September 26, 2024 -- IAM is an industrial union. AMFA has always been a craft union.
Tension has developed in labor history between industrial and craft unions due to their extreme differences in core values and focus. Industrial unions are focused on member number growth and leadership enrichment at the expense of their members’ trades.
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September 26, 2024 -- This document provides a short synopsis of future steps in the merger process that will affect the working lives of our members.
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September 18, 2024 -- On September 17, 2024, the United States Department of Transportation issued an exemption order allowing Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines to operate under common ownership pending final review of the airlines’ transfer application that seeks DOT approval to combine and operate international routes under one certificate – authorization that is required to provide air transportation as a merged carrier.
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April 30, 2024 -- On April 3, 2024, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the Primary AMFA–Alaska Airlines (AS) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative position, and Alaska Airlines members of Locals 14 and 32 were allowed to submit nominations. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Timothy Cullen.
 20240403_Nom_Notice_ASA_Primary_ASAP.pdf
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March 14, 2024 -- In just 12 months of negotiations, Alaska reached a tentative agreement with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) in late January. Today, our 990 AMFA-represented technicians, and maintenance controllers voted to ratify a new, five-year contract. This is the seventh new labor contract between Alaska Airlines and one of our unionized workgroups that has been ratified in the last two years to improve wages and quality of life for employees and support our company’s long-term success.
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March 14, 2024 -- The votes for the AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) Tentative Agreement (TA) Ratification Referendum were tallied on March 14, 2024. Votes for this referendum were counted and certified by ElectionBuddy, and the results are as follows:
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February 14, 2024 -- The AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) Negotiating Committee has requested a system-wide referendum regarding a Tentative Agreement (TA). The complete text of the TA was sent to your company email address for your consideration, and it can also be viewed on the voting website.
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January 27, 2024 -- We now have a Tentative Agreement (TA), and the full TA document will be emailed to every individual through their Alaska email for review. It will also be posted on the Maintenance and Engineering SharePoint site.
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January 19, 2024 -- AMFA Legal and AMFA’s Economist worked diligently this week to finalize certain issues that remained following the parties’ Agreement-in-Concept (AIC) reached on January 11, 2024.
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January 12, 2024 -- The parties held a three-day bargaining session in Seattle on January 9-11, 2024. On Day 1, the Company passed a counterproposal to cover the issues we presented in our November proposal.
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January 10, 2024 -- In a statement issued on Saturday, January 6, 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the temporary grounding of specific Boeing 737 Max-9 aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory. “The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 Max-9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. “Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”
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January 6, 2024 -- An incident was reported yesterday on Alaska Airlines Flight #1282 from Portland, OR to Ontario, CA. It is reported that the aircraft reached 16,000ft when a plug door detached from the aircraft, resulting in rapid decompression. The aircraft began an emergency descent and was diverted back to Portland (PDX) with no fatalities and a few minor injuries.
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December 3, 2023 -- Today, Alaska Airlines announced it had reached an agreement to purchase Hawaiian Airlines in a cash transaction valued at $1.9 billion. According to news reports, Alaska will continue to operate Hawaiian as an independent brand and airline within the Alaska Air Group. News reports further indicate current Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci will lead the combined carrier.
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November 30, 2023 -- The parties spent the morning of Day 1 clarifying a few issues from the September agreement in principle (AIP) related to Article 20 – Retirement and certain issues specific to the Maintenance Control appendix. The Company then provided a financial presentation on the state of the airline and its projections moving into 2024. Following the Company’s financial presentation, AMFA presented its proposal containing changes to the September AIP in specific response to feedback from you, the membership, during our roadshow.
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Updated November 27, 2027 -- During the week of November 6, we contacted Alaska Airlines to schedule dates to re-engage and continue negotiations. Last week, the Company was able to get a conference room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport for the first day. Negotiations will be conducted in the Cascade 13 room, which will be able to accommodate the limit of twenty-five observers. On the second day, we are still at the Hub Building and limited to twenty observers in the Bravo Room.
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October 23, 2023 -- On Thursday, October 19, 2023, the Company contacted the Committee to advise that Alaska was preparing a proposal to present in bargaining with the Flight Attendants that would, among other items, provide 15% increases to their wage scale. Alaska explained, and it is our understanding, this proposal would take the Flight Attendants to the top of the current industry in terms of compensation. The Committee immediately convened to discuss how best to respond to the Company given this new information.
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October 17, 2023 -- Today is the amendable date of the agreement, and AMFA Legal and Alaska Labor Relations are continuing to convert the Agreement in Principle (AIP) into a full Tentative Agreement (TA). This has been a major undertaking, and we apologize for it taking so long, but we do not want to miss anything.
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September 23, 2023 -- The Committee began its roadshow this week to discuss the AIP reached between the parties earlier this month. The parties agreed AMFA Legal would create the first draft of a cover-to-cover TA. This was a time-consuming process as each individually TA’d article and the AIP in general had to be integrated into a full collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in a manner whereby you, the members, would be able to review all changes throughout the document.
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September 11, 2023 -- The parties held a four-day bargaining session September 5-8 in Renton, WA to continue bargaining toward a successor collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
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August 21, 2023 -- The parties spent the first portion of the session focused on bargaining towards an Appendix to the CBA for contractual issues specific to the Maintenance Control group.
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July 13, 2023 -- The parties held a three-day bargaining session July 10-12 in Seattle to continue bargaining toward a successor collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
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June 30, 2023 -- The parties held a three-day bargaining session June 27-29 in Seattle. The parties began Day 1 by continuing off-the-record discussion regarding Article 6 – Overtime from the previous session.
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June 8, 2023 -- Votes for the Alternate AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative Election were tallied on June 8, 2023.
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May 30, 2023 -- The parties held a bargaining session on May 23-25. The parties spent the entire three-day session engaged in off-the-record, interest-based bargaining on a handful of different articles.
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May 8, 2023 -- AMFA National is conducting an election for the position of Alternate AMFA – Alaska Airlines Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative.
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May 1, 2023 -- The parties held a bargaining session on April 25-27 in Seattle . The parties engaged in table dialogue at the outset of Day 1 as to the issues each side had with respect to Article 7 – Holidays. A TA was ultimately reached on this article incorporating a change to the CBA whereby an employee on a 10-hour shift may, on their regular day off, bank their holiday at 10 hours.
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March 31, 2023 -- The parties held a three-day bargaining session on March 28-30 in Seattle. The parties engaged in table dialogue at the outset of Day 1 as to the issues each side had with respect to Article 8 – Field Service & Special Projects and Article 12 – Training.
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February 17, 2023 -- The Parties held a two-day bargaining session on February 15-16 in Seattle. At the outset of Day 1, the Parties reviewed previously passed articles and confirmed the articles for which tentative agreement (TA) had been reached in the first session.
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January 19, 2023 -- The parties held a two-day bargaining session on January 17-18 in Los Angeles to commence bargaining towards a successor collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The first day began with introductions of each party’s respective negotiating committee members, followed by an exchange of opener documents, which listed each article of the CBA and generalized items in each to be discussed during these negotiations.
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January 05, 2023 -- We have secured dates for formal Section 6 Negotiations through April, 2023. Times and locations will be posted prior to each session for membership participation as an observer. Please watch for updates posted on the Local web pages - if you have not registered on L14 or L32, now is a good time to get full membership access.
20230105_Dates_for_Upcoming_Negotiation_Sessions.pdf
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October 4, 2022 -- In accordance with the terms outlined in Article 23, Wage Rules, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to discuss the annual pay scale wage review on October 3, 2022, via TEAMs conference with the Company in Seattle. We started by doing an external review of our all-in wage compared to the nine carriers referred to in the Alaska Contract; the rates were as of October 17, the day of the Alaska pay rate increase our technicians received. Those all-in rates, which include base pay, license premiums, line premium, and longevity at the top of each of those scales are: (1) Delta $59.59, (2) Southwest $58.87, (3) American $57.43, (4) JetBlue $55.00, (5) Alaska $52.77, (6) United $52.14, (7) Hawaiian $51.29, (8) Frontier $51.00, (9) Allegiant $44.81, and (10) Spirit $37.00. With the all-in pay rates of the carriers we are compared with, the midpoint between number four and number six is $53.15; being our new rate is below the $53.15 midpoint, an additional increase above our two percent (2%) all-in is required to keep us above the midpoint.
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May 3, 2022 -- The votes for the AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) Letter of Agreement (LOA) Referendum were tallied on May 3, 2022. Votes for this referendum were counted and certified by ElectionBuddy, and the results are as follows...
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April 12, 2022 -- In March 2022, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the positions of Primary and Alternate AMFA– AS Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representatives.
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April 1, 2022 -- We are pleased to announce on March 30, 2022, AMFA and Alaska Airlines Inc. reached a tentative agreement on a letter of agreement (LOA) to bring the Maintenance Control workgroup into our collective bargaining agreement. The LOA provides limited provisions of the current agreement and captures status quo conditions for the group.
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March 1, 2022 -- On 2/28/2022, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met at the Hanger in SEA to discuss the current “status quo” post NMB certification of Alaska Airline Maintenance Controllers. We had a discussion of a Letter of Agreement (LOA) to incorporate Maintenance Control into the current CBA between Alaska Airlines Inc and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).
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February 17, 2022 -- On behalf of the Officers and Representatives of AMFA, we would like to welcome you to the Association. On February 16, 2022, the National Mediation Board (NMB) accreted the Maintenance Controllers into the Mechanic and Related class and craft at Alaska Airlines (ASA), thus certifying the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) as your collective bargaining agent. This decision came after a long and unconventional process lasting nearly two years. We want to thank you wholeheartedly for your unwavering patience in this long government process to bring you onboard, and we look forward to elevating the standards and increasing the recognition of Maintenance Controllers at Alaska Airlines and across the industry.
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February 16, 2022 -- The National Mediation Board (NMB) officially announced the Board’s decision today that no vote will be required and the Maintenance Control workgroup at Alaska Airlines will be accreted into mechanics and related class and craft, and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association AMFA will be their exclusive collective bargaining agent. This decision came after a long and unconventional process lasting nearly two years. AMFA filed with the NMB on their behalf on July 14, 2020, and the NMB subsequent investigation regarding the accretion of their work group at Alaska Airlines followed. Nearly 80% of this workgroup signed authorization for representation cards requesting AMFA to file for accretion on behalf of the Alaska Maintenance Controllers.
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If you had to name one domestic airline that has mastered de-icing, who would you guess? If you guessed Alaska Airlines, you’d be wrong. While Alaska Airlines certainly operates in some of the country’s coldest climates, their de-icing processes are suffering from corporate cost cutting. This is leading to avoidable delays and cancellations and creating unnecessary safety risks.
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January 5, 2022 -- The Company has been changing or updating the COVID policy at a rapid pace. We would like to keep the Membership informed of three (3) important updates. These updates are only accurate at this time and are subject to change at anytime.
20220105_AMFA_AS_Covid_Update.pdf
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August 8, 2021 -- In the wake of recent news, particularly with Friday’s report that UAL has become the first major airline to seek a company-wide mandated vaccination program, I wanted to reach out to you now after consulting with Legal in order to set out the following.
20210808_Memo_re_COVID_Vaccine.pdf
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March 9, 2021 -- AMFA National is calling for nominations from AMFA Locals representing the Alaska Airlines (AS) membership for the position of Alternate AMFA–AS Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. AMFA National will accept nominations from each Local until 5:00PM ET, March 30, 2021.
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February 10, 2021 -- Like many of their passengers, Alaska Airlines seems to be growing weary of Covid-19. Recently, Alaska Airlines began enforcing an ambiguous attendance policy in a manner never before seen — one that includes discipline for the use of accrued sick leave and lower thresholds for counseling or discipline than before the pandemic. Strangely enough, the new enforcement policy was put into action at the peak of the pandemic’s surge. This change in enforcement policy occurred while another special Covid policy mandating workers to stay home if they have Covid symptoms or were possibly exposed to the virus was in effect, coinciding with the CDC’s prevention steps and guidelines. The new draconian attendance policy enforcement is in direct conflict with the special policies instituted at the onset of the pandemic to provide additional protection and safety during these unprecedented times.
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January 13, 2021 -- We write to you as the management and labor leaders at Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, representing more than 22,000 employees, to thank you for your continued leadership during this unprecedented crisis and to urgently request your support for including front-line aviation workers at the earliest point possible in Phase 1B of Washington's COVID-19 Vaccination Plan ("Vaccination Plan").
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January 13, 2021 -- We write to you as the management and labor leaders at Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, representing more than 22,000 employees, to thank you for your continued leadership during this unprecedented crisis and to urgently request your support for including front-line aviation workers at the earliest point possible in Phase 1B of Oregon's COVID-19 Vaccination Plan ("Vaccination Plan").
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October 19, 2020 -- In accordance with the terms outlined in Article 23, Wage Rules, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met via video conference on October 15, 2020, to discuss the first Annual Wage Review of our current Extension Agreement. Both sides examined all data used for the review. We conducted the external review with the data we had, comparing the all-in wage to our primary competitors in accordance with the Agreement.
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September 25, 2020 -- We wanted to provide all of you with an update on the recent ruling and its implications. The recent arbitration ruling for Letter of Agreement #9, determined that at the six protected stations (Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Diego, and San Francisco) no furloughs will result in station layoff through the amendable date of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), currently October 17, 2023.
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September 24, 2020 -- On behalf of the 23,000 employees of Alaska Air Group's wholly owned airlines, Alaska Airlines (Alaska) and Horizon Air (Horizon), thank you for your leadership during these challenging times. We write to you today just six months from our last joint letter to request that you once again come together and sustain aviation jobs with an extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP), created in the CARES Act, in order to prevent involuntary furloughs at our airlines.
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August 6, 2020 -- AMFA and Alaska Airlines have met twice this week to discuss the EOP/ELILOF process. There were 33 EOP (Early Out Program) applicants, as well as four that applied for the bridge of ELILOF to the EOP when they turn 62. There are 56 applicants for the 1-year ELILOF, 15 of those were at top of scale, 41 are at various points of the pay scale, and 29 applicants applied for the various short-term leaves. he Company has stated that the mitigation effort to avoid furloughs is short of their target and we are continuing discussions on how to reach that goal. They would like to reach those numbers by the EOP and LILOF offers to our membership to avoid furloughs.
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July 23, 2020 -- I would like to thank you for placing your trust and confidence in the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) in representing you. We applaud your grassroots organizing efforts and collection of Accretion Authorization Cards from your workgroup in favor of AMFA. We are honored and promise to work hard on your behalf as your collective bargaining agent. AMFA filed on your behalf with the National Mediation Board (NMB), and we received a docket number on July 14, 2020, for NMB to perform further review and investigation on accretion representation for your work group.
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May 19, 2020
The votes for the Primary AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative Election were tallied on May 19, 2020. Votes for this election were counted and certified by ElectionBuddy, and the results are as follows:
Eligible Voters
Ballots Cast
881
141
(16.
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April 20, 2020 -- AMFA National is conducting an election for the position of Primary AMFA – Alaska Airlines Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. The election notice and personalized voting instructions POSTCARD will be mailed to eligible voters at the address on file with AMFA National by April 28, 2020. Voting credentials will also be emailed on April 23, 2020, to members who have a personal email address on file. The voting period for this election will end at 10:00 am et on May 19, 2020, the day of the tally.
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January 27, 2020 -- Friday, January 31, 2020, marks the 20 Year Anniversary of the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 accident. The accident occurred at approximately 4:22 pm off the southern California coast, just north of Los Angeles, where 88 people lost their lives. Almost half of those on board were non-revenue passengers that were connected with Alaska Air Group, with Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air.
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December 18, 2019 -- Today, on December 18th, we received final notification that effective October 24th, 2019, the National Mediation board recognizes our single carrier status – designating the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) as the sole representative body for Alaska’s maintenance technicians, inspectors, tech helpers, and janitors. This decision is the last step in the process that determines December 18th as the transition effective date as ratified during the vote that took place in July.
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July 18, 2019 --The votes for the AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) and Legacy Virgin America (VX) Referendum were tallied on July 18, 2019. Votes for this referendum were counted and certified by ElectionBuddy, and the results are as follows...
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June 19, 2019 -- What's in the new Transition Agreement?
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June 18, 2019 -- The votes for the Alternate AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative Election were tallied on June 18, 2019. Votes for this election were counted and certified by ElectionBuddy, and the results are as follows...
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June 10, 2019 -- On June 3, 2019, AMFA and Alaska Airlines (AS) announced an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on another Transition Agreement to integrate the Legacy Virgin America (Airbus) Technicians into our current collective bargaining agreement with Alaska Airlines. The AMFA Committee is working with the Company to finalize the documents and we should have them ready to send to you in the coming week. The full Transition Agreement with an updated Article 26 Schedule A Pay Scale, which will reflect what is in the Transition Agreement along with Seniority Agreement, will be emailed to each member’s Alaska email for review. It will also be posted on the Alaska Maintenance & Engineering website under the AMFA tab.
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June 5, 2019 -- We started off the year with a goal for our Maintenance and Engineering division to work as one team — on both the Boeing and Airbus fleets. On Monday, June 3rd, we moved closer to that goal when AMFA and Alaska Airlines reached a Transition Agreement (TA) in Principle.
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May 16, 2019 -- Representatives for AMFA and Alaska Airlines met in Seattle, WA on May 14, 2019, to continue discussions regarding a Transition Agreement to bring the Legacy Virgin American (Airbus) Aircraft Maintenance Technicians under the AMFA CBA and an Integrated Seniority List. During this session Alaska provided information that was requested by AMFA related to the terms of the other agreements on the property as well as other AMT groups in the industry. Neither side presented any additional proposals.
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May 13, 2019 -- AMFA and Alaska Airlines met in Seattle, WA on May 10, 2019, for a short session to discuss an Alaska Airlines–Virgin America Transition Agreement. For definition purposes, “All-in” is defined as including base pay, license premiums, line premium, and top scale longevity. We presented the Company with a proposal that included the following...
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May 2, 2019 -- Following the distribution of Update #8 earlier this week, our membership has been very vocal they have no appetite for a contract extension agreement; therefore, we informed Alaska Airlines on May 1, 2019, that we withdrew our counter offer.
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April 30, 2019 -- AMFA and Alaska Airlines met in Seattle, WA on April 25, 2019, for a short session to discuss an Alaska Airlines – Virgin America Transition Agreement. The Company began by stating they didn’t want to see a line drawn down the middle of the breakrooms separating the Airbus and Boeing Technician workgroups. They also told us “to get more money for more time.”
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March 11, 2019 -- Technician Integrated Seniority List (ISL) and Transition Agreement (TA) discussions continued last week. Representatives from Alaska and AMFA met on Wednesday afternoon to continue those discussions. We agree that we are not at an impasse and will continue to meet and work through the issues.
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March 5, 2019
AMFA National is calling for nominations from AMFA Locals representing the Alaska Airlines (ASA) membership for the position of Alternate AMFA–ASA Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. AMFA National will accept nominations from each Local until 5:00PM ET, March 26, 2019.
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December 17, 2018 -- The votes for the AMFA – Alaska Airlines (ASA) and Legacy Virgin America (VX) 2nd Referendum were tallied on December 17, 2018. Votes for this referendum were counted and certified by TrueBallot, Inc. and the results are as follows...
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November 27, 2018 -- The AMFA – Alaska Airlines (AS) Negotiating Committee has requested a system-wide referendum regarding a Transition Agreement and Seniority Integration Agreement Package. The complete text of these agreements was emailed to each member’s company email address and is posted on the AMFA tab on the Alaska Maintenance & Engineering website.
AS_VX_Seniority_Integration_Agreement.pdf
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AMFA_ASA_Transition_Agreement.pdf
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November 19, 2018 -- On November 15, 2018, AMFA and Alaska Airlines have reached a Tentative Agreement on an Alaska Airlines -Virgin America Transition Agreement. We also received a commitment letter from Kurt Kinder stating timelines that upon ratification of this agreement he will bring current outsourced line maintenance on Airbus aircraft under our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
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November 7, 2018 -- This is a correction to Update #6 that was published on November 1, 2018. The enhancements that were tentatively agreed upon contained an error that could lead to confusion. The verbiage on 401(k) incorrectly stated...
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November 1, 2018 -- AMFA and Alaska Airlines met in Seattle, WA on October 22, 2018, for a one-day session to discuss an Alaska Airlines–Virgin America Transition Agreement. We delivered a Transition Agreement proposal, and after a lengthy discussion, we were very close to reaching an agreement in principal. Towards the end of our session, we asked Kurt Kinder to agree in writing that if this Transition Agreement passes, he will bring back the Airbus outsourced maintenance of “A” check and below to be worked by AMFA represented technicians as he has stated to this Negotiating Committee and to our members.
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October 10, 2018 -- In accordance with the terms outlined in Article 23, Wage Rules, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met on October 2, 2018, to discuss the second year Annual Wage Review of our current Agreement in Seattle, WA. Both sides viewed all data used for the review. We then conducted an external review of our all-in wage compared to our primary competitors in accordance with the Agreement.
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October 1, 2018 -- We are now two and a half months since you voiced your disappointment in the offer to integrate the Airbus (Virgin) Technicians into our group. We have since surveyed our group and analyzed the membership’s feedback. The survey and the comments received during the roadshow highlight the top three items leading to the package being rejected: 1) the additional year to the contract, 2) not enough economic incentive, and 3) disparate treatment overall compared to what the Pilot and Flight Attendant groups received for integration.
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August 11, 2018 -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) is saddened by last night's Horizon Air Q400 incident. Our heart goes out to the individual's family and to Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines employees.
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July 25, 2018 -- The AMFA-ASA Negotiating Committee has called for a survey of the membership regarding the recent rejection of the AMFA-ASA and Virgin America (VX) Transition and Seniority Integration Agreements Package. Your feedback will help guide your Negotiating Committee to pursue an agreement worthy of the membership's approval.
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July 19, 2018 -- The AMFA–ASA and Legacy Virgin America (VX) Referendum concluded today and we are pleased with the voter-turnout for this vote. The AMFA – ASA membership voted to reject the Transition and Seniority Integration Agreements Package. Thank you to the 83.57% of the ASA membership who participated in this system-wide vote.
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May 22, 2018 -- On May 18, 2018, AMFA and Alaska Airlines announced an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on a Transition Agreement to integrate the Legacy Virgin America Technicians into our current collective bargaining agreement with Alaska Airlines. The AMFA Committee is working with the Company to finalize the Transition Agreement language, and we should have the document ready to send out to you in the coming week. The full Transition and Seniority Integration Agreements will be emailed to each member’s Alaska email for review. It will also be posted on the Alaska Maintenance & Engineering website under the AMFA tab.
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On May 16, 2018, Alaska Airlines (AS) and AMFA announced a Merger Transition Agreement in Principal has been reached to combine the company’s AS and Virgin America technician groups. “I extend my appreciation for the patience and professionalism during this negotiation process. Our Negotiating Committee worked tirelessly to achieve this Merger Transition Agreement with Alaska,” said Bret Oestreich, National Director. “It represents subsidiary enhancements in job protections and 401(k) for our unified members.”
20180516 PR AMFA ASA Merger Transition Agreement.pdf
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May 10, 2018 -- The votes for the AMFA – Alaska Airlines Sick Leave Exchange for Retirement Health Care Letter of Agreement (LOA) Referendum were tallied on May 10, 2018. Votes for this referendum were counted and certified by TrueBallot, Inc. and the results are:
Sick Leave Exchange for Retire Health Care LOA 16 Text.pdf
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April 6, 2016 -- In March 2018, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Primary AMFA – Alaska Airlines (ASA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. ASA members of Locals 14 and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Kevin Jurasinski.
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March 25, 2018 -- As you will remember, the Company advised us in our first two Transition Agreement negotiation sessions that there would be no enhancements to existing collective bargaining agreements (CBA) as part of any work group’s transition agreement. The Company, however, abandoned that mantra when it provided the Flight Attendants with several enhancements to their existing CBA and a two-year extension as part of that transition process. Therefore, in response to our members’ directives, we commenced this week’s session with a proposal that mirrored the enhancements received by the Flight Attendants...
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January 28, 2018 -- AMFA and Alaska Airlines met in Seattle, WA on January 24 and 25 to discuss a Virgin America –Alaska Airlines Transition Agreement. We started off by notifying the Company that we will need additional time to discuss our issues with Letter of Agreement (LOA) #12, Vacation Buyback, as the tax attorney we intended to have present this week is no longer with Milliman, the retirement consulting firm we are using.
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January 11, 2018 -- AMFA and Alaska Airlines met in Dallas, Texas on January 2 and 3 to discuss a Virgin America – Alaska Airlines Transition Agreement. Our Committee started by explaining to the Company that before we would have any discussions on a Transition Agreement, we needed to make every effort outside of arbitration to resolve three contractual items recently taking up a lot of time and resources.
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November 22, 2017 -- The AMFA-ASA and Virgin America committees met to continue discussions on seniority integration in Livermore, CA on November 14 and 15. After two days of discussions we would like to announce that we have reached an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on seniority integration. While the major
components have been agreed upon, we still have some specific language that remains to be written and agreed upon in order to reach a formal Tentative Agreement (TA).
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October 18, 2017 -- AMFA leaders and the Virgin America Committee met in Seattle, WA to commence discussions on seniority integration of the Alaska Airlines (ASA) and Virgin America workgroups. This meeting started with introductions. Lonny McGrew of the Virgin Committee gave a statement on behalf of their committee expressing how grateful they were to have had the opportunity to work for a company with such great culture and a career that was bright, and he concluded with being unsure of the security of their career at ASA. Our Committee gave them an overview of AMFA and its structure. We then discussed what Alaska Labor Relations and Virgin are telling each other to expect through this process.
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October 18, 2017 -- In accordance with the terms outlined in Article 23, Wage Rules, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to discuss the first Annual Wage Review of our current Agreement in Seattle, WA. Both sides reviewed all data used for the review, and we found that the data was incomplete when it came to some contracts Line Premium and longevity. We explained that this data is needed to do a proper review; the Company will inquire to get that data as soon as possible. We then conducted the external review with the data we did have, using the all-in wage compared to our primary competitors in accordance with the Agreement.
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March 3, 2017 -- It is clear by the outcome of today's 76.25% majority vote that the AMFA–Alaska Airlines membership thought it was the right decision for themselves and their families to accept the Tentative Agreement.
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March 3, 2017 -- The votes for the AMFA – Alaska Airlines Tentative Agreement (TA) were tallied on March 3, 2017. Ballots for this referendum were counted and certified by TrueBallot, Inc. and the results are as follows...
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January 9, 2017 -- On December 10, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines announced an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on a new five
year agreement. The AMFA Committee has been working with the Company over the last three weeks drafting
the new language, and we now have a Tentative Agreement (TA) ready for membership consideration. The AMFA – Alaska Airlines Technician Negotiating Committee has scheduled the following Contract
Tentative Agreement Question and Answer Meetings around the system to discuss the TA and to answer
questions from the membership...
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December 13, 2016 -- We would like to announce that we have reached an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on our contract with ASA. On December 9-10, 2016, AMFA and ASA met to continue negotiations at the Westin Hotel in Bellevue, WA. We started at 10:00 am on Friday and finished at approximately 11:15 pm. We continued our session from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturday, whereas we came to an AIP with the Company.
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December 13, 2016 -- The Alaska Airlines (ASA) Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMT) are major contributors to the Company’s record profits, safety record, cost structure, reliability, on-time performance, and overall success. Despite the rapid changes in the airline industry and current shortage of qualified, tenured Technicians, the aviation industry continues in an economic upturn. The big four – Delta, American, United, and Southwest Airlines– have helped raise the bar for economic packages due to the last 15 years of stagnation and concessions that have resulted in record profits and substantial growth in the industry.
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December 7, 2016 -- As you know, AMFA is currently engaged in collective bargaining with Alaska Airlines pursuant to the Railway Labor Act. As long as that lasts, the parties are required to refrain from “self help” until released by the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) from mediation and a thirty-day cooling off period has expired. This means that during the negotiating process Alaska is prohibited from initiating a lockout or unilaterally changing the terms of our collective bargaining agreement. It also means that AMFA-represented employees are prohibited from engaging in concerted job actions designed to create bargaining leverage. Federal courts have defined “self help” to include, among other things, group overtime boycotts.
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December 7, 2016 -- On December 1 and 2, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Courtyard Marriott in Anchorage, Alaska. We started the first day at 9:00 am with the Company giving an update on their draft of the new Maintenance & Engineering (M&E) expense report policy and where they are at with publishing it. We should see it next year so that stations can budget for the change. The Company then gave an update on the Commuter Pass Policy for M&E. The Company said that they are waiting for changes to the pass policy to come out before they do anything.
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November 8, 2016 -- On November 1–3, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Four Points Hotel in Seattle, WA. We started the first day at 9:00 AM, with the Company asking us to go over our last economic proposal from October 13, 2016. The Company then wanted to do another review where Alaska Technicians would be ranked for all-in wages (all-in wages include base pay, license premiums, line premium, and maximum longevity) within the current airline industry.
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October 18, 2016 -- AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Semiahmoo Resort near Blaine, WA. We started the first day at 9:00 am, with the Company informing us that they were not yet ready to give us a complete comprehensive counter proposal, and required some more time before they would be able to present it to us.
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October 4, 2016 -- September 27–29, 2016, AMFA and ASA met to continue negotiations at the CenterPoint Corporate Park in Kent, Washington. We started the first day with informing the Company that we wanted to reopen Article 16, Grievance Procedures; Article 1, System Board of Adjustment; and Article 21, General and Miscellaneous. This has to do with the Company’s use of Supervisor Records of Discussion (FS-01s) and the access the union has to them for the grievance process.
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September 6, 2016 -- On August 29 – September 1, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Hilton Garden in Kennewick, WA. We started the first day, which was a half-day session, with the Company informing us that they planned to give us a complete comprehensive proposal the next day. As they weren’t ready to give us the proposal without being able to go over it with us due to time constraints, we broke early for the day to allow the Company to work on their proposal for us.
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August 11, 2016 -- The Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the AMFA Membership at Alaska Airlines. This is the only official authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee. AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Hilton Hotel in Santa Rosa, California. We were scheduled for a two and a half day session August 3–5, 2016. We got a late start on August 3rd, which was a scheduled half-day session, due to the late arrival of flights.
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July 25, 2016 -- On July 18-20, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the CenterPoint Center in Kent, Washington. We started this session with our proposed changes to the language in Article 22, Insurance. Our proposal was in response to the Company’s proposed changes to insurance during talks in our previous negotiating session. We proposed to limit our contribution rate cap increases to 5% per year based on our 2016 contribution rates, rather than the 8% increases that the Company wants added to the maximum allowable rate caps in our current agreement.
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July 7, 2016 -- June 28th-30th, 2016 AMFA and Alaska Airlines met for a two-and-a-half day session to continue negotiations. We met at the CenterPoint Conference Center in Kent, Washington. We started the first day, which was a half-day session, with discussions on Article 22 Insurance.
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June 7, 2016 -- On May 31 through June 2, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Hilton Garden Inn in Livermore, CA. The first day we reviewed our agenda and action item list. The Company shared the Travel Bureau Commuter Pass Policy, which will be published on the Maintenance & Engineering SharePoint site along with an additional Divisional Policy document containing exceptions that can be granted by the VP of Maintenance & Engineering.
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May 16, 2016 -- On May 9–11, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Alki Bakery in Seattle, WA. We started the first day, which was a half-day session, reviewing our agenda. The Company informed us that they have drafted a Commuter Pass Policy and are sending it to the Travel Bureau for review before bringing it to the next Airlines Contract Committee (ACC) meeting on May 26, for us to review. We then began reviewing Article 4, Classification of Work. The Company brought up cross-utilization across bid locations.
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April 19, 2016 -- April 12–13, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Alki Bakery "Baker Room" in Kent, WA. We started the first day discussing how the contract negotiations will still move forward during the Virgin America merger. Then we moved on to talking about Article 8, paragraph K, Special Projects. Between negotiations sessions the Company had some supervisors try to call a mock special project using the language we had agreed to. With that feedback, the committees reviewed the language and changed portions of paragraph K to make it clearer and easier to select members for the special project and to match the intent of the Article.
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April 12, 2016 -- In February 2016 we posted for two AMFA – Alaska Airlines (ASA) Accident Investigation Team (AIT) positions: Party Coordinator and Alternate Party Coordinator. We received four applications for these positions. Over the past few weeks I have reviewed applications and interviewed all four applicants for the two available positions on the team.
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In March 2016, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Primary AMFA – Alaska Airlines (ASA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. Alaska Airlines members of Locals 14 and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Kevin Jurasinski.
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April 4, 2016 -- The AMFA - Alaska Airlines Negotiating Committee is providing this notice of change to the schedule for our next negotiations session. Due to a scheduling conflict, our Committee and the Company have agreed to cancel the half-day session for Monday April 11, 2016. We will continue our discussions at the CenterPoint Corporate Park Conference Center, in the Common’s Building, in the Mt. Baker room. The official address is 20809 72nd Ave S, Kent, Washington 98032. The AMFA - Alaska Airlines Negotiating Committee is providing this notice of change to the schedule for our next negotiations session.
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March 28–31, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Embassy Suites in Portland, Oregon. We started the first day, which was a half-day session, reviewing our agenda. The Company informed us that they were not willing to discuss Article 3, Status at this time. We then started with Article 19, Severance Allowance; our proposal was to increase the severance amount as Alaska is not in line with the other carriers in the industry. After discussion, no conclusion was made at this time. We then went on to discuss Letter of Agreement # 13, Health and Wellness and decided to come back to it at a later date. We then moved on to Article 11, Leave of Absence; our proposal on this article was for Union Override, which is the amount the Company charges the Union while we are on Union business.
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Today, April 4, 2016, Alaska Airlines announced that it is acquiring Virgin America Airlines. The transaction has generated a number of questions on how the transaction will affect Alaska Airlines Mechanics and Related Employees. The short answer is that the transaction should not impact AMFA represented employees in the near term.
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On February 29 and March 1, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met and continued Section 6 Negotiations at the Centerpoint Corporate Park in Kent, Washington. We started the first day by reviewing what had been accomplished in the last session. We then went on to discuss Article 8, Field Service and Special Projects. The committees discussed the removal of "Major" from K 2, line 11, page 44, "Major Structures," because of the confusion with the FAA’s definition of a Major Repair and the intent of Major as used in the special project language. We then continued in Article 8,K combining "A&P Line" and "A&P Base" into one list of A&P.
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February 8-10, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the Courtyard by Marriott Anchorage Airport. AMFA and the Company started the first day, which was a half-day session, reviewing the last session’s take away items. The first of those items was Letter of Agreement #6, which deals with chemical dependency. The Company had the letter reviewed by Josh Madsen, Alaska’s Director of Health Benefits & Medical Relations, who made some very simple changes to the language, but after review, both committees decided to leave the letter as is.
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January 19-21, 2016, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to continue negotiations at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Seattle Airport – Southcenter in Tukwila, Washington. AMFA and the Company started the first day, which was a half-day session, developing some ground rules around the negotiations process and rules for observers going forward.
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The AMFA - Alaska Airlines Negotiating Committee is providing this notice of change of venue for our next negotiations session. Due to the inability to reserve all three upcoming dates at the CenterPoint Corporate Park conference center in Kent, Washington, The location has been changed to the Doubletree Hotel Suites Seattle Airport - Southcenter, Tukwila, WA.
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On Monday December 21, 2015, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to exchange Section 6 Negotiation Openers at the Center Point Business Park in Kent, Washington. Greg Mays started things off by asking both Committees to introduce themselves for the observers in the room. He then gave a short opening statement, in which he explained that the Company was dedicated to reaching an agreement by the amendable date, and that it would be good for the Company and our members. As part of the discussion, he asked us to set aside dates through March.
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The AMFA-Alaska Airlines (ASA) Negotiating Committee met with Alaska Airlines management on December 21, 2015, to start to amend our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). An update of this opening negotiation session will be out later this week or the first part of next week. In the meantime, for those of you involved in your first negotiations or for those who need a refresher, please refer to the following synopsis.
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We are pleased to inform you that we have scheduled the first negotiation session with Alaska Airlines for Monday, December 21, 2015, at the CenterPoint Corporate Park Conference Center in Kent, Washington. This will be a half-day session starting at 1:00 PM to exchange negotiation openers.
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In accordance with the terms outlined in Article 23, Wage Rules, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to discuss the fourth and final Annual Wage Review of our current Agreement in Oakland, California. Both sides reviewed all data used for the review. We then conducted an external review of our all-in wage compared to our primary competitors in accordance with the Agreement. The rates used were as of September 15, 2015, with none of the compared carriers’ rates expected to change before October 17, 2015, the effective date of the contractual 1.5% pay increase. The all in rates, which includes base pay, license premiums, line premium, and longevity at the top of each scale are: 1) Southwest $43.89, 2) Delta $39.55, 3) Alaska $39.14, 4) US Airways $38.01, 5) JetBlue $38.00, 6) United $36.92, 6) American $36.63, 7) Frontier $32.37.
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In accordance with Article XXIII, Section 3 of the AMFA Constitution, AMFA National is conducting a survey to prioritize proposals submitted for the upcoming AMFA – Alaska Airlines contract negotiations. This survey gives you an opportunity to indicate your opinion of the level of importance for each proposal by ranking it high, neutral, or low priority, and the results of this prioritization vote will be given to the Negotiation Committee to be used during the contract negotiation process. The complete text of the 62 compiled proposals will be displayed on the survey website.
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In March 2015 AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Alternate AMFA – Alaska Airlines (ASA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. Alaska Airlines members of Locals 14 and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve Form process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Tony Kondziela.
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In accordance with the terms outlined in Article 23, Wage Rules, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met to discuss the Annual Wage Review on September 19, 2014, at the Hangar in Seattle, Washington. Both sides reviewed all data used for the review and agreed on that data. We then started by conducting an external review of our all-in wage compared to our primary competitors in accordance to the agreement; the rates used were as of October 17, 2014, the effective date of the contractual 1.5% pay increase. Here are those all in rates, which includes base pay, license premiums, line premium, and longevity at the top of each of those scales...
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To ensure the remains of fallen service members are treated with respect and dignity upon arrival, a special blue baggage cart with American flag curtains and red carpet has been delivered to Los Angeles International Airport. During a dedication ceremony Monday at LAX, Seattle employees presented the cart to their Los Angeles counterparts, accompanied by an honor guard and representatives from Los Angeles World Airports.
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In March 2014, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Primary AMFA – Alaska Airlines (ASAP) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative.
Alaska Airlines members of Locals 14 and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position.
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The Alaska Airlines team competed in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition (formerly called the MX Skill Competition or MX Olympics) in Las Vegas on March 26-27, 2014. The event is held each year and teams from across the US and abroad compete against each other in several challenges of their skill. The Alaska Airlines team, comprised of AMFA members, competed heartily and earned the 3rd place award. AMFA congratulates the dedicated members who were involved in team.
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On September 30, 2013, AMFA and Alaska Airlines met in accordance with the terms of Article 23, Wage Rules to initiate discussions for our annual wage review. Both sides reviewed and agreed to all data used for the review. We then started by doing an external review of our “all in” wage as compared to the seven carriers referred to in the Contract. The rates used where as of October 17, 2013, the day the contractual minimum 1.5% base wage increase would have gone into affect.
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