October 12, 2024 Union Update

Good Day Crew,

This newsletter will cover a variety of topics and also prepare you for our upcoming Zoom meeting tomorrow,  October 13, 2024 at 5pm ET. The link is available at the end of the newsletter.

Meeting Minutes from September 27, 2024

Please see the document HERE.

Negotiations Team

Thank you to everyone who applied for the Negotiations team. Please see your negotiations team below:

Katarzyna Mroczek (MIA) - President

Theodore Pavlik (MIA) - Vice President

Jhenelle Jacas (JFK)

Dylan Salvi (alternate)

A survey is currently being put together by AFA to be sent out to the crew about the articles that are most important to the crew for us to discuss in our negotiations.

The team will be working asynchronously and in person with our lawyer to prepare for our negotiations and will be updating you throughout this process.

Grievance Committee Members

Due to Ismael's resignation from the company and Andrea, our other Grievance rep, moving to OSL base, we had to fill some slots on these committees. Thank you to everyone who applied.

Please see your new grievance team below:

Dylan Salvi (JFK)

Sara Bower (JFK)

Desislava Marinov (MIA)

Theodore Pavlik (MIA) - Grievance Committee Chair

Jhenelle Jacas (JFK) will also be trained in Grievance Procedures and will assume a role on the committee once negotiations have concluded.

Mediation Update

We were scheduled to do mediation in Fort Lauderdale on October 8-9 and it was cancelled due to Hurricane Milton.

The meeting will be rescheduled and the crew will be notified of those dates when confirmed.

EAP MEC Chair

The time has come for us to select an MEC Chair for our EAP committee.

This position is only open to current EAP committee members.

Applications must be sent to [email protected] by Thursday, October 17, 2024 by 1pm ET.

Please see the job description for this position HERE.

Benefits Committee Update

Our Benefits committee has been working tirelessly to secure additional arrangements for us. 

There have been discussions with several companies and we will update the website and send communications once any contracts have been signed.

Please also remember that you have access to several benefits through UnionPlus and through our Health Insurance. 

Check out UnionPlus benefits HERE

See Blue365 Deals through our insurance HERE

Communications Committee Update

Brandon Readus (JFK) has agreed to join the Communications Committee and is being onboarded as to the procedures set in place.Thank you Brandon for agreeing to come on! 

There will be some changes coming to the union website within the next couple of weeks. Some information will be added about different committees and it's members, other things will be updated and reorganised. 

There may be times when certain pages will be unavailable or the information may seem to be out of date, please give us grace during this period. 

As a reminder, if you have any issues that you need to discuss with the union, feel free to reach out to the union at [email protected] from your personal email. 

EAP Update

Our EAP team has been made aware of an incident that took place on a flight where an engine was lost upon landing and the plane had to be met on the tarmac as per procedure with firefighting forces. The crew was debriefed by the commander, however, EAP was not notified of this incident until several days later.

We are working with the company to ensure that we are notified of such incidents so that we are able to offer immediate support to the crew and to put procedures in place so that if any such incident occurs, the crew will be met by Management and/or the EAP and offered resources. 

The hurricanes that have affected Florida, Georgia and North Carolina in the past weeks have been devastating. There are other storms projected that could potentially affect the United States in the coming weeks as well.

The fear and anxiety that these storms produce can be difficult for people with mental health issues and those who are going through addiction recovery. Staying connected during these teams can be difficult, but is very important.

Our EAP team is here to assist you to navigate through these situations. However, that is not the only time we are available to you.

Please reach out to EAP if you need ANY assistance or support.

Phone: 1-800-424-2406 or 202-434-0560

Phone or Text or Whatsapp: 301-437-0390

Email: [email protected]

Government Affairs Committee Update

Election Day is Tuesday November 5 and this is the most important election of our lifetime. 

You can request mail-in ballots for this election and also engage in early voting if your state allows it. 

Check your status using THIS LINK and ensure you vote in this upcoming election.

Hotel Committee Update

Our hotel committee has confirmed that our JFK crew hotel will remain the same throughout the winter. Our LGW crew hotel contract will also remain at the Hilton Gatwick Airport.  

As it relates to the hotels given on charters, our committee has no say in the choosing of our hotels, the other airlines makes those choices. If you do have any issues with the hotels provided during the charter, be sure to take photos and file a Centrik report as usual.

As a reminder, once you have filed reports about any hotel and transportation issues, please send a copy of that report to the hotel committee at [email protected]

Human Rights and Equity Committee

Please see our latest Human Rights Committee update HERE.

The committee is also working on a budget for upcoming trainings and schedules for the coming year and will share them with you once they have been finalized.

If you do not have any union pins at all, please reach out to Jhenelle or stop her if you see her on the line to get one. She also has a few veteran union pins and will be placing an order for additional pins for causes shortly. 

Zoom Meeting on October 13, 2024

As you may have seen announced by the company today, MIA base will be returning to the NO AOC effective on the next roster.

We will be discussing this and other scheduling concerns on a Zoom meeting tomorrow at 5pm ET/3pm PT. 

Please join us using the link below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88064675723

As a reminder, please do not share the link with anyone. Our last zoom meeting was hacked and caused quite a few issues.

Lastly, please ensure that your name is clearly displayed otherwise you will not be admitted. Names like "Iphone", "Zoom User" and other such tags will result in you being denied entry. If you have any issues accessing the Zoom or changing your name, please reach out to our Communications Chair, Jhenelle, and she will be able to assist you.

Reminder:

You can find all our recent newsletters and information about the union and what we are working on at the Norse AFA website.
Visit the website today at norseafa.org

Sign up to receive important text alerts from your Norse AFA MEC by texting afanaa to 49484 or by clicking THIS LINK to register.

In Solidarity,

Kat & Ted