United Management Talking to You About Concessions is a Violation of the Law

Page updated: August 28, 2002

The personal meetings with your supervisor happen to coincide with management’s threat of bankruptcy and demand for employee concessions. Our Union is the legal bargaining representative for United Flight Attendants and any attempts by management or other employee groups to negotiate directly with you is troubling, counterproductive and a violation of the Railway Labor Act.

The Railway Labor Act provides law that defines negotiations for fair bargaining. One of the benefits we have as a Union member is that our Union is our advocate. Our Union leaders gather all information available from past negotiations, outside consultants, meetings with management, Flight Attendant experience and input at the 20 Local Councils to make the most informed decision in the best interest of our careers.

AFA certainly agrees that Flight Attendants should educate themselves about all the issues, and share your views with your local AFA leaders. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security if a member of management asks you about your “feelings” surrounding the state of the company. Remember, supervisors do not have our professions’ best interests in mind. Any information you receive from management will have the company’s spin, or agenda. AFA is in place to serve the best interests of the membership and ensure that those interests are protected in negotiations with the company.

As you attend your personal meeting, keep in mind that a personal meeting is with a member of management and may include discussing matters that pertain to your personal work life. It should not include any training or discussions of company initiatives, strategy, or finance. We suggest you use this flyer as a reference during your meeting as well as the back side of the paper to take notes during your meeting. Let your Local Council know about the content of the meetings.

If your supervisor reviews your Personnel File during the meeting, follow Section 25 (pages 161-163) of our Contract to make sure the following guidelines are met:

• Passenger complaint letters may not be placed in the file unless the flight attendant is clearly identified in the letter (25.C.1.a.), the complaint was concerning something over which the Flight Attendant had some control (25.C.1.b.), the letter is reviewed with the Flight Attendant and she/he has the opportunity to add comments to the letter (25.C.1.c.), the name of the person writing the letter is clearly identified. According to 25.C., all passenger complaint letters will be removed at the first opportunity from the employee’s file a period of 12 months of active service from the date of their receipt, provided there have been no other infractions during that period.
• A Flight Attendant may attach comments to any observation or evaluation reports in the file (25.D.).
• Inflight observation reports shall be removed and given to the Flight Attendant after two years of active service from date of issuance, provided that with respect to unsatisfactory reports, no further unsatisfactory inflight observation reports have been issued during that time (25.E.).
• Disciplinary action will be removed from the file after two years of active service, providing no further disciplinary action has been taken (25.F.1.).
• Commendation letters removed shall be given to the Flight Attendant (25.J.).

When you schedule these meetings, be sure that your Contractual legalities are being met. As with anything else, our Contract must be abided.

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