections 2.T., 7.J.1.e., 7.K.).  We also filed MEC 7-12 which deals with the company not providing Flight Attendants with appropriate Legal Rest at their next layover point of at least 16 hours when they exceed 8:30 in a 24 hour period (Section 7.D.1.).  We have been successful in scheduling System Board of Adjustment dates for these cases and they will proceed to the System Board of Adjustment in early spring.