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Northwest Airlines Flight Attendant Forum Postings Page

By Carol Huang

NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Northwest Airlines Corp <NWAC.O> cut short its annual shareholders meeting on Friday after union members heckled company officials in a clear sign labor woes at the nation's fourth-largest airline are far from over.

The airline is still recovering from a strike by its pilots last summer that cost it more than $600 million before it signed a new contract with

them. And now it is facing increasingly-contentious talks with flight attendants.

The annual meeting ended with Northwest Chairman Gary Wilson walking off

stage after members of the Teamster's union representing the airline's 11,000 flight attendants continued shouting out questions despite Wilson's requests for peace.

"Either the rules of conduct are observed, or we discontinue this process," Wilson warned minutes before he walked out amid boos and catcalls.

As part of its campaign to put pressure on the airline to conclude a contract with its flight attendants, the Teamsters union inflated a giant rat outside the skyscraper in Manhattan's theater district where Northwest held the meeting.

"These flight attendants have been in negotiations for two and a half years," Ray Benning, director of the airline division for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said while standing under the rat, one of the Teamsters' favorite symbols of corporate greed.

An airline spokesman said the airline is hopeful both sides can agree to a new contract, but company executives sounded less than conciliatory during the meeting.

When asked whether the airline was prepared to endure another costly labor battle, Wilson said Northwest had to keep its costs competitive with those at rival airlines.

"We are anxious as you are to have a contract that is fair to you and the company," Wilson said, adding however that the airline would not make concessions that would hurt its cost structure in the future.

"That is the reason that at some point you have to have strikes," he said.

Labor groups at Northwest have pushed harder for better contracts in recent years as the airline has recovered from its near bankruptcy in 1993 and as its profits have risen.

Labor officials say Northwest employees deserve a share in the airline's

profits in light of the pay cuts they accepted in 1993 as part of a plan to rescue the airline.

Apart from a 3 percent increase in 1996, Northwest flight attendants have not had a raise in 10 years.

Jon Austin, a spokesman for the airline, said Northwest flight attendant

salaries start in the low teens and rise to $40,000 or $50,000 a year for senior flight attendants.

"There is no dispute on either side that salaries have fallen behind the

industry (average)," Austin said. "Everybody acknowledges the flight attendants need pay increases. We're just negotiating how much."

Flight attendants remain one of the last labor groups at Northwest still

mired in contract talks.

Besides a pact with its pilots, the company has reached contracts with its flight dispatchers, aircraft technicians and five out of six groups represented by the International Association of Machinists.

Northwest officials said labor expenses at Northwest are the No. 2 cost after fuel, but the Teamsters say Northwest's labor costs are the lowest of any leading U.S. airline.

Airline flight attendants, like airline pilots, are covered under the National Railway Labor Act, which requires federal mediators to declare an impasse in talks and to release parties from further mediation before a strike can take place.

Under the law, labor groups who have been released from mediation must wait for a 30-day cooling off period to end before they stage a strike.

Flight attendants at the meeting say they are frustrated and would support a strike. "The majority of us want to get out today. Enough is enough," said Danny Blackmon, a flight attendant for 15 years.

REUTERS

My Highlights of LAX Base Meeting May 18th

From: Moderator
Date: 5/19/99
Time: 6:41:02 PM

Comments

1. Retro pay will be 3.5% instead of 100% of what we did not get for the past three years. This sets a precedent for NWA to delay all future negotiations and save money for management bonuses.

2. Our pay increase will be in the 20% range spread out over 5 years. If your base pay is now $2400 per month think of it as an extra $96 per month before taxes. Is this what we have been waiting for?

3. A purser/permanent lead position that pays the same basically as the South flight attendants main cabin coordinator position for the past few years. We have been fighting this for the past twenty years and now it will become a reality on all international flights.

4. Language qualified flight attendant pay for designated routes by the company.

5. Reimbursement up to $2500 for flight attendants to learn a second language the company feels is useful. To be paid after you pass the company proficiency test. The amount is not much incentive to learn let alone pay for at today's college tuition rates.

6. Pension plan to be at $51 per year of service. After thirty years at NWA and being 65 you can collect $1530. If we had used the final average earnings plan that the union negotiators felt was too costly for the company (Stockholm syndrome) to start up to match the pilot and management plans a thirty year flight attendant making $45,000 on the final average earnings plan would take home $2250 per month. The difference is $27,000 per year on retirement and $18,360. These are rough numbers for salary as salaries differ according to types of flying and so forth but those making $60,000 per year would take home on retirement $36,000. Anyway you look at the final average earnings plan would make us more in retirement. Why else would the management team have elected that plan for themselves. Did they think it was too costly to start up? Will social security be there for us in ten twenty years as the union negotiators think?

7. Holiday pay for two holidays per year. Christmas and New Years. NWA has twelve holidays on their calendar what happened to the other ten? Will that make you want to work the Fourth of July this year? Is this what we have been waiting for?

8. TWA is being released into an impasse and the union feels that we would not be released by the mediation board as the president will not allow two airlines to strike after the governors and politicians complained last time. Is this good timing or what?

9. Have been told the contract will be available at road shows. Do we want a copy to see in its enirety before signing? I believe we all do. I think the synopsis idea failed us all last time. 11,000 eyes are better than six when it affects us all. We can't complain about it later if we read the entire contract and sign it prior. I believe our dues covers this expense. Again a low ball figure of $30 per month dues times 11,000 is $330,000 per month the union receives. Some of us pay more ($38).

10. The duration of the contract will be 6 years plus the 3 we have already given them. That totals 9 years. Who had the nerve to laugh when United signed a ten year contract?

That is basically the what we have been told from the union yesterday in LAX. Is it good news? NO I DON'T THINK SO!!!! What can we do? First get those Strike ballots in soon. They must be in before the 5th of June. VOTE YES to strike.

Secondly call your Union negotiators and let them know how you feel. It seems the Stockholm syndrome has set in with them. We have fought long and hard to get ahead and it has been a very long struggle. Lets not let them get detracted from a fair and industry leading contract. We shared the pain now lets share the gain. Who wants to be in the Guinness book of records for Oldest Flight Attendant not able to retire?

Thirdly work to contract. If you are short crew don't compensate by giving the extra service. We now do a full DC-10 with six. That is four in the back. We had five for years when the FAA allowed it and the company feels six is more than enough. Don't do all the prep work for the ala cart service on the ground. Per diem is not minimum wage. When the door closes you are at your hourly rate. Both the Republicans and the Democrats believe $1.40 an hour is substandard. Why does NWA believe they can pay us that and force us to work 1.5 hours for that rate? Perhaps Walter Mondale and the board have different ideas on fairness. Will he run again? Would you vote for him? Also don't fly high time. A canceled flight now will bring a contract much sooner than you think. We said it years ago if we all do high time they will never hire more people. The result will be a stagnated seniority number. Reserves will remain on reserve for a long time.

Fourthly we must remain United and strong. When we vote to strike we must mean it. Get your finances in order. Borrow against that 401k plan the company refuses to match. Pay yourself the 9.25% interest instead of all the credit card companies we have been forced to rely on for the past few years. When people question why we are not paid enough ask them what they made 15 years ago and if they could still live on that salary? How much has a loaf of bread gone up? How much has insurance gone up. When we got laid off in 1982 our insurance premium was $55. What is it now? We all live check to check and it has been way too long. We are not Mike Levine and getting a golden parachute out the door with millions of dollars and passes for life after five years working here.

Last but not least for today apply at United and Delta. They are hiring and I hear the pay is good. They have been doing their recruiting on the NWA flights and at the gates. A lot of NWA flight attendant with 10 years seniority are over in training now. Don't wait too long and be the junior one at the respectable airlines. We just had 18 new hire trainees on the flight to LAX the other night. The majority of them were 18 years old. One girl left high school early to be in training. What next kindergarten recruits? By the way those training them to be our replacements are not doing us a favor. Let them know that.

Have a great day.

Lets Demand the Contract on the Internet now!!! Or summer will be over

From: HNL FA from Joses email
Date: 6/16/99
Time: 4:07:05 AM
Remote Name: 152.163.205.62

Comments

Let me take this item from the article I just sent you . .

This sentence was a quote from our Union. >> Teamsters Local 2000 hopes to distribute the proposed contract within two weeks and conduct a ratification vote in mid July. <<

First Question. Our Union has access to telephone hotlines and the internet bulk email list. Why is the news media finding out about the release of our T.A. before all of us who voted 99.4% for Strike Authorization?

Second Question. Why two weeks? Two weeks is the end of June.

a) With the AA contract we understood that they could not release it because they had to bring it to their Executive Board Members first. It then went out to the members. We understood the delay and waited.

b) In our case the Executive Board was not asked for their opinion or input as we have seen it in print in the news article prior to this one.

c) Our T.A. needs no further approval or rejection from anyone else other then ourselves.

d) If they can make 16 copies for our Base Representatives, they can simply copy it from a file which already exist and place it on the internet for FREE.

>>A ratification vote in mid July? <<

What is going on here? This is the 11th of June and last time I checked my calendar it shows that - mid July is the 15th of July. We will have a vote count by Mid July?

We will have two weeks to read the entire contract and vote on it.

In less then two weeks we will decide our future?

ACTION: It is also apparent from this new news article that our calls to our Union Offices are making a difference. I request we call 800.428.6772 or 612.854.2738 and express our UNION MESSAGE

- WE WANT THE CONTRACT LANGUAGE NOW - - A SKELETON OUTLINE WILL NOT DO -

Northwest Flight Attendants Accord Draws Opposition

St. Paul, Minnesota, June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Northwest Airlines Corp.'s tentative agreement with flight attendants on a five-year labor contract raising pay an average 25 percent could be in jeopardy if a campaign against the proposal gains momentum.

Some attendants are railing against last week's agreement with the fourth-biggest U.S. airline, saying the increases in pension and wages aren't enough. The detractors are organizing meetings and urging their Teamster union leaders and colleagues to oppose the contract.

If a majority of the 11,000 attendants vote against the contract, Northwest could face another round of the contentious negotiations and possible labor actions during the busy summer travel months. A vote could come in late July or early August.

``Some of the people are chomping at the bit to strike,'' said Andy Damis, a Seattle-based flight attendant who opposes the contract. About 100 attendants who came to two meetings he held Tuesday in Seattle to discuss the pact shared his view, he said.

While it's not clear whether the opponents could build enough support to block the contract, the movement underscores the difficult labor situation at St. Paul, Minnesota-based Northwest. A pilots strike last August shut down the carrier for two weeks, and causing it to post a loss for the year.

Northwest officials declined to comment. A spokesman at the national Teamsters office in Washington defended the contract, saying it made solid gains in wages and benefits. For example, the pay of an attendant hired this year would more than double over five years $32.72 an hour, spokesman Chip Roth said.

``I don't know of any other group of workers in America that are experiencing these kinds of economic increases,'' Roth said.

Regaining Ground

Like other Northwest workers, the attendants made contract concessions in 1993 to help the airline avoid bankruptcy. Now, they want to be repaid for those sacrifices. Before the agreement was reached had voted to give the union their blessings to call a strike if needed.

The detractors are upset that the new contract doesn't give them the best pay in the industry, which union leaders had said was one of their demands. Highlights released by the union only said that attendants would be the best paid among unionized attendants, which excludes those at Delta Air Lines Inc.

The contract would boost wages an average 13.9 percent immediately and provide another 11 percent raise over the life of the contract. Attendants also would get a 3.5 percent lump sum payment on all wages earned since Aug. 1, 1996, to compensate for increases skipped during the almost three years of negotiations.

Salaries for Northwest flight attendants range from about $15,000 to $59,000 a year, though some attendants say few make more than $45,000.

Gary Helton, an attendant based in southern California, has invited Northwest co-workers to his home next week for a pool party at which they'll discuss the contract proposal.

``It's not my intent, to get people so riled up that they can't see straight, but just to have an intelligent discussion as to why the tentative agreement's not so great,'' Helton said.

Minneapolis-based flight attendant Lynn Kokal, who has been with Northwest for 10 years and makes $28,000, said some attendants also aren't happy with retirement benefits. Both she and Damis were part of union's team of volunteers who helped communicate with members during the talks.

Retirement

Retirement benefits rose to $55 a month for every year of a service, from $35. That means an 20-year attendant would receive $1,100 each month, instead of $700, if the pact is approved.

Opponents say the changes aren't enough to encourage retirements, which would help others rise in seniority. Damis, for example, said he ranks 500 among the 660 attendants based in Seattle, even after 13 1/2 years. He's encouraging colleagues to show opposition by cutting an 'X' on the green union ribbons they've been wearing.

Still, the retirement package compares favorably against a lot of other unionized labor groups in America, Teamsters spokesman Roth said. A ``distinct minority of workers in America get pensions,'' he said.

The union leaders are meeting in Minneapolis this week to review the full agreement before it's presented to attendants.

``These things are really tough to predict,'' said Brian Harris, a Salomon Smith Barney analyst, said of the ratification vote. Harris this week raised his Northwest rating to ``buy'' from ``outperform'' and pushed up his second-quarter earnings estimate for the airline to $1 from 90 cents a share, in part because of the settlement.

Northwest shares fell 1 to 33 7/16.

Jun/17/1999 16:49

The Following is a list of LowLights that a group of concerned Flight Attendants in HNL have put together for the purpose of letting you know what the Union and the Company are trying to sell you. We have gone over this contract very thoroughly. For those that have not read it in its entirety please refer to the sections that we have highlighted. This Tentative Agreement is bad for us ALL, whether senior or junior ,schedule holder or reserve it is not up to Industry Standards. We must stand together for an Industry Leading Contract!

CLEARDAZE LOWLIGHTS FROM A CONCERNED GROUP OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

SCOPE SECTION

The SCOPE, RECOGNITION AND JOB SECURITY is less than 6 pages of very large print long compared to 19 pages of very small print that ALPA has in their contract. Definitely not defined enough to protect our jobs now.
IN SECTION 1 (RECOGNITION, SCOPE AND JOB SECURITY) We on PAGE 1.1 B2.b tie ourselves to ALPA and its System Board Of Adjustment for grievance procedures when the company violates this section. We rely on ALPA to grieve any violation of the scope agreement before we are able to file a grievance on our own. When we merge with Continental (as Richard Anderson has said) they will begin trading passenger flights for cargo flights and we are not guaranteed the pilots will grieve the lost flying. As Vicki Frankovich said "Lets just hold our breath and hope".
On PAGE 1.3 letter D All the bases are not covered. SFO, JFK, EWR, LGA, ORD been left out . Those are some of Continentals’ large bases at present.
On PAGE 1.4 number (12) and (13)…We are not protecting 100% of all current flying between the United States and NRT/KIX/OSA pursuant to the 1952 bilateral agreement instead only fifty percent (50%).
On PAGE 1.4 E. of the Labor Protective Provisions -the provisions of the Allegheny- Mohawk merger are not published here and we are we not including the sections 8 and 9 dealing with Transfer expenses and Home Purchase.
On Page 1.4 and 1.5 dealing with the Labor Protective Provisions section E the seniority integration process is going to be left up to either Date of Hire or" Fair and Equitable" before an Arbitrator. This is very ambiguous language for a defined scope clause protecting our jobs.
On page 1.5 F (Information Sharing) the language is too ambiguous and left up to the company’s discretion.
DEFINITIONS

On Page 2.4 HH the definition of International Pattern now has been changed from 50% to 100%.
On Page 2.5 NN the Company may redefine the definition of "month" on an annual basis. This should be kept the same for the life of the contract. This is too open-ended.
On Page 2.7 YY. (Primary Line Adjustment Period) the period commencing at 0001 not the same as for everything else at 0000.
On Page 2.8 OOO. (Staffing Grids) the union is acknowledging these exist and can be determined at the free will of the company. It says they are published but we do not know where they can they be found.
There is not a definition for "Transit Duties" that On Premise Reserves will be doing. Just think about babysitting unaccompanied minors, moving elderly between gates and etc. Think of all the new revisions that will be added to define these duties.
COMPENSATION

On PAGE 3.3 E. 3 it says a Reserve Flight Attendant’s monthly guarantee of seventy-two hours shall be reduced by the following: a. Any flight time lost due to a leave or his/ her unavailability, and/or b. Four Hours (4:00) per on duty reserve day not actually served. This means that if a reserve asks for early release or to be released that the 72:00 will go to 68:00, 64:00 etc.
On Page 3.4 dealing with Purser Pay credited hours for Purser pay purposes do not include: Removal Credit, Int’l Ground Holding Pay, Trip hour credit etc.
On Page 3.5 I (Holiday Pay) 1.c. it only includes the number of hours away from the base ON the holiday and not the entire pattern operating over the holiday. If you left at 10:30 PM on Christmas Day or New Years’ Day you only get 1:30 of holiday pay.
We are not getting the 12 holidays or 10 like other NWA personnel. The holidays defined on page 2.4 FF for scheduling purposes are: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving day, Christmas Eve Day, and New Years Eve Day. If you leave at 10:30 PM Christmas Day you will have 1:30 of Holiday Pay for the trip. A nice Holiday gift for leaving friends and family.
On Page 3.7 (Quarterly Overtime) Hours accrued in high lines are excluded. This excludes up to 30 hours of quarterly overtime for high line holders.
On Page 3.8 O. & P. dealing with Domestic and International Ground Holding Pay we still working one hour for free. We are we not paid from sign in to block out.
On Page 3.10 the DC-9 short crew pay been reduced?
On Page 3.10 3. (Day to Day Operational Difficulties) we are not receiving penalty pay for situations that result if a crewmember becomes unavailable downline and the company cannot find replacement. This is still short crew.
On Page 3.11 R. (Pattern Guarantee) we are not guaranteed for all pattern adjustments; only the original line.
The cost of living and inflation index according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics government web site has gone up since 1988 (last contract raise) a combined 34%. These statistics were not even considered for our raises.
EXPENSES

In Section 4(Expenses) on page 4.1 A 2 the definitions - "Reasonable" and "Comparable priced" accommodations are too ambiguous and not specifically defined leaving the interpretation up to the company later.
On page 4.2 B. 2. They use the term "downtown-like" which again is not specific and left up to management to define and change at their discretion. These terms and definitions need to be more defined and specific.
On Page 4.2 B. 3. a, b, c, and d, not defined and left to the interpretation of the Vice President, In-flight Services to determine.
On Page 4.4 D. (Per Diem) per diem rates increase by five cents (.05) beginning in 5 years (DOS+60) and not annually.
On Page 4.5 (Crew Meals) the crew meals will not always be "First Class" or "Business Class" meals specifically. They have been reduced to "other meals offered to passengers shall be deemed sufficient".
On Page 4.5 the pilots time parameters for calling a cab to hotel on layover are not the same as ours.
HOURS OF SERVICE

On Page 5.7 NOTE: paragraph stating Regular Flight Attendant may elect a monthly maximum of one hour (1:00), two hours (2:00), or three hours (3:00) of credit time greater than his/her scheduled monthly maximum, as provided in Section 6.B.3.c (6) of this agreement. This and the high line system mean fewer lines created and more reserves.
On Page 5.7 we are allowing the Weekly Limitations of Thirty-in-seven (30-in-7) to be waived when we fought so hard in the past to establish these. Also in the Twenty four-in-seven Provisions we are allowing the company to reschedule us as "must deadhead" during a required twenty-four (24:00) hour rest.
On Page 5.9 (High Value Turns) the reserves are not given the option of declining High Value Turns?
On Page 5.20 5b. (Actual Duty Limitations) this is not clarified as to what specific circumstances would lead to working over 15:00 duty day on non-extended duty day flights.
On Page 5.21 6.a.2. (Extended Duty Flights) stops planned prior to departure for mechanical, weather, emergencies, and fuel are grounds for keeping the flights status as nonstop.
On Page 5.22b.3 (Actual on Duty Limitations) when departing a station other than a base station we have no option to being on duty up to 20:00 hours.
In Side Letter 71 states that " whenever a delay to an extended duty flight projects the on-duty period to exceed eighteen (18:00) hour, Flight Attendants shall receive a period of at least three (3:00) hours for the rest on board the aircraft, provided that such a break can physically be accomplished and WILL NOT RESULT IN A REDUCTION IN SERVICE DELIVERY. The Purser or Lead Flight Attendant shall be responsible for making this determination and administering the extended breaks." This so ambiguous and left to future interpretation of any one individual and not guaranteed.
On Page 5.25 (Rest Upon Return to Base) the deadhead hours are not included when calculating double flight time off for rest period.
There so many "MEET AND CONFER STATEMENTS" IN THIS TA! All the issues are not completed and open to talks and back room deals later. We should have learned our lesson last time in regards to retirement and side letter 59 in the present red contract.
In Side Letter 53 the company restricts the % of Flex lines.
On Page 5.37 E. (Flex Line Provisions) we give the company the option to designate any given month.
There are 85-side letters in this agreement and many more Compendiums to be included later.
SCHEDULING

We still have critical bid for the month of December. This was supposed to be taken care of with Holiday pay.
The required availability period foe a time available, short line, priority line and partial line required day obligation is now from 0900 to 1700. The company and union agree to once again "Meet and Confer" to modify these hours for Flight Attendants requesting different hours. Side Letter of agreement 51
Short Line and Time Available Flight Attendants can opt to sit Time Available for hours other than 9-5 but side letter A.51 says that the hours aren’t determined yet and that the Union will "Meet and Confer" with the Company on this issue. It is offered in some parts of this section, but not under 6.26.d3.
In section 6.32- the Flight Attendant check in call been changed to 2:30 out instead of 2:00. We have to tell them we are using an airphone which may be outside the 100-mile limit.
In section 6.41 the percent days still here, and are they going to work better for us. We thought one of our goals was to get rid of them and make scheduling more efficient.
In section 5.9(High Value Turns) we are not giving the reserves the option of declining High Value Turns.
On Page 6.53 there is a NOTE that says" A Flight Attendant may request and shall be granted, subject to the approval of Flight Attendant Scheduling, the option to drop any pattern on his/her line regardless of the above requirements". This encourages fraternization and favoritism with the schedulers disregarding the seniority system.
On Page 6.47.1(2) mutual patterns are no longer allowed up until check in. Now it has been changed to three hours (3:00) at the base and four hours (4:00) downline.
On Page6.50 lines m further restrictions have now been placed on pattern drops for "OverProjection" and we limit the options for the most critical month for Flight attendants- December.
On Page 6.673 we will now be able to enter into the computer (prior to a trip) a preference for downline rescheduling. This could effect a reserves ability to complete flying.
RESERVES

With the proposed option for block holders to fly up to 83 hours there is potential for more Flight Attendants to be on reserve as well as with High Lines and Flex up Lines.
On Page 7.13 the reserve guarantee has been increased to seventy-two hours (72:00) however if they should ask for release their guarantee will be reduced by four hours (4:00) each time.
High Time still goes ahead of reserves.
With the OPR system at the airport (which is not a true "hot seat") they will be doing Transit duties, boarding flights etc. These duties have not been defined in the definitions' section yet but I am sure there will be many revisions on this definition after we sign. Think about those many possible assignments (babysitting unaccompanied minors, helping the elderly or anyone needing assistance to get to their next flight etc.).
On Page 7.23J the RSV’s will have their hours accumulated as "actual" versus "schedule" and therefore will have to fly more hours to get their hours in. The lost the option of choosing either schedule or actual.
The number of On Premise Reserve days the Flight Attendant must serve is two (2) days of OPR per month the first year, three days (3) per month the second year, and three (3) days per month the third year. (See side letter of agreement 67).
The number of OPR days increase each year and the union agrees to "Meet and Confer" on this issue in the future?
We will now have an OPR system, but with no relief? At other airlines after you reach certain seniority you aren’t on RSV anymore. Many airlines have "rotating" reserve where everyone takes a turn at reserve now and then. RSV is now a career at some bases. Most airlines have some form of it with some sort of relief.
On Premise Reserve will be available at the airport for six hours (6) and only get paid for four hours and fifteen minutes (4:15).
OPR can be assigned if no one bids it.
Reserve Flight Attendants or High Time Flight Attendants at the airport may be given a trip before On Premise Reserves.
Again many "Meet and confer" clauses in this section of the contract.
No increase in the number of Ready Reserve lines.
Day trades still limited by percentages: limited number of reserves will hold weekends, holidays, first and last four days of the month.
If an OPR request early release she/he will get credit for one (1) hour for each two (2) hours served.
Now reserves get paid 2:36 per day to sit at home and have a life. With this TA they will become company slaves for 4:15.
Reserves can be required to remain at the airport for up to thirty (30) minutes upon completion of a pattern at base if contacted by crew scheduling. Just think of those boarding duties on another flight where the inbound crew is late.
MEDICAL

Medical deduction has now increased to $200.00 from $100.00.
RETRO PAY

The company will be giving you 3.5% of your last three years base pay and keeping the 96.5% for themselves. This is not enough incentive to settle a contract on time but rather to stall and save billions of dollars.
RETIREMENT

The Final Average Earnings Retirement Plan is in effect and used for management and the Pilot group. We are being told that it will be too costly a plan to start up for the Flight Attendant group. (Stockholm Syndrome). They already have the computer software and know-how and we should not be worrying about how much it cost them as they have it for themselves. Management knows it is a good plan or they would have the defined earnings plan like we now presently have.
On Page 30.1 of the Retirement Plan Agreement letter D (Inter-Contract Escalator Clause) why is the retirement section limited? If a flight Attendant retires in 2 months prior to the Date of Signing or 2 months after the Date of Signing she/he qualifies for the $62.50 rate after 54 months from this Date of signing but if the Flight Attendant turns 62 on the 61^st day after Date of Signing she/he will have to work nearly 5 years longer to qualify for the $62.50 rate. It should be that anyone who retires during the life of the agreement qualifies for the $62.50 rate at age 62 or 55 depending on normal or early retirement.
In the Retirement section of the contract there is nothing about a Medical Plan. It is covered in generalities on Page 29.3 of Insurance but the specifics of the plan and who will pay what and how much is not mentioned.
UNION ACTIVITIES

On Page 23.2 it states" The company shall credit the Union Flight Pay loss Account with One Hundred and Fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00) on the first day of July, following ratification and on each succeeding July 1^st thereafter during the term of this agreement, subject to the terms of Letter of Agreement 13." I realize the process of keeping union representatives on payroll for benefits etc. but for the company to contribute almost a million dollars to the union and not get anything in return looks bad and that we are not a separate entity.
The LM-2 of 1998, (which is the Labor Organization Annual Report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor) shows that 9,640 members of Local 2000 contributed $3,706,243.00. See the link LM-2 for 1998. We are not broke. This contract will be worth approximately 20 million dollars over the life of the contract.
SIDE LETTERS

Side Letter 32. For unbunked 747 it will take 30 months to either reconfigure with bunks or switch AC’s for the seasonal extended duty routes
Side Letter 76. "In order to be eligible for the purser qualification training, a Flight attendant must have a record free from any formal discipline related to job performance, conduct, safety, or dependability and a satisfactory record of attendance.
VACATION

The company, in consultation with the IBT, shall, as soon as practical but no later than eighteen (18) months following ratification of this Agreement, implement an automated system for the bidding and awarding of open vacation.
SIGNING BONUS

The Pilot group received five (5) million shares to be split amongst 5,000 pilots or 1,000 shares each of NWA stocks and we have been offered NOTHING!

From José's email:
SPECIFICS =========== In my effort to provide you with accurate information, I requested the official text of letters between IBT Airline Division Director Ray Banning, and our Elected Official who was to arrange the specifics of the ballot count. This situation began July 9, 1999, when Billie Davenport called for a conference call of our Executive Board to discuss the balloting (vote count) process.
Local 2000 Executive Board: Billie Davenport (President), Al Habib (Vice President), Danny G. Campbell (Secretary Treasurer), Anne Toombs (Recording Secretary), Trustees - Lovey Offerle, Joan Prince Crandall and Shadlea Bennett-Williams.
The following events have since taken place:
***** Prior to July 9, 1999 hundreds of us who took the time to email James Hoffa Jr. (IBT General President) received email replies that stated; "As you know, the IBT has shown respect to you for your decisions. You elected the Local Union Leaders of your Local. ... " whoever wrote on Hoffa's behalf continued to express that the International was here to respect our Leaderships' decisions and to assist in carrying them forward.
***** July 9, 1999 - A conference call took place where our Executive Board voted unanimously for Local 2000 to conduct its own Contract Ratification Referendum (balloting process). In addition, Billie Davenport promised during the conference call that a neutral party (not employed by Local 2000 or the IBT) would conduct the process, and that the vote would take place at a base. It was recommended that the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) in MSP be contacted as the neutral party, and all present agreed.
***** July 11, 1999 - Billie Davenport recorded the weekly Union Hotline where she stated, "The ballot process is underway. Secretary Treasurer Danny Campbell is presently attending to details and we hope to have ballots out in approximately 1 week to 10 days. The ballot count will be held in MSP and will be available for observation for any member of Teamsters Local Union 2000. The ballot will be out for 30 days as previous ratification votes have been."
***** July 9 to July 12, 1999 - Our Secretary Treasurer set all facets of the balloting process: scheduling, printing process, and items that would be included in the envelopes to be mailed to the membership. The process, which was set up to allow Flight Attendants FULL OBSERVER RIGHTS at all phases, would have only granted the BMS access to the P.O. Box containing the returned ballots (votes).
***** July 12, 1999 - Billie Davenport's Private Secretary asked our Secretary Treasurer to contact Ray Banning (IBT Director of Airline Division) to further discuss the balloting process. Here is what took place in their conversations as stated in the following letters:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LETTER # 1 - FROM Danny Campbell to Ray Banning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! July 14, 1999
Ray Benning, Director Airline Division INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS 25 Louisiana Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001
Re: Cost Estimate for Ratification Vote on Tentative Agreement
Dear Ray:
As a follow-up to our conversation on Monday and Tuesday, I am attaching the cost estimate I received from Goodwill Printing for the production of balloting materials required for the upcoming contract referendum. As I explained to you, there is no cost for the services of the Bureau of Mediation Services in St. Paul, MN.
Please let our bookkeeper, Lynn Miller, know who at the International office in Washington, DC is to receive the invoices for the printing and mailing incurred in the referendum. She can be reached at 612.854.2738.
Thank you again for your time and consideration. If you have any further questions pertaining to this ratification process, please contact me directly at 734.699.7297 ext. 14.
Fraternally,
Danny G. Campbell, Secretary Treasurer TEAMSTERS LOCAL UNION NO. 2000
c.c. Executive Board, L2000

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LETTER # 2 - FROM Ray Banning to Danny Campbell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To: Danny G. Campbell Secretary Treasurer Local 2000
From: Ray Benning Director, Airline Division
Re: Ratification vote
Date: July 14, 1999
Per our phone conversation, the IBT will save Local 2000 the cost of the ratification vote as Local 2000 has requested. The IBT will mail the ballots out of Washington, D.C., and the ballots will be returned to D.C. Northwest Flight Attendants will be welcome to observe the process. In fact, we will be utilizing the same process former IBT President Ron Carey used when the Flight Attendants voted on the last Contract in May of 1993.
c.c. Billie Davenport James P. Hoffa

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LETTER # 3 - FROM Danny Campbell to Ray Banning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MEMO
DATE: Thursday, July 15, 1999
TO: Ray Benning, Director - Airline Division
FROM: Danny G. Campbell, Secretary Treasurer
RE: Ratification Vote on the TA (Tentative Agreement)
The Executive Board of Local 2000 voted unanimously in a special meeting on July 9, 1999 to conduct its own contract ratification referendum. I request that the International Union honor the decision of the Executive Board to conduct its own referendum.
The Board's decision was made in accordance with the Local 2000 Bylaws, and it is consistent with the frequent public pronouncements of General President Hoffa that his administration is deeply committed to preserving local union autonomy. This decision by the Local 2000 Executive Board has been communicated for the past week to the entire membership by our President, Billie Davenport, over the Local 2000 hotline and on its official internet site. You may listen to it yourself. Billie Davenport;s official internet message to members includes the following statement:
"The ballot process is underway. Secretary Treasurer, Danny Campbell is presently attending to details and we hope to have ballots out in approximately 1 week to 10 days. The ballot count will be held in MSP and will be available for observations for any member of Teamsters Local Union 2000. The ballot will be out for 30 days as previous ratification votes have been."
We ask you to honor the unanimous decision of the Local 2000 Executive Board to reject the International Union's offer to conduct the referendum and, instead, to conduct it ourselves. If you have questions or wish to discuss this matter, please feel free to call me or Billie Davenport.
c.c. Billie Davenport James P. Hoffa

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LETTER # 4 - Final Letter - FROM Ray Banning to Danny Campbell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MEMO
To: Danny Campbell Secretary Treasurer Teamsters Local 2000
From: Ray Benning Director, Airline Division
Date: July 16, 1999
Re: Balloting Process/Tentative Agreement
The IBT has changed the place for the balloting process. The ballots will now be mailed out of Detroit, and returned to Detroit. The entire process will be handled by an Independent Election Supervisor and paid for by the IBT as requested by Local 2000 Leadership.
A letter will be drafted explaining the entire process.
c.c. Billie Davenport James P, Hoffa

IN SUMMARY ============= * Billie promised the membership that the Local 2000 "Executive Board" would decide the manner in which the balloting would take place. She further promised that A.) A neutral party would conduct the process and B.) That it would take place at a base.
* The Executive Board voted on July 9th to conduct the balloting and to have the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) in MSP tabulate the votes. Secretary Treasurer Danny Campbell worked to set up this process that would allow FULL OBSERVER RIGHTS for the membership. As previously stated, ONLY THE BMS would have access to the P.O. Box that would have contained the returned ballots (votes).
* This week, the International (James Hoffa and Ray Benning) disregarded the decision of the Local 2000 Executive Board and have demanded that their own person conduct the balloting.
* Hoffa insists that Jim Dehaan conduct the balloting. Mr. Dehaan works and is paid by Hoffa and Larry Brennan (Michigan Joint Council President who first put Hoffa on Teamsters payroll).
* Billie Davenport has not put her foot down and is not respecting her fellow Executive Board members. In fact, she verbally (or in writing) requested that the IBT handle the count, prior to the Executive Board meeting on July 9th. She has no authority to do this without conferring with the Executive Board and she is therefore allowing the IBT to control the process.

SEE through SECRET BALLOT ENVELOPE

From: Mike Withorn-dtw f/a
Date: 7/29/99
Time: 12:15:36 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.207.183

Comments

Attention one and all!!! The yellow secret ballot envelope is not so secret just hold it up to a window and see what you can see...I'm voting NO and I'm also making a copy of it...THESE BALLOTS ARE NOT SECRET ANYONE CAN SEE WHAT YOU VOTE....

Please Read what the Minneapolis Star and Tribune have to say

From: Lets stick together we can't let NWA strap us anymore MSP fa's
Date: 8/17/99
Time: 9:50:56 AM
Remote Name: 204.246.67.100

Comments

Published Friday, August 13, 1999
One year after strike, NWA is cruising at full throttle
Tony Kennedy / Star TribuneFlight attendant vote
The next big event in Northwest's comeback from a year of costly employee relations is the tabulation of contract ratification ballots cast by flight attendants. Teamsters General President James Hoffa Jr. has endorsed the tentative five-year agreement, but a well-organized group of rank-and-file flight attendants is urging a "No" vote.
"Certainly there's a lot of flight attendants who don't think there's peace," said Kristi Valenzuela, a Northwest flight attendant based in Seattle. "We haven't got our piece of the pie." She believes the contract will be voted down.
Austin declined to predict the outcome of the vote. If the contract is rejected, negotiators probably would resume bargaining under continued mediation by the National Mediation Board. That board would have to declare an impasse for a strike to occur. Even then, the two sides could talk during a mandatory 30-day cooling-off period.
Meantime, negotiations are expected this fall between Northwest and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), the union that won representation rights to Northwest mechanics in November.
One year after the strike, the cast of leading executives at Northwest is radically different than a year ago. Most importantly, Anderson is looking more and more likely to succeed John Dasburg as chief executive officer.
Anderson, a lawyer and former criminal prosecutor in Harris County, Texas, was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in mid-December.
Even though Dasburg has pledged a "long-term" commitment to Northwest, many industry observers think he'll give up the CEO's job by year's end.
If Anderson succeeds Dasburg, he'll be faced with updating the oldest fleet in the domestic airline industry. But he'll also head an airline that is well positioned in two other key strategic battlefronts: worldwide alliances with other airlines and distribution of airplane tickets via the Internet.
"Those are the two big winds blowing through the industry," Austin said.
It was a tad more painstaking than fixing a flat tire, but Northwest Airlines is rolling again as if it had never broken down.
One year after Northwest pilots became pickets for 15 days, the company has restored its service reliability, recovered its market share and returned to the profitability levels of its peer group.
Though it still must seal a tentative contract agreement with flight attendants and negotiate a new labor deal with a volatile group of mechanics, the nation's fourth-largest airline is cruising at full throttle and hoping desperately not to lose its post-strike momentum.
"At this point I see no major long-term effects," said Morris Kleiner, a management professor at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. "The pilots and managers didn't forget how to run an airline during the strike."
Nor have unions and managers forgotten deep-seated animosity -- which ensure continued clashes between executives and workers.
"Earnings-wise, they have been the comeback kids," said Ernie Arvai, president of the Windham, N.H.-based Arvai Group. "But from an employee-relations standpoint, it's still the same old Northwest. The next contract talks will be as difficult as past ones."
Northwest spokesman Jon Austin begged to differ.
"Since that time [end of strike] we have settled seven contracts," Austin said. "Clearly, something has changed.
"Whatever side of the table you're on, if we haven't learned from the experience, we're poor stewards of our responsibility," he said.
Two perfect days
Since May, Northwest has recorded two perfect days of uncanceled, on-time flight operations, even as air traffic control delays have become problematic for the industry. Those perfect-day rarities have become emblematic of Chief Operating Officer Richard Anderson's increasingly successful push to return Northwest to its mid-'90s form as the industry's No. 1 on-time airline.
"It is in some way a remarkable comment about what people on the line are doing," Austin said. "We're doing a better job of giving our customers what they want."
For months leading up to the strike, Northwest's image was tattered by dismal service related to a slowdown by mechanics and other ground workers. For most of the summer, amid countless flight cancellations and loud protests from labor groups that contract negotiations were going nowhere, bad publicity hung in the air like combusted jet fuel during an airport rush hour.
During the strike
When the pilots' strike began at 11:01 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, the biggest surprise was that bedlam didn't break out among Northwest's passengers in the airline's strongholds of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis. Airport officials and hotel managers had expected hordes of stranded ticket holders. But most people had heeded warnings to book travel on other airlines as the pre-strike rhetoric between Northwest and its 6,200 pilots had swelled.
On Sept. 12, when the Northwest Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) ratified a four-year tentative contract mediated by the White House, Northwest began a start-up that was as orderly as its shutdown had been.
The cost of the year's civil war between management and labor would total $1 billion, but the strike seemed to wipe the slate clean. Anderson's management team has moved forward ever since -- stumbling only once by stranding thousands of customers in planes grounded at snowy Detroit Metro Airport during the first weekend of the new year.
An early indication of Northwest's strong comeback was the absence of a blockbuster "welcome back" fare sale, which had been predicted by industry observers throughout the country. Since then, Northwest has gone along with industry fare increases that have totaled 11 percent.
The company lost money for three consecutive quarters, then turned a healthy $264 million operating profit for the three-month period that ended June 30. "We have recovered from last year's disruptions and strike and customers have returned," Executive Vice President Tim Griffin told reporters last month.
Wall Street has acknowledged the rebound by mildly upgrading Northwest's stock, which has been trading north of $30 a share since mid-April. In the dark days of September, the stock had plummeted to a 52-week low of $18.62½. Shares closed unchanged Thursday at $31.25.
'How long does it last?'
"It's academic that results have improved after deteriorating to levels that nobody envisioned," said PaineWebber airline analyst Sam Buttrick. "The question is, 'How good does it get and how long does it last?' "
In mid-June of this year, Salomon Smith Barney analyst Brian Harris upgraded his rating on Northwest stock to "buy, high risk" from outperform. New contracts have increased Northwest's annual labor costs by $145 million, but Harris noted that "improved operational performance and lack of post-strike woes" would help enable Northwest's revenues in 2000 to significantly outperform the industry.
Nevertheless, Austin said the pilots strike was a clear failure for management and labor. Megabucks lost during the strike could have been spent to improve the airline or banked for the future, he said.
"I hope it does factor into how we behave in the future," he said.
For their part, leaders of the pilots union said they have no regrets for temporarily abandoning Northwest's fleet of more than 400 red-tailed jetliners. They believe it taught the entire industry a lesson. For example, they said, the strike provided at least some of the impetus for United Airlines to strive for a new pilots contract this year before the existing one is due for renewal.
Model for pilots
Northwest ALPA Chairman Steve Zoller said pilot unions from as far away as New Zealand, Japan and South Africa have sought strategic advice from Northwest ALPA.
"If there is anything clear from what happened, it's that you can't try to take advantage in good times of employees who saved you in bad times," said Northwest ALPA Vice Chairman Curt Kruse. He was referring to 1993 pilot pay cuts that helped save Northwest from bankruptcy. The contract at stake in last year's negotiations was viewed by pilots as their reward for those concessions.
National ALPA President Duane Woerth, a Northwest pilot who was a member of Northwest's board of directors as a labor representative during the strike, has said Northwest lost at least $500 million on the 15-day strike -- nearly four times as much as the first-year cost of the eventual settlement.
Austin said the company didn't plan on taking a strike and he declined to comment on Woerth's calculations.
"I'm not going to go back and argue numbers with the pilots," he said.
According to the transcript of a speech Woerth gave last month in Boston and New York City, he said Northwest stashed profits made during the concessionary period to brace for a possible market downturn or recession.
"In the end, however, this contingency fund -- this war chest -- was used against Northwest's employees," the transcript said.
Zoller and Kruse said time has healed much of the bitterness created by the strike, but they said a "residual effect" lingers on both sides. They said the union and company have been working fairly well on day-to-day operational issues.

Contract Action Team-CAT

From: Kristi Valenzuela-Sea F/A
Date: 8/17/99
Time: 12:36:22 PM
Remote Name: 216.192.14.7

Comments

I would encourage all of you to ask that the sleeping CAT be brought out of retirement. Call your perspective base representatives and the Executive Board-1-800-428-6772 and make this request. The C.A.T was originated to serve & speak for the flight attendant group and have worked tirelessly for our benefit. We are not politically motivated and work for free. If a NO votes comes in, we must be activated to strengthen our resolve for a new agreement. If it is a YES vote, we have volunteered to be a source of information. Either way the C.A.T represents the rank & file members. Our purpose remains to inform, educate and activate our group. Thank you for your support.

Article from the Convoy Dispatch titled "NWA Contract Being Debated"

From: Kevin Griffin 19 yrs
Date: 8/20/99
Time: 7:49:08 AM
Remote Name: 209.154.5.145

Comments

The following article is taken from the Convoy Dispatch. It is the Voice of the Teamster Rank and File newspaper.
Teamster Democracy in Action
NWA Contract Being Debated
Copies of the tentative agreement reached between Northwest Airlines and the negotiating committee for Teamsters Local 2000 are on their way to the 11,000 flight attendants who will study and dis-cuss the deal before voting. The Local's Executive Board agreed to send the pro-posed five-year contract to the members, but did not give a recommendation. Dis-cussions of the tentative agreement are scheduled for all the bases in the coming weeks and a vote is likely in late July.
Just days before the agreement was reached at the table, an incredible 93 per-cent of members voted on strike authoriza-tion, with 99 percent of them voting Yes. Rallies were held at bases around the coun-try to send the message "Please release us from mediation.” (The National Mediation Board must "release" unions under the Railway Labor Act before they can legally strike.) Many members were shocked by the timing of the deal, believing the next marching orders they would get would be to prepare for HAVOC, a selective strike.
In Seattle, flight attendants called a rank and file meeting after the agreement was announced and 100 turned out, some corn-ing from other bases. "People were asking, 'what happened?' " says Seattle CAT coor-dinator Andy Damis.
"People are wondering why we didn't call for impasse," says Damis. "The pump was primed. If this was the best they could do, why didn't we request an impasse?" Damis points to the recent deal at America West, saying, "They were looking at an of-fer with $50 million in improvements, but after a 30-day cooling off period the company came back with an $80 million offer. That's more than a 50 percent increase from pre- to post-impasse, and they're an itty-bitty company."
Phoenix CAT coordinator Kaki Androsiuk says, "I truly believe this is a Teamster International contract, pressured by the In-ternational for our negotiators to sign. Why else would the International be spending the kind of money they are to market this? And why are they doing an 'informal' phone poll to see how the flight attendants are going to vote?"
Mobilizing Success
During the past year of bargaining talks, rank and file members have led an un-precedented mobilization effort as the unions Contract Action Team (CAT). The CAT built a highly successful member to-member network that was responsible for airport rallies, customer outreach, and preparing members to potentially strike. TDU helped Local 2000 in devel-oping the CAT program.
Now the members are continuing their involvement with discussion of the contract and the ratification process. Damis says he has started going through the contract and is compiling a list of the "lowlights." He says, "We've seen the highlights, and there are some really good things in the proposal, but there are some bad things that aren't being talked about. We're getting the facts out there so people can make an informed decision." One of the bad things, Damis points out, is an increase in mandatory working hours, or "flex up" -essentially Over-time hours without overtime pay. The number of hours was increased from five to eight.
Retirement 'Not Enough'
CAT coordinator Kristi Valenzuela says, "People are saying they don't need to read anything else. The retirement is not enough." The proposal would in-crease the retirement formula fr6m $35 per year of service to $55 for the first four years of the co ntract, and then to $62.50 the fifth year. This is bad news to senior flight attendants who have been waiting to retire.
Stephanie Bylin, a senior flight attendant in Detroit, is among the bigger losers if the deal passes. "I was sick when I saw the retirement proposal," said Bylin. Those who worked with Republic Airlines before it merged with Northwest, like Bylin, received a one-tune lump sum payment when their pen-sion plan was bought out. Because of this payment, they have an "offset" which greatly reduces any pension they would get from Northwest. Bylin' s payment was only $5,000, which can't make up for what she'll be denied in Northwest's plan. A key retirement demand was to eliminate these offsets for people who were merged into Northwest, but only slight reductions were negotiated. "People won't be able to retire," says Bylin. "Why should one group have to suffer so much?"
Minneapolis CAT coordinator Anne Meyer is telling people to read the agree-ment. She says, "People on the line are saying they are disappointed that the ne-gotiators couldn't get more. I don't think any flight attendant is going to be happy with this contract if they still have to take on a second job to make ends meet."
"They went back 30 years with this agreement and gave up things we won years ago," says flight attendant Connie Mason-Harper. "We've waited three years for industry standards and now we won't get them for five years. What will the standard be then?"
The workers gave Northwest concessions in 1993 to save the company from bankruptcy. Since then, Northwest profits are up 325 percent and CEOs have received millions in salaries and perks. Meanwhile, airline customers have launched class action suits against declining service, and Northwest is finding it tough to recruit new hires.
The union negotiating committee members are urging members to hold off taking a stand until they hear the committee presentations at the "road show" meetings at all 10 bases. Their position is that they got all they could without a strike, and that the settlement will pro-vide an industry-leading standard.
Hoffa Administration Tactics
While members are waiting to see the full agreement, and union representatives are still trying to digest it, the Hoffa administration is already selling it to the press and the members.
"What I find so interesting," says San Francisco CAT coordinator Amy Morton, "is that Mr. Hoffa immediately came out in favor of the contract, yet I am sure I could safely say that he hasn't even read it!"
The International Union holds the bargaining rights for Local 2000, even though the local union has all 11,000 flight attendants in it.
Now the International is using an old-guard heavy sell approach that conflicts with the more democratic style that Local 2000 uses.
International officials like Airline Director Ray Benning are using standard scare tactics such as "if you vote no it will take another nine months," "you'll never get to impasse," or "the International won't provide the funding to continue bargaining." International Union attorney Roland Wilder has said he's not going back to the table and ruining his reputation.
Benning even threatened an audit of Local 2000, just by "coincidence" after some officers and base reps questioned some of the terms of the proposed con-tract.
The International mailed a sales brochure to all 11,000 members without any officers of Local 2000 even being aware of it. On a mid June flight Hoffa himself passed out a three page pitch on the contract which ends with a list of threats if the contract is voted down (that sound like the company wrote them!).
Other threats are coming from Hoffa' S camp too. After Hoffa fired field service staff from the campaign, he sent replacements who used some heavy-handed tactics and disrespected Local 2000 leadership. At the recent Detroit airport rally, Teamsters Joint Council 43 President Larry Brennan threatened base representative Bob Krabbe and Secretary-Treasurer Danny Campbell, telling them to "get rid of that * * * * lawyer," referring to Local 2000 attorney Barbara Harvey with disgusting sexual epithets. Krabbe said, "It shows that they only believe in local union autonomy when you do as they say, and it shows they don't respect our elected leadership (who hired Harvey)."
Building for the Future
The flight attendants have shown they are committed to getting the contract they feel they deserve, and to democratic discussion of the pros and cons of the offer. Members have gotten more involved, more informed, and more united than ever before. In the process, Local 2000 has turned itself into a real union.
The old guard Teamster leaders are not comfortable with this large local, 80 percent women, charting its own course. But they may have to get used to it. Continuing the member involvement and maintaining the network that the CAT built will insure a strong local union into the future.

Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa has heralded the proposed contract for Northwest Airlines flight attendants as "a victory for all working Americans." But unless the tentative agreement wins rank-and-file ratification today in Detroit, the deal will be a non-starter and negotiations will enter a fourth year.

Letter to the Negotiations Committee

From: Kevin Griffin 19 yrs
Date: 8/26/99
Time: 12:30:08 AM
Remote Name: 152.163.197.181

Comments

Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,
As tomorrow looms around the corner for the much-anticipated results of the Tentative Agreement ballot count, many others and I are heading to Detroit to oversee the ballot process. I will try to keep you posted throughout the day of the happenings and will have the results as soon as they are in. If the ballot goes the way I would like it to ( a NO VOTE) I am sending the following letter to the Negotiations committee asking they get things back on track as expeditiously as possible and without the delays we have seen in the past. I have composed the following letter and it basically asks that they correct all the Low lights. If you agree with the letter or want to add some issues of your own please do and send it to the committee members and the IBT in Washington to let them know we are serious and want that industry leading contract now. The delays we have seen in the past few months have divided many of us and stressed many friendships. We are all tired of waiting for that so called “Industry Leading Contract”. So for thirty -five cents let us let them know. It would also be a good Idea to send it to Maggie Jacobson, the mediator and President Clinton. We are united to get a decent contract. I will also be keeping the web site going for an indefinite time at this point as it has been a major source of education for all of us here at NWA. I receive email daily from other union people throughout the country who have visited the site and wish they had done a forum during their contract negotiations. It is past time that we were paid decent wages and given the benefits that the few corporate executives have taken for themselves.
Another reason to keep the site alive is that daily we learn new issues that concern us all but that neither the Company or Union feel is beneficial to tell us about. Issues such as in the past few weeks about the domestic partnership benefits given to single Flight Attendants at United, American, and USair. Also the issues of the Pilots given preferential treatment on pass travel commuting to work over the Flight Attendant group. These issues concern us all and if we are able to publicize them freely in a forum we may be able to change the way we have been treated by NWA a lot quicker. We eventually may have that "Industry Leading Contract" and feel appreciated for all our work.
Whatever the results of tomorrow’s count remember we are united now more than ever and should continue to improve the unity. Keep the information flowing. Don’t take the abuse of management any longer. I think if grievances were publicized and many other issues they would be settled faster by the company and the union. They said Its’ Time and they were right! Expose the Pat Rummages of this company when they give the answers they do to justify Company Policy as in Bob Krabbe's posting here in the forum.
Remember Our Strength is in Our Unity!
I will update you tomorrow as things progress.
Kevin P.S. the letter will follow this posting.
September 8, 1999
Local 2000 Negotiations Team

Attention: Ms. Billie Davenport
Ms. Lovey Offerle
Ms. Irene Kochendorfer
Mr. Richard Stone
Ms. Anne Marie Mastalerz
Mr. Steven Selleck
Mr. Randy Thompson

Dear Local 2000 Negotiations Team,

SUBJECT: CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

We, the membership of Local 2000 elected you to represent us at the table over three years ago to get us contract dealing with Raises, Routes and Retirement. We have been patient and very supportive of your efforts for past three years. We realize you have been and are dealing with a very tough adversary-Northwest Management and their lawyers. We have all seen the Tentative Agreement that you have all overwhelmingly supported and now have had the chance to vote on. As you can see it has been rejected by the membership.

We now are requesting that you go back in to the bargaining table and achieve for us what you once touted as an " industry leading" contract that respects us all. We also are asking that you go in and achieve this in a more expeditious manner. The management of Northwest Airlines has achieved their goal of delaying any settlement of a decent contract for the past three years and any work action we may have achieved for the duration of the summer season. We are tired of the delays and the waiting. The slogan "Its Time" is very appropriate at this time. We all fully believe this slogan at this time more than ever.

You have all stated that if the Tentative Agreement were to be turned down you would begin a new survey. We do not feel this is warranted, as our basic contract demands have not changed in three years. We want a contract that gives us Raises, Routes, and a livable Retirement. We also want Respect.

We have outlined below what we believe is deficient in the Tentative Agreement we just turned down. We hope you will take these into consideration as you begin your next negotiations with Northwest Airlines.

You have seen the Low Lights and now we offer you the remedy for them here.

SCOPE SECTION

1. The SCOPE, RECOGNITION AND JOB SECURITY is less than 6 pages of very large print long compared to 19 pages of very small print that ALPA has in their contract. Definitely not defined enough to protect our jobs now. Remedy- (Use the full text of the Allegheny /Mohawk Merger LPPs and change the names of the Company. Do not use the terminology "no less than" as it leaves the scope and LPPS open to interpretation later.

2. IN SECTION 1 (RECOGNITION, SCOPE AND JOB SECURITY) We on PAGE 1.1 B2.b tie ourselves to ALPA and its System Board Of Adjustment for grievance procedures when the company violates this section. We rely on ALPA to grieve any violation of the scope agreement before we are able to file a grievance on our own. When we merge with Continental (as Richard Anderson has said) they will begin trading passenger flights for cargo flights and we are not guaranteed the pilots will grieve the lost flying. As Vicki Frankovich said "Lets just hold our breath and hope". Remedy- Eliminate the tying of our grievance process procedure to ALPA and their System Board of Adjustment.

3. On PAGE 1.3 letter D All the bases are not covered. SFO, JFK, EWR, LGA, ORD been left out. Those are some of Continentals' large bases at present. Remedy- Include all bases current and of duplicity with future merging airlines. Our Scope and Labor Protective Provisions should be designed to protect our jobs not NWA routes and aircraft. That it is why it should be in our contract.

4. On PAGE 1.4 number (12) and (13)…We are not protecting 100% of all current flying between the United States and NRT/KIX/OSA pursuant to the 1952 bilateral agreement instead only fifty percent (50%). Remedy- change the language to include 100% of all Flying pursuant to the 1952 Bilateral Agreement.

5. On PAGE 1.4 E. of the Labor Protective Provisions -the provisions of the Allegheny- Mohawk merger are not published here and we are we not including the sections 8 and 9 dealing with Transfer expenses and Home Purchase. Remedy- leave all sections of the Allegheny/Mohawk Merger intact .

6. On Page 1.4 and 1.5 dealing with the Labor Protective Provisions section E the seniority integration process is going to be left up to either Date of Hire or" Fair and Equitable" before an Arbitrator. This is very ambiguous language for a defined scope clause protecting our jobs. Remedy-a precedent was set with the NWA/Republic Merger so let us use Date of Hire specifically and eliminate the need for arbitration in the future.

7. On page 1.5 F (Information Sharing) the language is too ambiguous and left up to the company's discretion. Remedy- Remove the ambiguities in the clause "Subject to an appropriate confidentiality agreement, if necessary, the Company shall provide to the Union, upon request, information and operational data reasonably necessary to monitor compliance with this Section 1." Also remove the language The Company shall meet with designated representatives of the Union upon request to review. We want no meet and confer clauses in this contract benefiting the company or changing the contract in mid term.

DEFINITIONS

8. On Page 2.4 HH the definition of International Pattern now has been changed from 50% to 100%. Remedy- change back to 50%.

9. On Page 2.5 NN the Company may redefine the definition of "month" on an annual basis. Remedy-define all months now at the beginning of the contract and leave the same for the duration of the contract.

10. On Page 2.7 YY. (Primary Line Adjustment Period) the period commencing at 0001 not the same as for everything else at 0000.Remedy- make it the same throughout the contract.

11. On Page 2.8 OOO. (Staffing Grids) the union is acknowledging these exist and can be determined at the free will of the company. It says they are published but we do not know where they can they be found. Remedy- Use very defined language as to what the staffing should be on all aircraft Do not leave this up to the marketing and scheduling departments.

12. There is not a definition for "Transit Duties" that On Premise Reserves will be doing. Just think about babysitting unaccompanied minors, moving elderly between gates and etc. Think of all the new revisions that will be added to define these duties. Remedy- define all the possible duties that would be involved here so there is no possible misinterpretation later. Have the definition include boarding and aircraft duties and nothing more.

COMPENSATION

13. On PAGE 3.3 E. 3 it says a Reserve Flight Attendant's monthly guarantee of seventy-two hours shall be reduced by the following: a. Any flight time lost due to a leave or his/ her unavailability, and/or b. Four Hours (4:00) per on duty reserve day not actually served. This means that if a reserve asks for early release or to be released that the 72:00 will go to 68:00, 64:00 etc. Remedy- guarantee all Reserves the pay of 72:00 hours unless granted a leave.

14. On Page 3.4 dealing with Purser Pay credited hours for Purser pay purposes do not include: Removal Credit, Int'l Ground Holding Pay, Trip hour credit etc. Remedy- remove 3.4 2section 2 and include all time credited.

15. On Page 3.5 I (Holiday Pay) 1.c. it only includes the number of hours away from the base ON the holiday and not the entire pattern operating over the holiday. If you left at 10:30 PM on Christmas Day or New Years' Day you only get 1:30 of holiday pay. Remedy- change the language to include All trips operating over the Holiday.

16. We are not getting the 12 holidays or 10 like other NWA personnel. The holidays defined on page 2.4 FF for scheduling purposes are: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving day, Christmas Eve Day, and New Years Eve Day. If you leave at 10:30 PM Christmas Day you will have 1:30 of Holiday Pay for the trip. A nice Holiday gift for leaving friends and family. Remedy- Include all Holidays for Pay purposes that the company uses for scheduling purposes.

17. On Page 3.7 (Quarterly Overtime) Hours accrued in high lines are excluded. This excludes up to 30 hours of quarterly overtime for high line holders. Remedy- remove phrase on page 3.7 "subject to the exclusion of hours accrued in high lines in accordance with Section 5.D., of this Agreement."

18. On Page 3.8 O. & P. dealing with Domestic and International Ground Holding Pay we still working one hour for free. We are we not paid from sign in to block out. Remedy- Have pay commence at time of report to release.

19. On Page 3.10 the DC-9 and narrow body aircraft short crew pay has been reduced. Remedy-increase all aircraft compensation for short crew.

20. On Page 3.10 3. (Day to Day Operational Difficulties) we are not receiving penalty pay for situations that result if a crewmember becomes unavailable downline and the company cannot find replacement. This is still short crew. Remedy- remove the sentence"If such difficulties result in the unavailability of a required crew member at other than a base station, the Company will attempt to replace the unavailable crew member but will suffer no penalty if unable to do so." Make the scheduling department more efficient.

21. On Page 3.11 R. (Pattern Guarantee) we are not guaranteed for all pattern adjustments; only the original line. Remedy- change the language to include all adjustments.

22. The cost of living and inflation index according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics government web site has gone up since 1988 (last contract raise) a combined 34%. These statistics were not even considered for our raises. Remedy- Adjust all pay to meet the 1999 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Give us all the increase we deserve for the position. Use statistics for pay that include all airlines at 1999 and future levels.

EXPENSES

23. In Section 4(Expenses) on page 4.1 A 2 the definitions - "Reasonable" and "Comparable priced" accommodations are too ambiguous and not specifically defined leaving the interpretation up to the company later. Remedy- remove all ambiguous language terms.

24. On page 4.2 B. 2. They use the term "downtown-like" which again is not specific and left up to management to define and change at their discretion. These terms and definitions need to be more defined and specific. Remedy- Define these terms to meet certain criteria.

25. On Page 4.2 B. 3. a, b, c, and d, not defined and left to the interpretation of the Vice President, In-flight Services to determine.

26. On Page 4.4 D. (Per Diem) per diem rates increase by five cents (.05) beginning in 5 years (DOS+60) and not annually. Remedy- increase per diem annually and/ or adjust to meet the cost of living in the city that is being used for a layover. KLM uses the latter.

27. On Page 4.5 (Crew Meals) the crew meals will not always be "First Class" or "Business Class" meals specifically. They have been reduced to "other meals offered to passengers shall be deemed sufficient". Remedy - make the crew meal a "First class" or "Business class" meal.

28. On Page 4.5 the pilots time parameters for calling a cab to hotel on layover are not the same as ours. Remedy- Adjust the wording to be the same 30 minutes.

HOURS OF SERVICE

29. On Page 5.7 NOTE: paragraph stating Regular Flight Attendant may elect a monthly maximum of one hour (1:00), two hours (2:00), or three hours (3:00) of credit time greater than his/her scheduled monthly maximum, as provided in Section 6.B.3.c (6) of this agreement. This and the high line system mean fewer lines created and more reserves.

30. On Page 5.7 we are allowing the Weekly Limitations of Thirty-in-seven (30-in-7) to be waived when we fought so hard in the past to establish these. Also in the Twenty four-in-seven Provisions we are allowing the company to reschedule us as "must deadhead" during a required twenty-four (24:00) hour rest. Remedy- remove the language "unless he/she elects to exceed this weekly limitation in accordance with Section 6.B.3.c. (5). And 6.G.2.f. (16) of this agreement." Also remove the language allowing the Flight Attendant to "must deadhead" during such rest.

31. On Page 5.9 (High Value Turns) the reserves are not given the option of declining High Value Turns? Remedy- allow Reserve Flight Attendants to decline High Value turns.

32. On Page 5.20 5b. (Actual Duty Limitations) this is not clarified as to what specific circumstances would lead to working over 15:00 duty day on non-extended duty day flights. Remedy- eliminate the option for the Company to keep Flight Attendants on duty for over 15:00 hours on non- extended duty flights.

33. On Page 5.21 6.a.2. (Extended Duty Flights) stops planned prior to departure for mechanical, weather, emergencies, and fuel are grounds for keeping the flights status as nonstop. . Remedy- remove this language in paragraph 2.

34. On Page 5.22b.3 (Actual on Duty Limitations) when departing a station other than a base station we have no option to being on duty up to 20:00 hours. Remedy- change the language to limit the on duty to 18:00 hours or double crew the flights over 18 hours (18:00).

35. In Side Letter 71 states that " whenever a delay to an extended duty flight projects the on-duty period to exceed eighteen (18:00) hour, Flight Attendants shall receive a period of at least three (3:00) hours for the rest on board the aircraft, provided that such a break can physically be accomplished and WILL NOT RESULT IN A REDUCTION IN SERVICE DELIVERY. The Purser or Lead Flight Attendant shall be responsible for making this determination and administering the extended breaks." This so ambiguous and left to future interpretation of any one individual and not guaranteed. Remedy- Remove all side letters and the need for Compendiums later with more specific language in the contract sections.

36. On Page 5.25 (Rest Upon Return to Base) the deadhead hours are not included when calculating double flight time off for rest period. Remedy- include all hours flown for rest time whether it be deadheading or working.

37. There so many "MEET AND CONFER STATEMENTS" IN THIS TA! All the issues are not completed and open to talks and back room deals later. We should have learned our lesson last time in regards to retirement and side letter 59 in the present red contract. Remedy- remove All meet and confer clauses and use visionary language that will protect us throughout the duration of this contract.

38. In Side Letter 53 the company restricts the % of Flex lines. Remedy- remove all side letters.

39. On Page 5.37 E. (Flex Line Provisions) we give the company the option to designate any given month. Remedy- define all Flex Line months and provisions.

40. There are 85-side letters in this agreement and many more Compendiums to be included later. Remedy- remove all side letters and incorporate everything into the contract with definitive wording and no gray areas.

SCHEDULING

41. We still have critical bid for the month of December. This was supposed to be taken care of with Holiday pay. Remedy- give holiday pay and remove critical bid month language.

42. The required availability period for a time available, short line, priority line and partial line required day obligation is now from 0900 to 1700. The company and union agree to once again "Meet and Confer" to modify these hours for Flight Attendants requesting different hours. Side Letter of agreement 51 Remedy- change the language back to the present contract hours and remove all "meet and confer" language.

43. Short Line and Time Available Flight Attendants can opt to sit Time Available for hours other than 9-5 but side letter A.51 says that the hours aren't determined yet and that the Union will "Meet and Confer" with the Company on this issue. It is offered in some parts of this section, but not under 6.26.d3. Remedy- remove all 'Meet and confer" language and define the hours specifically.

44. In section 6.32- the Flight Attendant check in call been changed to 2:30 out instead of 2:00. We have to tell them we are using an airphone, which may be outside the 100-mile limit. Remedy- change the language so the two (20 hour call is the same or eliminate it all together.

45. In section 6.41 the percent days still here, and are they going to work better for us. We thought one of our goals was to get rid of them and make scheduling more efficient. Remedy- remove restricted days and make management and scheduling more responsible for staffing.

46. In section 5.9(High Value Turns) we are not giving the reserves the option of declining High Value Turns. Remedy- give reserves the option.

47. On Page 6.53 there is a NOTE that says" A Flight Attendant may request and shall be granted, subject to the approval of Flight Attendant Scheduling, the option to drop any pattern on his/her line regardless of the above requirements". This encourages fraternization and favoritism with the schedulers disregarding the seniority system. Remedy- remove this language all together.'

48. On Page 6.47.1(2) mutual patterns are no longer allowed up until check in. Now it has been changed to three hours (3:00) at the base and four hours (4:00) downline. Remedy- change the language back to current contract.

49. On Page6.50 lines m further restrictions have now been placed on pattern drops for "OverProjection" and we limit the options for the most critical month for Flight attendants- December. Remedy- Holiday pay.

50. On Page 6.673 we will now be able to enter into the computer (prior to a trip) a preference for downline rescheduling. This could effect a reserves ability to complete flying. Remedy- improve Reserve lines

RESERVES

51. With the proposed option for block holders to fly up to 83 hours there is potential for more Flight Attendants to be on reserve as well as with High Lines and Flex up Lines.

52. On Page 7.13 the reserve guarantee has been increased to seventy-two hours (72:00) however if they should ask for release their guarantee will be reduced by four hours (4:00) each time. Remedy - leave the guarantee alone unless Reserve asks for an unpaid leave.

53. High Time still goes ahead of reserves. Remedy- limit the category for high time to be after Reserve unless in defined circumstances.

54. With the OPR system at the airport (which is not a true "hot seat") they will be doing Transit duties, boarding flights etc. These duties have not been defined in the definitions' section yet but I am sure there will be many revisions on this definition after we sign. Think about those many possible assignments (babysitting unaccompanied minors, helping the elderly or anyone needing assistance to get to their next flight etc.). Remedy- eliminate OPR or pay for the entire duty day. Define the Transit duties in "Definitions section" of the contract. Place all OPR ahead of High time and other categories.

55. On Page 7.23J the RSV's will have their hours accumulated as "actual" versus "schedule" and therefore will have to fly more hours to get their hours in. The lost the option of choosing either schedule or actual. Remedy- restore the option.

56. The number of On Premise Reserve days the Flight Attendant must serve is two (2) days of OPR per month the first year, three days (3) per month the second year, and three (3) days per month the third year. (See side letter of agreement 67). Remedy- Remove all side letters and define for the duration of the contract a consistent number of OPR days.

57. The number of OPR days increase each year and the union agrees to "Meet and Confer" on this issue in the future? Remedy- remove all Meet and Confer statements.

58. We will now have an OPR system, but with no relief? At other airlines after you reach certain seniority you aren't on RSV anymore. Many airlines have "rotating" reserve where everyone takes a turn at reserve now and then. RSV is now a career at some bases. Most airlines have some form of it with some sort of relief. Remedy- offer some form of relief if this is a necessary evil we must endure.

59. On Premise Reserve will be available at the airport for six hours (6) and only get paid for four hours and fifteen minutes (4:15). Remedy - compensate for the entire day.

60. OPR can be assigned if no one bids it. Remedy- improve the OPR system and pay.

61. Reserve Flight Attendants or High Time Flight Attendants at the airport may be given a trip before On Premise Reserves.

62. Again many "Meet and confer" clauses in this section of the contract. Remedy- remove all.

63. No increase in the number of Ready Reserve lines. Remedy- increase the number of Ready reserve lines.

64. Day trades still limited by percentages: limited number of reserves will hold weekends, holidays, first and last four days of the month. Remedy- remove the restricted day system and make scheduling and management more accountable for staffing.

65. If an OPR request early release she/he will get credit for one (1) hour for each two (2) hours served. Remedy- compensate for entire time served.

66. Now reserves get paid 2:36 per day to sit at home and have a life. With this TA they will become company slaves for 4:15. Remedy- eliminate the OPR system.

67. Reserves can be required to remain at the airport for up to thirty (30) minutes upon completion of a pattern at base if contacted by crew scheduling. Just think of those boarding duties on another flight where the inbound crew is late. Remedy - eliminate language allowing this.

MEDICAL

68. Medical deduction has now increased to $200.00 from $100.00. Remedy- change the language in the policy to allow Flight Attendants with spouse/ partner plans to collect 100% as in the pilot plan. Give all single Flight Attendants the benefits of dental/medical plan for one designated partner.

RETRO PAY

69. The company will be giving you 3.5% of your last three years base pay and keeping the 96.5% for themselves. This is not enough incentive to settle a contract on time but rather to stall and save billions of dollars. Remedy- include contract language to place a penalty on present and all future negotiations to include full retroactive payment for amendable contracts if not settled on time.

RETIREMENT

70. The Final Average Earnings Retirement Plan is in effect and used for management and the Pilot group. We are being told that it will be too costly a plan to start up for the Flight Attendant group. (Stockholm syndrome). They already have the computer software and know-how and we should not be worrying about how much it cost them as they have it for themselves. Management knows it is a good plan or they would have the defined earnings plan like we now presently have. Remedy- include the final average earnings ( 60% of best 36 months) plan in contract language. Include a matching 401k plan.

71. On Page 30.1 of the Retirement Plan Agreement letter D (Inter-Contract Escalator Clause) why is the retirement section limited? If a flight Attendant retires in 2 months prior to the Date of Signing or 2 months after the Date of Signing she/he qualifies for the $62.50 rate after 54 months from this Date of signing but if the Flight Attendant turns 62 on the 61st day after Date of Signing she/he will have to work nearly 5 years longer to qualify for the $62.50 rate. It should be that anyone who retires during the life of the agreement qualifies for the $62.50 rate at age 62 or 55 depending on normal or early retirement. Remedy- remove this clause and language so all are covered during the duration of the contract.

72. In the Retirement section of the contract there is nothing about a Medical Plan. It is covered in generalities on Page 29.3 of Insurance but the specifics of the plan and who will pay what and how much is not mentioned. Remedy- use the same language and plan management have achieved for themselves so Flight Attendants will not have to rely on Medicare or Medicaid governments plans during retirement years.

UNION ACTIVITIES

73. On Page 23.2 it states" The company shall credit the Union Flight Pay loss Account with One Hundred and Fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00) on the first day of July, following ratification and on each succeeding July 1st thereafter during the term of this agreement, subject to the terms of Letter of Agreement 13." I realize the process of keeping union representatives on payroll for benefits etc. but for the company to contribute almost a million dollars to the union and not get anything in return looks bad and that we are not a separate entity. Remedy- change the language and way the company keeps the union representatives with benefits and seniority without involving large sums of financial compensation to the union, an independent entity.

74. The LM-2 of 1998, (which is the Labor Organization Annual Report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor) shows that 9,640 members of Local 2000 contributed $3,706,243.00. See the link LM-2 for 1998. We are not broke. This contract will be worth approximately 20 million dollars over the life of the contract.

SIDE LETTERS

75. Side Letter 32. For unbunked 747 it will take 30 months to either reconfigure with bunks or switch AC's for the seasonal extended duty routes. Remedy resolve all bunk issues and crew rest issues providing bunks on all wide body aircraft operating over 13 hours prior to signing or within a 6 month deadline. Remove all side letters.

76. Side Letter 76. "In order to be eligible for the purser qualification training, a Flight attendant must have a record free from any formal discipline related to job performance, conduct, safety, or dependability and a satisfactory record of attendance. Remedy- define all training and duties of purser position and qualifications that are involved. Make it a true seniority chosen position and not left up to the company's discretion.

VACATION & AUTOMATED COMPUTER SYSTEMS

77. The company, in consultation with the IBT, shall, as soon as practical but no later than eighteen (18) months following ratification of this Agreement, implement an automated system for the bidding and awarding of open vacation. Remedy- implement an automated computer system for all Flight Attendants within six (6) months. Place WinZTerm on the World Wide Web for free to all NWA Flight Attendants as they do the NWA reservation system. In this way all Flight Attendants could have access to scheduling regardless of the Internet Service Provider they use.

SIGNING BONUS

78. The Pilot group received five (5) million shares to be split amongst 5,000 pilots or 1,000 shares each of NWA stocks and we have been offered NOTHING! Remedy- get profit sharing or Stock options as a signing bonus.

Domestic Partner and Single Flight Attendant Benefit Issues

There are none now. Remedy- give the single flight attendants the same benefits that United, American, and Us Air have just given their employees.

DURATION OF THE CONTRACT

Remedy-Limit the duration of the contract to Three (3) years if all of the above is not achieved.

Above you have seen the remedies to the Low Lights. Now we ask you to go back in there and achieve that "industry leading" contract that is on par if not above the industry. Let us for once set an example to the labor force in this industry and the rest of the unionized labor throughout the country. We are united to win a decent contract. We deserve a contract with wages, labor protective clauses, and a retirement that we can live with as Americans.

We ask you also to go back in there this time with a new strategy and that is to keep the membership informed of the negotiation process. We do not want the secrecy that has prevailed in the past. Information creates power and unity. Please keep us all involved, as it is all our futures you are dealing with. With 11,000 eyes and ears we are determined and bound to achieve a contract that is good for all of us.

We ask you also to do this in an expeditious manner. If the company is not willing to deal directly and expeditiously ask the mediator for that impasse you have said you would ask for in June. Let us begin with work action and stop the procrastination NWA has been so clever at accomplishing. It is time for a contract and we have waited far too long.

At this time we are also asking that the IBT approve the Bylaw Amendments from 1998 and 1999. We have voted and approved our Bylaw changes and it is past time to begin implementing them. We should not have anyone in MSP or elsewhere training our replacements in the case of a work action.

One last item is - Please use a law firm and get this contract wording as strong as possible and leave out all ambiguities. This will save us countless dollars and hours later resolving issues . Make this a contract that respects us All.

Remember Our Strength is in our Unity and Knowledge is Power. Good Luck!

Sincerely and Fraternally yours,

Kevin M. Griffin, 19 years, HNL

Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa has heralded the proposed contract for Northwest Airlines flight attendants as "a victory for all working Americans." But unless the tentative agreement wins rank-and-file ratification today in Detroit, the deal will be a non-starter and negotiations will enter a fourth year

Airline industry analyst Brad Bartholomew, who specializes in foreshadowing labor moves, said in a report this week that the flight attendants' contract vote at Northwest is too close to call.

REJECTED!

From: Rob Hodges SFO
Date: 8/26/99
Time: 8:32:01 PM
Remote Name: 205.134.227.92

Comments

6108 NO 2727 YES .......... 69.1% NO VOTE Thank you everybody!

A BIG FAT NO!!!!!! Thanks !!!!!!

From: Kathy Parker- SFO
Date: 8/26/99
Time: 11:44:09 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.199.154

Comments

Thanks everyone for keeping us informed... this web site has been incredibly insightful and informative...keep it up!

WITH GREAT THANKS !!!!!!!!!

From: DAN HENRY DTW
Date: 8/26/99
Time: 9:47:30 PM
Remote Name: 216.214.82.34

Comments

A SPECIAL THANKS TO JOSE, KEVIN, DANNY C. ALL CAT COORDINATORS, AND ALL WHO WORKED SO HARD TO GET INFO TO US F/AS AND ALLOWED US TO VOICE OURSELVES. MUCH MORE WORK AHEAD....

Kevin G. YOU can take a lot of credit for what happened today!

From: Kevin Compton
Date: 8/26/99
Time: 9:05:19 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.201.64

Comments

Kevin, I tip my hat to yourself, Jose and Andy among others who deserve a BIG thank-you from all of us for what happened... Your hard work and perseverance has rewarded you handsomely!! Many tanks! Kevin Compton.

Re: Kevin G. YOU can take a lot of credit for what happened today!

From: Kevin Griffin 19yrs
Date: 8/27/99
Time: 11:32:07 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.196.38

Comments

Thank you Kevin C. for all your support and the rest of the group out there who have done wonders for the group as far as educating ourselves on the contract negotiations process. It has been a long struggle but we have made it part way. By creating the site my partner Randy and I have learned many things as well and I wish we had done this many years ago. We work with a great group of people and this contract negotiations process has divided many of us as the company has done in the past. We never had the means to communicate our thoughts until this computer age came along and now it is working for us. Communication brings information which empowers us. Let us all keep it flowing for we are united . Thanks again for you kind words.

Do you understand your POWER?

From: Sis of 2 DTW FAs
Date: 8/27/99
Time: 10:26:57 AM
Remote Name: 216.17.156.102

Comments

You FAs are rockin'!!!
RESEARCH ALERT - Northwest Airlines cut
NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette said Friday that analyst Jim Higgins had cut his rating on Northwest Airlines Corp. (Nasdaq:NWAC - news) to market perform from buy.
-- cited Thursday's vote by airline's flight attendants rejecting a proposed five-year labor contract.
-- ``We were unnerved by the balance of no's (69 percent) vs yeses,'' Higgins said. ``It suggests the flight attendant rank-and-file are further from the company's view of a fair contract than we expected.''
-- said rejection raises risk for the company ``in terms of potential disruptions and higher costs.''
-- shares off 1-6/16 at 30-9/16.

NWA Stock down 7.5% today

From: Junior
Date: 8/27/99
Time: 2:23:04 PM
Remote Name: 24.92.226.142

Comments

Northwest was down 7.5% today at 215PM the lowest it has been since June 10....another significant day for Flight Attendants. Is there something we can learn from this? Yes. This is added incentive (pressure) for management to give us a fair, equitable, and respectful agreement.

NWA is going to make our lives miserable!

From: NWA Flight Attendant
Date: 8/27/99
Time: 8:18:54 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.192.33

Comments

Since 70 percent of the rank and file rejected the tentative agreement, and voted no, and we totally embarrassed Management in Mecca. Do not be surprised to see manual checks and uniform evaluations and check rides at an all time high. Don't be intimidated by any action NWA will try to place upon our group. Keep your mind focused on only accepting an agreement that reflects adequate pay raises at ALL seniority level and a final earnings average on retirement and FULL retro payment. I am not going to accept anything less! Together if we remain focused and don't give in to NWA deplorable and unethical tactics we will win a contract that we can live and work under well into 2010. NWA will get "real nasty" with our group but I for one will do whatever it takes and if it means to walk a picket line and shut down the airline so be it. Enough is enough and NWA you WILL NOT take away my pride. Thank you all for your support and unity.

The Power of the People

From: Bob Krabbe, DTW Base Rep
Date: 8/27/99
Time: 9:51:25 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.195.27

Comments

It is no secret that I am pleased that this tentative agreement was not ratified yesterday. The reason I am most pleased, however, has nothing to do with personalities or politics, it has to do with education. I have watched over the past two months an incredable thing happen with this group of Flight Attendants. I have seen a group of people educate themselves. Whether you voted for or against this agreement is a moot point now. It is done and overwith and can not be changed.
What is important is that for or against, the Flight Attendants took the TA, read it, re-read it and asked questions. They sat down and read the current Agreement and compared the two. Many people told me that they learned things about the current Agreement they never knew. No matter what the company throws at us in the future, you will always have that knowledge.
But knowledge is not the only thing that we gained. We have also gained power. For the third time in a year and a half, through our voting, we have shown the company and the world that Northwest Flight Attendants know what they want and are willing to fight to get it.
But now is not the time to rest. We still have a monster to battle and it's initials are NWA. Wherever we stood on the T/A we have to remember that NWA still stood on the other side of the battlefield. We may disagree but, like family, when the chips are down we band together and form a ring stronger than steel. NWA needs to understand that the longer this goes, the stronger we get.
I urge everyone to put aside their differences and to fight for what we, as a group, demand. I know there are some who say we were foolish to vote this down. To them I say in the end wouldnt you rather have a better contract than be right? I know I would.
To all those Flight Attendants who took the time to thoughtfully read and consider this T/A (regardless of how you voted) I say Kudos to you! To those who chose to sit on the sidelines I say come and join us. It is always more fun to win when you are a part of the team and have people to celebrate with.
As a group we have the power to make change happen. We need only believe in ourselves and continue to work for what we want.

Re: The Power of the People

From: Ashley McNeely - HNL Base Rep
Date: 8/28/99
Time: 8:33:25 PM
Remote Name: 216.192.150.10

Comments

Bob -
I couldn't have said it better myself. As usual - you hit the nail right on the head.
Now lets get to work on a somewhat newer and much more improved tentative agreement everybody!

The Ballot Process- Let us keep the Communication and Unity Strong!

From: Kevin Griffin 19 yrs
Date: 8/28/99
Time: 1:56:48 AM
Remote Name: 152.163.201.213

Comments

Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,

Yesterday we witnessed a “First” here at NWA. We voted in record numbers and in a record way. True, we were not always as large a group as we are now but from the percentage stand point (as the company likes to use for pay raises) we turned out more voters than ever before. This really means we do care about our contract and livelihoods. We are voicing our opinions democratically.

As an observer to the balloting process for the first time I was very impressed. It started with 5 of us going to the post office to meet James DeHaan as he picked up the ballots from the postmaster. They loaded them into the car and we followed him to the Marriott Hotel where they were to be counted. At the Hotel we had many other Flight Attendants waiting to begin observing the process. Throughout the day many more Flight Attendants joined us and really very closely watched the process of counting. I have to admit it is a very tedious process Mr. DeHaans’ 17 workers had to do. They did it professionally and Mr. DeHaan talked to the group of Flight Attendants each step of the way informing us of the process as the day went along.

A group of us paid for a room and set up a communication center so we could document the day as it progressed and get the word out as soon as it came down. I decided to add photos to the sites so you could see how the day was going and even brought a Digital video camera to hook up to the site. We decided to hold off on putting the photos out on the sites, as they tend to slow down the Internet process and tie up the sites limiting the number of Flight Attendants entering the sites. We held off until the afternoon when it became more tedious and sort of monotonous watching the balloting process and really did not have much to update you on. We placed the first set of photos on then. I am placing the rest on soon so you will see the day as it happened. It was very educational to see democracy in action. It was totally honest as far as I could see and have no doubt about the election credibility. I encourage all to do this sometime.

Now we must continue our struggle with NWA to get that “Industry Leading” contract. We must continue to unite our group and educate ourselves about the industry and our job. We have seen democracy in action and have let the company know by the numbers that we deserve better. We did not all agree and probably never will on everything but the idea is to make an educated decision and vote it and stand by it. I flew a flight today and the Flight Attendants on board voted No but had not even read the contract to base that decision on. The same goes for many Yes voters. We put out the Low Lights a while back and referenced the Tentative Agreement. We read the contract in its entirety as many others did. We all need to read the contract offers as they affect all our lives here at NWA. We need to get the contract that is good for all of us from the most senior to the most junior. I hope many have saved the Low Lights so we can see the next Tentative Agreement and ensure what we did not like is changed. The idea is we all need to read and educate ourselves and communicate. That is what this forum is all about.

So let us get back to the business of uniting and educating each other here in the forum. Please let us make the name-calling and “old wars” a part of our history. They serve no purpose except to divide us. We now hold the upper hand with NWA. True, it would have been nice to see that pay raise now along with a decent retirement plan, and many improvements in work rules etc. but if we remain united we will win the respect of NWA and perhaps next time we will make that record number a Yes vote. We deserve it and now is the time. Urge your elected negotiations committee and executive board to make this a more expeditious and open process. We have waited too long. Show your support and join the process of getting an industry-leading contract for all of us. Most of all -communicate now so there is no questions later. Let’s keep the information flowing. Call your union representatives and negotiators today and voice your opinions. Many of them read the information in the forum and get a better feel of our wants and needs so voice them here too if you do not want to make that call. I know for a fact that this forum has been a sore point for many of the elected members but I feel I would rather speak up freely now than live with the bad contracts and working conditions of the past.

Our Strength is in Our Unity and Information is Power! Keep it going!

Kevin M. Griffin

One last thing – many thanks to those who expressed appreciation for this site. Randy and I appreciate your kind words. Also thank you Andy, Jose, Christi, and many others for keeping the information flowing and for establishing the Rank and File site- nwafa.org.

News article

From:
Date: 8/29/99
Time: 11:37:08 AM
Remote Name: 205.188.200.57

Comments

Saturday News in the Mpls. Star/Tribune
Published Saturday, August 28, 1999
NWA stock makes hard landing in wake of contract rejection Tony Kennedy and Donna Halvorsen / Star Tribune
One day after NorthwestAirlines flight attendants trashed a tentative contract agreement endorsed by their union, investors dumped the carrier's stock.
Northwest shares skidded 7.6 percent Friday, closing at $29.50 a share. Throughout the day, a hefty 4.6 million shares traded hands, making Northwest the busiest issue in airline stocks. The volume was about eight times Northwest's 30-day average. At the close of trading, Northwest's stock was $2.43¾ lower than it was Thursday.
Northwest, which expressed disappointment Thursday after Teamsters Local 2000 rejected a tentative five-year contract forged June 10, didn't say anthing new about the situation on Friday. Spokeswoman Marta Laughlin emphasized that service disruptions are not an immediate threat. Flight attendants can't legally strike or take other job actions against Northwest unless they receive permission from the National Mediation Board. Even then, a 30-day cooling-off period would precede any strike deadline.
"Our concern is that customers don't panic," Laughlin said.
Leading up to last year's two-week strike by pilots, Northwest lost millions of dollars worth of bookings as the possibility of a strike drew closer. Wever Weed, a spokesman for Northwestern Travel Management, said there were no immediate signs at the travel agency of customers booking flights on other airlines to avoid possible service disruptions because of the move by flight attendants.
"This is the M.O. [modus operandi at Northwest]," he said. "We're getting used to it."
Northwest Airlines flight attendants rally at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Thursday.
At Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Friday, flight attendants found much to dislike in the contract they had rejected, including the vagueness of many provisions.
Much of the attendants' concern about the contract centered on work rules, which might mean nothing to the general public, said Terri Chaffer, but govern "our everyday lives."
"They wanted us to vote on a lot of things that weren't worked out, that weren't clear," said Chuck Beckett.
Because of the vagueness, "It's not really our contract," said Sandy Kusbel. "It's their [management's] contract."
The attendants also expressed concerns about pay. They said they're required to be at a scheduled flight an hour before takeoff, but they aren't paid for that hour. "We don't get paid until that airplane starts moving back," said Valerie Dusek.
The attendants said that new flight attendants make so little money that they qualify for food stamps in such cities as New York and Los Angeles. Although the contract would increase the pay of new hires, they said that money needs to be spread over all flight attendants.
"I've been working 20 years, and I make $27,000 a year," said Marsha La Fontaine.
Flight attendant salaries currently range between $14,000 and about $35,000.
The attendants said their pension plan is so inadequate that older flight attendants cannot afford to retire. Although a 57 percent increase in pension payments (the figure in the rejected contract) might look good to the public, several said, the old pension was so small that they need more than that.
Brad Bartholomew, an independent airline industry analyst from Texas, said Northwest must sign new contracts with its flight attendants and mechanics to restore investor confidence and move forward.
"It's kind of another labor mess, unfortunately," Bartholomew said.
Analyst Jim Higgins of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette said Thursday's 69 percent "No" vote against the tentative agreement "suggests the flight attendant rank-and-file are further from the company's view of a fair contract than we expected."
Risks for Northwest
Rejection of the contract raises risks for Northwest "in terms of potential disruptions and higher costs," Higgins said. He cut his rating on Northwest stock on Friday to "market perform" from "buy."
PaineWebber analyst Sam Buttrick said he was surprised by the magnitude of the rejection of the proposed contract, but another analyst thinks the market over-reacted Friday by discounting Northwest's stock.
After the stock fell 6.5 percent, Salomon Smith Barney analyst Brian Harris reiterated his "buy" rating and wrote that he believes a strike is "highly unlikely."
Teamsters Local 2000 Secretary-Treasurer Danny Campbell said that the local union's executive board held a conference call Friday morning. Local 2000 President Billie Davenport had said Thursday that the union probably would survey members to pinpoint their contract concerns, but Campbell said no decisions on surveying were made during the call.
By Sept. 21, the next scheduled meeting of the executive board, Campbell, Davenport and executive board member Anne Tombs will develop an action plan, Campbell said. In the meantime, he said the board agreed Friday to reactivate the union's rank-and-file Contract Action Team (CAT), which had been on hiatus since union negotiators reached the tentative agreement.
Leading up to the agreement, CAT coordinators at Northwest bases throughout the country were credited with mobilizing and educating the rank-and-file on contract issues while Davenport and her negotiating committee faced off against Northwest with help from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Work with CAT
Campbell said Davenport is committed to working more closely with the Contract Action Team during the next phase of the union's fight for improved compensation and better working conditions. It was obvious by the results of Thursday's ratification vote that Davenport was out of step with her members. Like Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa, she had strongly endorsed the proposed contract.
Campbell said Local 2000 in the next couple of weeks will attempt to schedule new contract talks in conjunction with the National Mediation Board, which has been involved in various contract negotiations at Northwest for the past two years.
Flight attendants at the airport seemed resigned to keeping the negotiations going until they get a satisfactory contract.
"It's up to the company," said Kusbel. "They know what we want. Maybe they realize now that we're not going to stop until we get what we want."
The attendants said they don't want to strike but, said Chaffer, "I think we're united enough that we would if we had to."
"This is the most united this group has ever been," said Jennifer Beier.
Macalester College labor historian Peter Rachleff said Northwest flight attendants must devise a method to get negotiations back on track and "move the process along." He said Northwest labor negotiators may want to stall the flight attendants by focusing attention on the airline's mechanics, the only other labor group still waiting for a new contract. As the last holdout for a new contract, the flight attendants might feel more pressure to settle, he said.
"It could drag on a long time," Rachleff said.
He said he was surprised by the extent of dissatisfaction with the proposed contract, especially considering the international union's strong endorsement of the deal.
"This is a union that continues to surprise," Rachleff said. "This is a really dramatic story on the eve of Labor Day."

Billie Davenport & Al Habib ON HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From: Tracey
Date: 8/29/99
Time: 5:38:25 PM
Remote Name: 206.175.99.130

Comments

I hope that I am wrong here. I have just read in this forum that our two fearless leaders have taken a few weeks vacation. If this is true can someone please conform it.
If it is then we truly know what they think of all 11000 of us. But before I comment on that issue please can someone confirm this and let me know if it's just another rumour or is it true.

Re: Billie Davenport & Al Habib ON HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From: Jose Arturo Ibarra
Date: 8/29/99
Time: 6:06:30 PM
Remote Name: 208.250.197.215

Comments

Dear Tracy, What you have posted is correct, but it is more important to know that we have a PLAN OF ACTION in place. It is also important to realize that we need to remain FOCUSED on what we are doing and we can not allow these small distractions take over our primary GOALS.
We will be sending our PLAN OF ACTION - with details - through the bulk list, because as we have said before we will not allow any DELAY of any kind, to bring us DOWN or wear us DOWN - these tactics are used by the IBT all the time.
We only need to concentrate on the FACTS and ACTIONS to realize who has understood the UNIFIED message we have just delivered, and any of the very few elected officials who want to remain outside of the loop, will need further EDUCATION but just as we have no time to waste, we also have no time to wait for them - to EMBRACE our UNIFIED EFFORTS to accomplish a clear delivery of an excellent WELL ROUNDED PROPOSAL TO NWA and if not accepted then ask from the NMB for IMPASSE.
Sincerely, Jose Arturo Ibarra

Tony Kennedy's Minneapolis Star Tribune Article Sept 17...CAT released.

From:
Date: 9/20/99
Time: 2:16:35 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.198.182

Comments

I am so confused here. Billie Davenport stated " I have to prepare" prepare for a strike and that the CAT team was too costly to maintain. Arent the members of CAT, volunteers? Our union is focusing so much on Strike, Strike, Strike. I would think it to be beneficial for both parties, our Union and NWA to be at the table to avoid such actions.
No one wants to see a strike, I think the vast majority of FAs simply want a contract, a livable and fair contract in place. Enough of this ,,we are going to Strike. Enough of this disbanding of CAT, Enough is Enough. Each day that our union puts off and delays it costs all of us. The only one that isnt having to endure finanical loss is NWA.
I think it was poor judgement on Billie's and the executive members of Local 2000 to terminiate CAT.
This is going to go on for months, years, I do not see any resolution at all. All the members that are needed to ratify a new agreement, are being dismissed. First our Lawyer Barb Harvey, Now our CAT, and who/whats next?
American Airlines and their Union were back at the table immediately after the rejection of their Tentative Agreement. Why isnt this the same for our group?
i just would like to know what is going on behind the doors of NWA and our Union, and would like to know why we the members, are being locked out? Whats going on?
Go to www.startribune.com.. archives for the complete story.

BIG, BAD RUMOUR <Grin>

From: Enquiring Minded F/A
Date: 9/22/99
Time: 4:05:00 PM
Remote Name: 156.46.223.115

Comments

Just heard last evening that (deleted) has beaten his wife and that she is suing him. And, that he will soon step down or be fired as (deleted). Anyone know if it's true? Can't believe Twin Cities reporters haven't sniffed this one out if it is! If it is true, it will certainly help us, I think. What a loser he is to have had the opportunity to establish the worlds BEST airline and then blow it. GREED is not good!

Northwest Airlines

From: Your pals Johnny and Jerry
Date: 9/27/99
Time: 10:44:06 AM
Remote Name: 24.131.31.57

Comments

I would like to clarify some comments I made recently regarding Northwest Airlines. I want to share this with you because the time has come to build an inclusive, nondiscriminatory movement for social and political change. I am not mistaken when I say that this cannot go on much longer. Once Northwest Airlines accepts responsibility for the problems they have caused, the focus shifts from who is responsible to what each of us can do about it ! One thing is certain: The more pressing news is that they simply wants to win at all costs the war against our individualism and our liberties. I, for one, will not say what is right and what is wrong when it comes to Northwest Airline's publicity stunts. But I will say one thing: You shouldn't take threats made by sniveling In-flight Managers too seriously.
How much longer can we tolerate Northwest Airline's dissolute thinking before the whole country collectively throws up? The idea of letting Northwest Airlines utilize questionable and illegal fund-raising techniques is, in itself, insolent. It may seem senseless to say that I disagree both with his point and with the way they makes it. Nevertheless, the position can be defended. Despite some perceptions to the contrary, the only thing bigger than the chip on there shoulder is the grossness of there holier-than-thou attitudes. Though I am not a proponent of conflict, given the public appetite for more accountability, nobody seems to realize that I myself intend to keep writing letters like this one until Northwest Airlines changes there ways .
This is equivalent to saying that the messages contained in there complaints are a powerful source of illumination on the behavior of corrupt odious-types. Why do Northwest Airline's cronies want to represent a threat to all the people in the area, indeed, possibly the world? The answer, of course, is completely transparent. It is undeniable by anyone but the worst types of shallow rapscallions there are that Northwest Airlines was warned by his own lackeys not to outrage the very sensibilities of those who value freedom and fairness.
To put this in context, Northwest Airlines thinks they can impress us by talking about "counter establishment this" and "individualistic that". They places his indelible imprimatur upon a form of clericalism that is fundamentally, pervasively, and inescapably crazy.
Northwest Airline's cause at all, but it's true. At first, you might think that Northwest Airlines has no idea what they are doing. But on deeper inspection, you'll truly conclude that this is a truth that Northwest Airline's henchmen are told by Northwest Airlines that they cannot acknowledge, lest they give aid and comfort to the rest of us. Well, writing this letter has emphatically made me want to sell Northwest Airlines. Excuse me while I take a shower and cool off.
Johnny and Jerry

Gary Wilson Corporate Raider and our ENEMY !

From: Johnny and Jerry
Date: 9/28/99
Time: 3:56:49 PM
Remote Name: 24.131.31.57

Comments

I just want to say one thing: My snow jobs are clearly in defense of decency and human dignity and violate nobody's rights. With this letter, I hope to invigorate the effort to reach solutions by increasing the scope of the inquiry, rather than by narrowing or abandoning it. But first, I would like to make the following introductory remark:
The reasons that Gary Wilson gives for his musings clearly do not correspond with his real motives. Someone needs to focus on concrete facts, on hard news, on analyzing and interpreting what's happening in the world.
When I first heard about Gary's diatribes, I dismissed them as merely discourteous.
Should we blindly trust such nasty corporate raiders?
It should be readily apparent that if his accusations cause nothing but trouble, then we cannot and we must not allow ourselves to become infected with the fatal remarks.
But their attempts to take rights away from individuals whom only he perceives as brainless are just plain money-grubbing.
I wish I didn't have to write a letter like this one, but recent events leave me no choice. To begin with, Gary Wilson doesn't care one whit about how others might feel. I can assure you that a number of evil politically-incorrect heretics have succumbed to excessive drug use, alcoholism, and other addictive behavior indicating maladaptive mechanisms.
What's more important is that Wilson has found a way to avoid compliance with government regulations, circumvent any further litigation.
What is Wilson's current objective? As usual, there are multiple objectives:
* to play on people's conscious and unconscious belief structures, * to waffle on all the issues, and * to stop you from getting a great contract.
I would like to digress here. In many ways, as witnesses to mankind's inner dissatisfaction, we must advocate concrete action and specific quantifiable goals.
It behooves us to remember that if my memory serves me correctly, Wilson's left hand doesn't know what his right hand is doing.
face it: Wilson's cronies are more determined than most execrable authoritarians. If an attempt to add insult to injury isn't delusional, it certainly is two-faced. Rude headlong-types can't even agree among themselves as to how morally-questionable Wilson is. We can't stand idly by and let him make our lives an endless treadmill of government interferences while providing few real benefits to our health and happiness.
I just want to focus on concrete facts, on hard news, on analyzing and interpreting what's happening in the world. That's why I propose, argue, plead, and joke about ways to work beyond the predatory plasticity of Wilson's slurs.
I have always assumed that the police should lock Wilson up and throw away the key, but the fact of the matter is that Wilson's personal attacks represent an inseparable mixture of reason and human madness, but always in such a way that only the madness can become reality and never the reason. By toning down his generalizations, many more people are exposed to his postmodernist message, convinced by his passion, and seduced by his simplistic answers to complex social problems. The mistaken claim that he can achieve his goals by friendly and moral conduct is not only incorrect but is somewhat telling of his core sentiments. Does Wilson remember the hurt and hate in the eyes of the people he made fun of just so others would like him more? The world would be better off if he had never been born.
I was, however, going to forget about the whole thing when it suddenly occurred to me that we need to stand up for our rights. Still, Wilson gives new meaning to the word "wishy-washy". Faith is harder to shake than knowledge, love succumbs less to change than respect, hate is more enduring than aversion, and I recommend that we warn the public against those pseudo-intellectuals whose positive accomplishments are always practically nil, but whose conceit can scarcely be excelled. I have just one word for Wilson. STRIKE Not surprisingly, there must be justice for all of us or there will be peace for none.
If I seem a bit jaundiced, it's only because I'm trying to communicate with him on his own level. Wilson says he's not corrupt, but he's certainly unbridled, and that's essentially the same thing. His assistants do not concern themselves much with the people around them.
Wilson, do you feel no shame for what you've done? Just don't expect consistency from a man who is entirely and really sophomoric. Many of the distinctions between ethically-bankrupt self-absorbed dope heads and Wilson's helpers have dissolved.

Richard Anderson

From: Johnny and Jerry
Date: 9/29/99
Time: 7:06:59 PM
Remote Name: 24.131.31.57

Comments

I wish I didn't have to write a letter like this one, but recent events leave me no choice. What follows is a series of remarks addressed to the readers of this letter and to Richard Anderson himself.
Isn't it true that he has values that are antagonistic to a traditional, moral society? If not, tell me why not. It is neither possible nor desirable to ignore the issue of corporatism here.
For all of the foregoing reasons, I can confidently claim that Richard is right about one thing, namely that fear is what motivates us.
Fear of what it says about our society.
Whether or not Richard should meddle in everyone else's affairs ought to be a simple question, far beyond the realm of debate. However, he expresses an egotism-oriented nostalgia for a uniform, unchallenging, homogeneous society that never really existed
Under these conditions, he is the grand master of hub and spoke system. Doesn't he ever get tired of calling everyone unpaid employees who will be getting a new contract in the near future.? Because of Richard's obsession with power, he will adopt or abandon any principle to obtain this power.
We believe that our UNIFICATION has grown stronger and continues to grow stronger each day. The familiar attacks have become just that; FAMILIAR and no one is taking the bait.
We believe that each one of us needs to continue our active participation, passing on the word and the Simple Unified Solution flyer in order to provide additional encouragement to ONE & ALL.
Given the traveling public appetite for more accountability, he doesn't care one whit about how others might feel. How does he deal with this fascinating piece of information? He completely ignores it. His cronies have been trained, organized, and motivated to substitute rumor and gossip for bona fide evidence. Richard has never been accused of objectivity. But even if we disregard all that and examine only Richard's unprincipled conjectures, this seems to me to be enough to show that Richard's writings are now a staple of his lackeys' press releases..
My number one priority is to fight to the end for our ideas and ideals. Richard bases his stances on the belief that all major world Airlines are controlled by a covert group of "insiders". Note that the foregoing does not pretend to be an accurate description of all people who might be considered incorrigible thieves and corporate raiders. It is only a rough indication of some of Richard's general tendencies. We should look no further than his delays and stock options.
No one can claim to know the specific source of Richard's shell games, but the issue of what to do about impudent imbeciles is a hopelessly tangled and complicated issue, impossible to discuss due to the intensity with which each side holds its beliefs.
The truth is that he has stated that merit is adequately measured by his methods and qualifications. That's just pure exclusionism. Well, in Richard's case, it might be pure ignorance, seeing that no group has done so much to inject even more fear and divisiveness into political campaigns as Richard's assistants.
Let's just ignore Richard and see what he does on December 1st.

Who is Jose. ?

From: Johnny and Jerry
Date: 10/6/99
Time: 7:12:45 PM
Remote Name: 24.131.31.57

Comments

In response to Jose's emails.
I would like to offer the following opposing points. What follows is a series of remarks addressed to the readers of this letter and to Jose himself. In plain, simple-to-understand English,
History teaches us that to ignore or dismiss people like Jose simply as someone with two much time and a MAC Computer can have devastating consequences.
Something recently occurred to me that might occur to Jose, as well, if he would just turn down the volume of his voice for a moment: Jose's voiced intentions don't match his actual intentions.
I am fed up with his batty and drugged-out behavior and his simple solutions.
It seems ironic that his stubborn pleas are responsible for the rapid rise in sick calls, the demise of the work ethic.
I was personally offended -- and I don't easily offend -- by the value he places on making me roll over and play dead. All that we have achieved may now be lost, if not in the bright flames of corporate greed.
If you understand that Jose's offhand remarks reflect several layers of moral concern for many bases.

Re: When the "wife beater" comes out to give the keynote spee...

From: Johnny and Jerry
Date: 10/9/99
Time: 8:49:46 PM
Remote Name: 24.131.31.57

Comments

Everybody lock your doors, get a gun, protect yourself! (DELETED) the wife beater is planning to force his moral code on the rest of us! Instead of focusing on why he has made a big mistake, I would like to remind people that we are at a crossroads.
However, (DELETED) offhand remarks are not restrained by any moral scruples. I thought it couldn't be done, but, once again, (DELETED) platitudes have sunk to a new low.
Psychologists might suggest that there is something inherently wrong with a man who wants, more than anything else, to befuddle the public and make sin seem like merely a sophisticated fashion. Counselors might insist that the hate just keeps on coming. Sociologists might point out that he should do some research next time before printing half-truths and misinformation. I agree with the above assessments, but no one can be right all of the time. We don't have to stand for poor management ? The whole premise of (DELETED) musings is false, and his arguments are specious at best. Still, we shouldn't jump to conclusions, even though it is a known fact that none of (DELETED) politics changes my mind about anything.
More to the point, (DELETED) is secretly saying that I should just lie awake at night wondering who (DELETED) next victim will be.
Well folks, you are the victim of (DELETED) and Corporate Greed and stupidity.
(DELETED) remonstrations are part of a larger attack on the very notion of meritocracy and quality. however true that is, (DELETED) should clarify his point, so people like you and me can tell what the heck he's talking about. I cannot emphasize enough how much I resent his mottos. This letter should be regarded as the beginning, not the end, of my stance against (DELETED).
I wish that some of his everyone would ask themselves, "Why am I helping him run this Airline into the ground?"
Understand where the motivation for that statement comes from. A final note: (DELETED) the wife beater leaves me no choice but to die in oppression, chaos, and HAVOC.

December 1, 1999 ? start of Influenza viruses aka "the FLU"

From: Johnny and Jerry
Date: 10/9/99
Time: 10:18:00 PM
Remote Name: 24.131.31.57

Comments

Flu Season 1999-2000
Vaccine Information
* Influenza viruses ("the flu) infect the respiratory tract. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headache, muscle aches, and extreme fatigue. Although nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea sometimes occur during an infection, these symptoms are rarely prominent. "Stomach flu" is a misnomer sometimes used to describe gastrointestinal illnesses that are actually caused by other organisms. * Influenza viruses continually change over time, and each year the vaccine is updated to include the viruses that are most likely to circulate in the upcoming influenza season. The influenza vaccine (flu shot) that has been produced for the 1999-2000 flue season contains three influenza virus strains designated A/Beijing/262/95-like (H1N1), A/Sydney/5/97-like (H3N2), and B/Yamanashi/166/98 hemagglutinin antigens. * The best time to get a shot is from October through mid-November. However, shots can be taken at any time during the season. It takes 1-2 weeks, after receiving the shot, for a person to develop protective antibody. * Flu vaccines are 70%-90% effective in preventing influenza among healthy adults. Among elderly or people with chronic conditions, the vaccine may be less effective in preventing disease than in preventing serious complications and death. * Annual flu shots are recommended for persons who are at high-risk for serious complications, if they should get influenza. Groups at increased risk include: o Persons 65 years of age and older; o Residents of nursing homes and chronic care facilities; o Adults and children (6 months of age and older) who have chronic disorders of the pulmonary or cardiovascular systems, including children with asthma; o Adults and children who have required regular medical follow-up or hospitalization during the preceding year because of chronic metabolic diseases (including diabetes), renal dysfunction, hemoglobinopathies, or immunosuppression; o Children and teenagers who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and, therefore, are at increased risk for developing Reye syndrome after an influenza infection; o Women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during the flu season. * Persons who care for and/or live with people at high risk for complications from flu should also get a shot. These persons include: o Physicians, nurses, and other personnel in both hospital and outpatient-care settings; o Employees of nursing homes and chronic-care facilities who have contact with patients or residents; o Providers of home care to persons at high risk (e.g., visiting nurses and volunteer workers); o Household members (including children) of persons in high-risk group. * In the United States, flu season usually peaks in late December and early March. * Surveillance information is updated weekly from October through May, and is available online at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/weekly.htm. Or, you can receive the information by fax by calling toll-free (888) 232-3238 (document no. 361100).
* Is there a new flu virus circulating this season? Has flu season come early in the United States? * Persons with Chronic Conditions * Information for Travelers

W. W. (DELETED)

From: Johnny and Jerry
Date: 10/30/99
Time: 11:18:08 PM
Remote Name: 24.131.31.57

Comments

Well Everyone. It's a rather quiet day here in Minnesota. I was saying to Jerry the other day W. W. (DELETED). ? That's What would Jose Do ? Your saying to yourself. Writing the Simple Solutions. Well Everyone there is a mirror next to his computer with a white residue. Several empty glasses and a bucket of Ice. On the floor you will see several large bottles of Jack Daniels and his favorite Jose Cuervo. Also several hundred empty mini's are near the waste basket. I ask Jerry again... What would Jose Drink ? W. W. J. D. Grab a cool one and send the Simple Solutions to the waste basket. Jerry said that Richard and John and Gary really get a bang on of his simple idea's. And as Hector has said It sure beats Lunch at the Hamptons any day ? I'm just waiting for Jose to come clean on exactly where he has been for the last several weeks. As Jerry keeps telling me...Jose is on vacation. Sure he is. That's a great line to tell everyone.
Johnny and Jerry will be on vacation until November 16th. And hey we will not be in Mexico. Hey Jerry lets give Hector a call and see if he has time for lunch ?
Aloha
Johnny & Jerry

To all the Union Leadership

From: Kevin Griffin 19 years
Date: 9/21/99
Time: 11:33:17 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.198.168

Comments

To the Union Leadership,
It has now been almost a month since the ballot count and we still see no survey or action by the leadership of this union. Where is the survey? When is it going to be finished? Who is responsible back there for dragging this whole negotiation process out? Of course the company will not talk to us if the leadership will not approach them. The Its’ Time slate and those prior to it are all at fault. It is Past Time and we, the membership want a contract NOW. If all of you back there (past and present leaders) do not know what to do then admit it and get some help. Do it soon. We, the working membership have waited far too long. We (the 11,000 of us) are the union and deserve the answers in a timely manner. Keep reminding yourselves of that.
It is not all that difficult to do. The leadership three years ago sent out a piece of paper addressing the steps of negotiations. “ Delay” was not in the steps.
Since the leadership has decided to go back to step one (survey) perhaps it should go to step two and get new negotiators as the American Airlines Flight Attendants have done now. They are doing that now in a timely manner and for the good of all. Their membership spoke the same by saying No to their union sanctioned Tentative Agreement. They said no in almost the same proportion (73%). Follow their example.
Also since you have taken the process back to step one with a new survey you will be seeing more demands. The membership numbers have changed and therefore the demands and wants have to. It would not be bad faith bargaining to bring up new issues since you have taken it back to day one. Remember that.
Also when and if you get that survey out make it so there is room at the bottom of each section for Flight Attendant worded input. I do not want a multiple-choice survey that says for example: Retirement – do you want. (a) $20.00 per year of service (b) $35.00 per year of service or (c) $55.00 per year of service. Do not slant the survey in any way. Make it honest and leave room for input.
You have chosen to go about and delay by doing a survey so having taken the process back to day one do it in an expedient manner this time and with the union membership in mind this time. We deserve it.
I also invite all of you to respond to this forum any time. Speak your minds and give the Flight Attendants the respect they deserve with a contract that is good for all. I know that you may believe that this forum has only a few in it (who sign their name) but the volume alone has many more hits than the number you see on the home page. The average hits per day has grown to over 10,000. So keep in mind that there are many readers here who have been silent but are still looking for some information. Each day new people sign their name as the tolerance and patience levels drop. If we had been informed by the leadership all along this contract may have been settled along time ago. Learn from those past errors and improve your leadership skills. Listen to the members this time. Make that 69.1% a yes vote next time or better yet a 100% yes vote by getting that contract we all want. Have a great and productive day.

About That Up-Coming Survey

From: Gary Helton--LAX
Date: 9/29/99
Time: 3:05:53 PM
Remote Name: 12.72.18.66

Comments

One would think that the survey has, at this point in time, been written and approved for mailing. If so, why not publish it here on the Forum or better yet, on the Teamsters Local 2000 Website. By the time the s-l-o-w and costly U.S. Mail gets it to us, we will have had an opportunity to mull over the essay questions and we can reply quickly, thus enabling the survey tabulators even more time to do their thing? That, in turn, would send us back to the table even sooner than anticipated. Just a thought...as I think the power of the Internet has been truly demonstrated thus far.

Re: About That Up-Coming Survey

From: Let's just get on with it - its coming in the mail and we should fill it out so we can get back to negotiations. Stop the pettiness and second guessing.
Date: 10/2/99
Time: 5:27:30 AM
Remote Name: 152.163.207.52

Comments

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FOUND ON NWA AIRCRAFT

From:
Date: 10/17/99
Time: 3:02:33 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.192.189

Comments

2 Baggage handlers were injured Saturday morning after being exposed to unauthorized materials aboard a Northwest Airlines DC10 aircraft bound from Detroit, Michigan to Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Minnesota.
The plane had 70 passengers and 13 crew members aboard aboard.
The chemicals were not listed on manifest.
Kathy Peach a NWA representative said, "IT IS COMMON FOR NWA PASSENGER PLANES TO CARRY CARGO IN THE HOLDS ALONG WITH LUGGAGE. She said, "NWA DOES NOT INSPECT EVERY PIECE OF CARGO THAT GOES INTO IT PLANES."
The DC10 bound for San Francisco, California arrive in Minneapolis around 8am and was held for several hours on the Gold Concourse near Gate 19, while hazardous materials teams cleaned and inspected the aircraft.
Hydrochloric Acid and other chemicals seeped from vials in a box of electronic equipment

Re: HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FOUND ON NWA AIRCRAFT

From: 10/10/98 747 diverted to hnl, crew & passengers ill, haz mat in cargo plus no ozone scrubbers working on ship 6626..Then NWA fined $90,000.00 in ANC haz mat on cargo 747..This is not a new deal for NWA they haul HAZ MAT DAILY. Legal action pending in Calif for crew members
Date: 10/17/99
Time: 11:02:32 PM
Remote Name: 204.203.22.236

Comments

Re: HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FOUND ON NWA AIRCRAFT

From: I hope those crew members receive a significant settlement. No one should should ever be exposed to HAZARDOUS MATERIALS on a commercial aircraft. If NWA wants to jeopardize our health, then SCREW THEM. SUE BIG TIME.
Date: 10/18/99
Time: 11:41:46 AM
Remote Name: 205.188.195.54

Comments

"WELCOME ABOARD CONTINENTAL AIRLINES" ????

From: IRENE WINGFIELD---LAX
Date: 10/2/99
Time: 2:35:38 AM
Remote Name: 205.188.192.172

Comments

Right about now, saying "Welcome aboard Continental Airlines" does not sound all that bad to me. Who would have ever thunk that anyone would even think of saying "I wish I flew for Continental"?????

KLM/Alitalia Merger Announced....what is next for NWA?

From: Junior
Date: 9/27/99
Time: 2:26:55 PM
Remote Name: 24.92.226.79

Comments

KLM Plans Merger With Alitalia September 27, 1999 11:42 AM EDT
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) _ KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Italy's national carrier Alitalia plan to extend their alliance into a full merger, KLM chief executive Leo Van Wijk said Monday.
KLM could take an equity stake in Alitalia, Van Wijk said, once the Italian government sells its 53 percent stake. KLM is also partially government owned.
Van Wijk said the companies received approval for a merger from European regulatory authorities in August, when their alliance was cleared.
``We weren't just applying for an alliance. We applied for a merger,'' Van Wijk told reporters in The Hague. ``We don't have to go back (to the European Commission) to implement what we are aiming for, which is a full merger.''
Although plans to merge the management into a single board headed by a chairman and a CEO were revealed earlier this year, the airlines did not say whether they intended to swap stock or fuse operations to form one company.
It was unclear whether Alitalia would also seek to take a stake in KLM or whether the Dutch would gain a majority holding in the merged company.
Analysts already called the alliance a virtual merger, but Van Wijk's comments confirm their assumptions.

Merger "Master Plan" code-named "WHO CARES!!??

From: James Ashburn SFO
Date: 10/6/99
Time: 3:49:05 AM
Remote Name: 38.28.75.98

Comments

I had a revelation tonight. I believe I have figured out why Northwest Airlines management doesnt care about it's employees. They are trying to make as many employees as mad as possible so that in the future, when we do finally become Continental Ailrines----we wont protest too much. It will seem like the best thing for us. For example, Continental treats it's employees better, i.e. profit sharing, rewarding employees with automobiles,etc. However, they do pay their employees less so the bigwigs can keep more money for themselves!!! We all know what Continental is really like by looking at the history, i.e. Frank Lorenzo...I think I am on to something here....This seems like the only logical explanation for Northwest's managements' actions, tactics, total disdain for the workers. This new Anderson guy is just a salve for the wound. He is just here to appease us until their "Master Plan" is fully implemented. Whatcha' think? Does this sound plausible? It seems like it to me. Let me know your ideas and input on this situation.......maybe you can give me more examples to prove my point. One I read on this forum, that comes to mind, is Northwest letterhead being addressed to Houston, TX.......(look in the next PSK you have access to)

U.S. Flight Attendants History of Strikes

From: Gary Helton--LAX
Date: 9/28/99
Time: 3:28:27 PM
Remote Name: 12.72.81.207

Comments

According to an article printed by The Associated Press, there have been only 4 strikes by U.S. flight attendants since the federal government deregulated the airline industry in 1978. They include: American Airlines (5 days in 1993), TWA (64 days in 1986), Continental (16 days in 1980), and Ozark (52 days in 1979). That's an average strike-length of 34 days, folks. Hopefully, we're all socking away a little cash, just in case. I think it's noteworthy to mention that the lengthier strikes were years ago and that American's FAs pulled there's off in only FIVE days. Even more noteworthy, is knowing that the American Airlines pilots struck for only four MINUTES in February of 1997. For a complete look at the history of U.S. Airline Strikes, check out this website: http://www.wews.com/news/stories/news-980827-085109.html

December 1

From: Tracey DTW/FA
Date: 9/30/99
Time: 8:30:23 AM
Remote Name: 208.24.232.126

Comments

Excuse my ignorance, but could someone tell me what is going on on December 1????

Re: December 1 and the Y2K Problem

From: Let the HAVOC begin!!!!!!!
Date: 9/30/99
Time: 9:47:35 PM
Remote Name: 152.166.244.247

Comments

Schedule all medical appointments for December. And just as a reminder one sick call can be extended for the whole month. Y2K is real and it will start Dec 1st at NWA.

December 1st is coming!!!!!!!!!

From: Havoc will happen!
Date: 10/1/99
Time: 6:10:33 AM
Remote Name: 152.169.55.160

Comments

have a nice day

Y2K--What NOT to Fly and Why

From: Gary Helton--LAX
Date: 10/1/99
Time: 2:11:11 PM
Remote Name: 12.72.77.113

Comments

Check out the following link for some interesting reading pertaining to Y2K compliant airports, airlines and countries. Based on what I read, I don't think I'd be bidding to fly trips to The Philippines or ANYWHERE in Europe over the new year. They carry with them a strong warning to "be prepared to cope with disruptions." This is, no doubt, why KLM has cancelled their flights during that time frame. I wonder if this might somehow be connected to why Northwest is interested in having the ability to change the definitions of a flying month--as proposed in the rejected tentative agreement. Check it out at: www.fly2K.dot.gov

Total Hits on Cleardaze/nwafacontract up until today is 1,017,774 ( One million seventeen thousand and seven hundred seventy four)

From: Kevin Griffin 19 yrs
Date: 10/8/99
Time: 2:16:04 AM
Remote Name: 209.154.5.173

Comments

October 7, 1999
Since May, when Randy and I started this web site to try and get the communication flowing amongst the group of Flight Attendants we have seen many changes occur. We have seen for the first time a group that was once divided in many ways (whether by base, seniority, different union locals, old airlines etc.) come together and educate ourselves with information to be able to make an educated decision for our futures. We educated each other on all aspects of the Tentative Agreement that we felt was not up to the standards of the industry or the American worker.
We said "No" in a "NO DOUBT ABOUT IT " way to a contract that was not up to the standards of today's American worker let alone our fellow airline industry workers at American, United, Delta and other carriers. We have grown strong in a very short time. We have communicated our wants and our needs to the company and each other. We have, I am sure, for once made our union leadership listen when they did not want to hear. "We" are the union and we will control our futures. We will no longer rely on a few members to decide our futures whether they be Union officials or Company management. The days of rolling over and looking the other way are gone. We must continue to fight for a contract that is for "ALL" of us. No one wants to be an eighty year old Flight Attendant or have to live with five or six other Flight Attendants because we have a retirement plan and salaries that we cannot live on. The Company does not see why we don't for some reason nor do they care. Sure they have a program called "Air Cares" but that is for a tax break. We wished they cared but we know by now that if it does not affect the bottom line they do not. So we must care and get that contract that will take care of us in the future.
Here are some statistics that made my eyes open wide today when I finally got time to look into the statistics of this web site and pay the bills. They show the average daily hits per day; the maximum hits per day in a month and the total hits per month. The numbers have been increasing tremendously as our strength has too. We have the Power and the Unity to win this contract battle so keep the Information and Communication Flowing.
There are some back in MSP who believe this site is for only a few. The numbers here show a different perspective. Our voices have been heard here and in the ballot room. We must continue to be heard. Our Strength is in Our Unity and the Internet has made that a Reality. Thank you for using ClearDaze and the Internet.
If you would like to become a sponsor and support this site we invite you to visit the Link above.
In Solidarity,
Kevin .M Griffin
Randy Amiscaray
MONTH…..AVG # HITS/DAY…..MAX # HITS/DAY….TOTAL
MAY………..128……………………...898…………………3,989
JUNE……….4997………………….13,267………………..149,934
JULY……….8715…………………..13,863……………….270,187
AUG………..7,763…………………..36,212……………….240,669
SEPT……….10,281………………….15,939………………308,451
OCT (1-7)………………………………………………………44,544
TOTAL AS OF OCTOBER 7, 1999…………………………1,017,774

H.A.V.O.C. - Board Resolution

From: Danny Campbell, Sec-Treas
Date: 10/9/99
Time: 1:33:42 AM
Remote Name: 206.175.102.40

Comments

To All Local 2000 Members,
The following resolution was passed by the Executive Board. Most of you will be EXTREMELY excited about the content of the resolution (with the exception of the dues assessment issue, which I suspect is going to spark some VERY heated debate and reactions).
The H.A.V.O.C. Education Module mentioned in the resolution is entirely ready (been working on it all week and into the weekend) and will be rolled out at all bases starting next week in AMS and continuing around the system over the next four (4) weeks. DO NOT MISS THESE PRESENTATIONS. They will teach you [almost] everything you need to know (and want to hear from Local 2000) as it relates to the important direction we are now headed in.
_______________________
Executive Board Resolution (approved 10/7/99)
Implementation of the H.A.V.O.C. Campaign
WHEREAS, the Flight Attendant members of Teamsters Local 2000 have overwhelmingly voted to continue contract negotiations for an improved agreement, and,
WHEREAS, the Executive Board recognizes it is imperative to implement a strategic contract campaign in order to achieve the collective goals of the membership, and,
WHEREAS, such campaign should incorporate the following key elements; Membership Mobilization, Strike Preparedness, Increased Communication, Strategic Development, a Strike Hostage Fund and increased income to cover the costs of such campaign;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Executive Board proposes the implementation of a campaign entitled "HAVOC - Having a Voice in Our Contract", which includes the following:
1.) Contract goals which shall include, but are not limited to (i.e., Flight Attendant surveys shall further define contract goals) the following:
* Industry-leading hourly pay rates and longevity steps * Final Average Earnings Retirement Plan and the elimination of offsets and lost past service for Ex-Republic Flight Attendants
* 3.5 % retro pay & lump sum signing bonuses
* 75 hour reserve guarantee
* 50% of FA positions on flights south & west of Tokyo
* Back to red book (current agreement) on all consessionary items (to be further designed in conjunction with all Base Representatives)
2.) A national and base HAVOC flow chart and lists of duties as outlined in Attachment A.
******************
Attachement A. outlines the following four (4) national positions, and outlines the duties and responsibilities for each:
1.) Negotiations Strategy - (Billie Davenport) 2.) Member Mobilization - (Anne Toombs) 3.) Strike Preparedness - (Debbie Nelson) 4.) Education and Communication - (Danny G. Campbell)
Attachement A. also defines a base flow chart which includes the following positions:
1.) Base Representative(s) and 1 HAVOC Coordinator at each base 2.) 2 HAVOC Educators at each base 3.) Mobilizing Team at each base 4.) 1 Strike Captain (and a Strike Team) at each base 5.) Phone Tree Volunteers at each base
******************
3.) An education module developed and designed in cooperation with rank and file activists during the first week of October 1999.
4.) Ongoing presentation of the campaign to rank and file members at all bases and such other cities as may be deemed appropriate and necessary.
5.) The mailing of a letter explaining the campaign to all Local 2000 members, along with a HAVOC Network/Volunteer Card and balloting materials for a dues assessment referendum, and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Executive Board expressly authorizes the implementation of a Strike Hostage Fund. Such fund shall be used exclusively for legal representation and/or any other form(s) of financial support deemed necessary by this board in protecting fellow members from illegal or aggressive corporate actions against members engaged in strike action(s). Such fund shall remain permanent and any unused monies in said fund (at the conclusion of the current negotiations process) shall be earmarked for future negotiations / strikes, and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in order to establish the Strike Hostage Fund and provide necessary funding for HAVOC, a dues assessment ballot is ordered which proposes necessary funding as follows:
A two-time assessment of $25.00 per member (broken over two months) and thereafter an additional $5.00 per month / per member until negotiations have been successfully concluded. Should the members approve this additional funding proposal, Local 2000 will place an immediate $200,000.00 into the Strike Hostage Fund upon the second $25.00 assessed installment. An additional amount of at least $15,000.00 per month shall be placed into the fund thereafter. If approved by the members, Local 2000 will not deduct or invoice both initial assessments during 1999.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that by implementing the HAVOC campaign, Local 2000 shall endeavor the following:
* Strengthen two way communication between activities at the gargaining table and rank and file activation in the field by mobilizing members around key contract demands
* Contract survey results shall be used for internal consideration by negotiators, however, Local 2000 shall not allow such data to be used to micro-prioritize Flight Attendant contract demands. Nor, shall such data be made available (public) for management’s review
* Aggressively push for an impasse (at the direction of the Executive Board)and subsequent release by the NMB from mediated talks, in order to expedite the process
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Executive Board shall set contract negotiations goals for Local 2000. Such goals shall become part of Local 2000 contract proposals and shall be part of any tentative agreement with the company, unless and until specifically amended with the approval of the Executive Board. Once a tentative agreement has been delivered to the Executive Board by the Negotiations Committee, the Executive Board shall decide if such tentative agreement will be sent to the membership for ratification. Such decision will be made with the advice of the Base Representatives. ---------------------------

This Web site to close down.

From: Your Rank and File Team
Date: 11/5/99
Time: 6:03:56 PM
Remote Name: 205.136.57.120

Comments

Thanks to everyone who has supported this web site. The cost of running this site is to high. The time that your Rank and File Team needed to monitor this site was time consuming. We are looking for another way to send you the information that you deserve.
Thanks for stopping and viewing our web site.
Your Rank and File Team

This is a test of the Emergency Call In Sick Program ... Please follow all instructions in the comments section !!!

From: Your Rank and File Team
Date: 10/31/99
Time: 9:49:36 PM
Remote Name: 205.136.57.120

Comments

The countdown starts today.
This is a test of the CAT Call In-Sick program for December 1st.
Feel free to test this program around turkey day or turkey week.
Please write down the following emergency telephone numbers. 1-800-445-5854 Crew Scheduling 1-800-346-6519 Crew Coordinator 1-888-553-5448 Check-In Your Base In-flight Telephone number. Your In-flight managers telephone number.
When your at home call one of these numbers. Starting at 4am Eastern time Please call at lest two of these numbers. You may disable you call ID by using *67 for each call. This will tie up these numbers for days. Also please do not answer you home phone.
If you are on a layover. Just unplug your phone. Place the Do Not disturb sign on your door. Do Not return any phone calls.
If you are starting a trip show up early. Lets Check in make your two hour call ? They will not be able to get anywhere.
If you are contacted via ACARS In-flight. Tell the Pilots to respond with the following message. Thank you for contacting me. I will call you when we land. I will not accept any further ACARS messages. Please leave your name and telephone number. I will be unable to accept any changes to my schedule at this time as I have a right to ask for a review of crew orders. Have a nice day.
Your Rank and File call in sick program
Several of you have requested Fax numbers That info will be posted soon.

Too Bad We Couldn't Have A Password System For This Site...

From: Bubba 7 yr DTW FA
Date: 10/29/99
Time: 4:59:06 PM
Remote Name: 63.11.250.174

Comments

I would like to see the builders of this site install a password system like other web sites have. This would (Could) keep NWA mgmt and others who shouldn't be posting on this FA forum to be here. I know that we could use employee number for the USER NAME and our actual name for the PASSWORD or something of the nature. Or heck even our First and Last name as the USER NAME and EMP # as the password. Any else ever think about this?

Re: Too Bad We Couldn't Have A Password System For This Site...

From: Moderator- Kevin Griffin
Date: 11/3/99
Time: 6:48:18 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.201.73

Comments

Aloha Bubba. Yes I have thought of putting a password system here on the site. I have thought it many times. Every time I see a personal attack on someone that has no purpose other than to be vicious and mean spirited I think of it. Those attacks have nothing to do with the purpose of this site and getting unity and a contract for all of us. The reason I have not done so is that I believe in free speech and having a totally open forum. By restricting the site to a select few we limit the amount of information sharing we are capable of with the Internet.
Many of those posting on the site are fellow union members outside of Northwest and even passengers. They have shared their thoughts as well as their support.
The site is also constantly being read and monitored by management as well. They know the pulse of the group by reading the postings here. I do not believe we should be hiding anything from the management of NWA. They have enough low level managers to do that. We should have spoken and gotten our views across three years ago and even prior to that.
At the same time we also have some of the media monitoring the site and getting a pulse of the labor problems here. With this we are able to get the media support that we cannot buy like the pockets of NWA can.
I know we do not always agree with all the views posted here but that can be healthy communication. We have to see different viewpoints. Sometimes those viewpoints motivate us to respond, take action or to just ignore them.
I have said repeatedly that I wish all using the site would use their name for credibility but many do not for various reasons. If you see someone posting continuously and they are vicious (like some of the recent posts, which lack credibility) or too radical just ignore them.
So that is why I have left this forum totally open for all. I know the CompuServe forum is password entry but many Flight Attendnts do not have CompuServe and therefore cannot partake. If circumstances should change in the future that I feel we need to use a password I will do so. I feel though that we have had enough secrets and silence at the bargaining table over the last three years to not want to do that now. Til then enjoy the forum. Knowledge and Information are powerful tools and we can share them.

November 11, 1999

Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,

We are now moving into a more critical stage of the Contract negotiations. We have had our say as far as what we thought about the Tentative Agreement. We said "NO" to the tune of 69.1%. The Company and the Union representatives should know by now how we feel on most issues. It has been almost five months since the Tentative Agreement has been revealed to us and we have seen little if any information coming from the leadership of our Union at Local 2000.

Now we see the Union leadership asking for an assessment (dues increase) from our below industry level salaries to pay for a continued battle with Northwest Airlines. This battle is for a contract we can all live with and agree to and hopefully be proud of. I know there are many mixed feelings about this assessment and I for one would like to see how the monies to date have been spent. How many luxury hotels and business lunches have been had with our hard earned dues money? We know we have not seen results as far as a contract. All we have seen to date was a Tentative Agreement that the IBT and Local 2000 leadership was pushing down our throats, three plus years wasted and no contract or action set for the holidays.

We have seen one positive result happen though and that is that we have become more educated and united in our stand for a contract that is good for "All" of us here at Northwest Airlines. We have seen a group divided by seniority, bases, old airlines, etc. come together and say "NO" to Northwest Airline management and our Union Leadership in a very large way. We have seen the power of the Internet work for us. We are now communicating more than ever and letting each other and the company know how we feel on many issues ranging from A/B -pay scale to retirement, to work rules we cannot accept, to domestic partnership benefits and many other issues here in the forum and with emails.

We have come a long way in a very short time. Since May of 1999 we have had 1.2 million hits on this web site alone. The other sites such as Andy Damis' Contract Action Team web site and Ted Reeves Independent web site have grown as well with hits. We have managed to get information flowing and with the help of the many Flight Attendants who copied information off the sites and handed information out to those not on line we have done wonders for our group and hopefully our careers and retirement.

We now are entering a new phase of negotiations with some new negotiators and hopefully with more vigor and strength. We have waited far too long for results. That Industry Leading Contract is still not in sight. We have seen the delays and heard the empty promises. Recently we have heard from base representatives such as Eric Smatana who question why the holidays are so important to our fight for a contract. Well some people will never get it. They will never understand that any action taken has to be strategically done and with timing like the holidays or summer season. Some of our leadership will continue to undermine our cause of achieving a Contract that is good for all. We have seen the private agendas that some of the leadership have taken on. We will be able to weed them out in the next election. We will not forget this time as easily we did in the past.

At this time however we are seeing a lot of confusion on the forum web site as some posters are trying to undermine our unity and cause. Whether they be management, disgruntled Flight Attendants (who are unhappy the TA was shot down), Local 2000 leaders, or outside posters we see daily postings from some who claim to be others. The purpose of this Forum was to have an open manner to speak freely and keep each other informed. Until recently this was working well. Now that we are in a state of limbo with no action or words on the part of our elected leadership we are seeing a lot of personal attacks and viscous rumors that serve no purpose other than to divide our unity and drive people away. To counter this Randy and I will be moving this Forum into Phase Two so to speak. We will be leaving this current Forum open to all but creating a Phase 2 Forum that is password protected. The new web site or spin-off of this forum will have many links to areas such as Contract News, the local 2000 Bylaws, a password protected forum, Industry News, Airline Stock Prices, Links to other airline web sites, a grievance corner, email addresses to Congress and the national Mediation Board, and other pertinent information we all feel should be on the new site. If there is anything you would like to see on this new site please email us here at ClearDaze and let us know. This is after all a collective project with a mission of Unity and Education.

That is where we will be going with this forum in the next week or so. With the advent of the Phase Two Forum we will be able to get more sensitive information out to the participants with the use of a password as well. It is unfortunate that this has had to come about but it is once again an evil necessity that comes with free speech and the first amendment. Please be patient as we move into this new arena but continue to feel free to express your thoughts and concerns about the Contract struggle.

One of those posing as Jose Ibarra has said repeatedly that this web site will be closing. That is totally not true. We will keep the forum going as long as is needed. The person posing as Jose also claims there will be a fee for this forum. Again that is not true. This site has been provided for with our own monies and with donations in the past when it was necessary to ask for them. I believe the Internet should be as free as possible in all ways. We do appreciate contributions occasionally to cover the costs associated with this site but will never be in the business of selling information to fellow Flight Attendants whom we are working and struggling along side to get an Industry Leading Contract. We must keep the information and education process going.

At the same time as we keep both web sites going and continue our struggle we must rekindle that old flame and desire to get this contract process going full steam ahead. The union leadership at local 2000 seem to think their job of working 9 to 5 (with all holidays off ) Monday through Friday is going well. I personally think they are moving too slow. We should have had informational picket lines going up and meetings with the Company months ago when this Tentative Agreement was turned down. We see one delay tactic after another. We have lost more opportunity points when we could have shown the company we meant business but did not take them. The Local 2000 leadership once again needs a wake up call. They have to be reminded whom they are working for and who elected them. We have some on the elected board who enjoy working for Northwest Management and the scheduling department. Perhaps it is time for those not on board with the Flight Attendants to get off the ship or at least out of the way. The "It's Time" have to start believing their own slogan.

One last point we must stress and it was brought up last week with those attending a Teamster for a Democratic Union Convention in Cleveland. We must stress to both the Company and the Union that we will continue to say "No" until the contract is done right. We have waited this long and we will wait until they do it correct for all of us. We also heard at the convention the struggles of many other Teamsters who have been put in similar situations by the IBT. The workers we heard from and met at the convention work at: newspapers ,hotels, other airlines, UPS, trucking firms, Iowa Beef, hospitals, Anheiser Busch and many other work places. We found a lot of support from those other locals. Hoffa has used similar tactics on those locals including sending out videos etc. They have agreed to help us in our struggle here at NWA. They have watched our unity increase and have promised to stand with us in our struggle. The TDU (Teamsters for a Democratic Union) is a watchdog group of unionists that will fight for the average worker and against corruption in the Union. They have lent us a lot of support in the past with guidance and monetarily (for printing flyers etc.) We need to remember that we are not alone in the struggle against corporate greed. This convention was a boost to many of us who have become disheartened by the lack of union leadership and delay tactics.

Thank you and continue to participate and enjoy the Forums. Our Strength is in our Unity and Knowledge is Power. We will win and continue to say "NO" until they get it right.

Kevin Griffin

Moderator at ClearDaze.com

Northwest Airlines Flight Attendant Contract Forum

Flight Attendant 19 years

Welcome to the new Forum

From: Moderator- Kevin Griffin
Date: 12/6/99
Time: 2:44:05 AM
Remote Name: 171.218.61.126

Comments

December 5,1999
Welcome to the New Forum. As you can see we are opening this at the moment for all to enter and participate. It has been almost six months since the Tentative Agreement has come out. It has been almost four months since we strongly rejected that Tentative Agreement and we now are working on our fourth year without a new contract. For many of us it has been a struggle. Here in the Forum we have discussed many topics concerning our careers with Northwest Airlines. We have become a unified group through the Internet by educating ourselves on numerous issues. Let us continue to educate and unite ourselves in our struggle against Northwest Airlines and get the contract we deserve.
This week hopefully we will see some action on the part of our Leadership. On December 7,1999 the negotiators and leadership should be meeting with the representatives of Northwest Airlines. On the 15th of the month we are having rallies to kick off the new round of negotiations. You can get information on the rallies and union action by looking at the Local 2000 web site or by contacting your base representatives. The links on the home page will take you to those sites and others. There are email links as well to contact your union representatives and some political leaders. Please take advantage of them.
We once again need to become more involved and participate to get that contract we all deserve. We have seen in the past that relying on six or seven individuals does not work. We have shown the leadership and the company that "We" are the union. We have waited too long so let us work together and get some action going.
Shortly there will be a password needed for entry into the forum area. I encourage all to send in the participant information to Jose' or myself and become a member so that when I install the password you will be notified. Until that time I ask that you use your name when posting and keep to the topics of the contract struggle and other pertinent issues of our careers.
Thank you and enjoy the new ClearDaze Forum!
In Unity
Kevin M. Griffin

TALKS SUSPENDED

Negotiations Update

From: Andy Damis - SEA
Date: 12/8/99
Time: 11:02:22 PM
Remote Name: 209.179.157.125

Comments

This is your Negotiations Hotline message for the week ending December 10, 1999.
On December 7th, your Union Negotiations Committee and Executive Board met with Northwest Management and the National Mediation Board to present the Union's contract proposal. The Negotiations Committee had not completed all of the actual language dealing with the opening proposal due to the numerous concerns you had about the tentative agreement, thus the proposal was presented in a 'bullet-point' format.
The Union presented contract issues covering Section 1 - Recognition, Scope, and Job Security, Section 3 - Compensation, Section 4 - Expenses, Section 5 - Hours of Service, Section 6 - Scheduling, Section 7 - Reserves, and Section 29 - Retirement.
The Recognition, Scope, and Job Security proposal covered ALPA Language, Labor Protective Provisions, and cabin positions South and West of Tokyo.
The Compensation proposal covered all wage and compensation aspects at industry leading levels, including pay rates, retro pay, boarding pay, ground holding pay, overtime pay, holiday pay for all holidays, and short crew compensation, just to mention a few. True pattern guarantee was also addressed and moved back to this section.
The Expenses proposal included better "day room" language and more Union input in the selection of layover hotels.
Hours of Service had many changes, including these significant areas: limited company flex-up; improved 24-in-7 rest provisions; stronger daily limitations and off-duty rest language; longer base and layover rest; higher minimum duty period credit; improved extended duty and international rest and duty limits; contract re-opener for long range flights and new aircraft; improved duty rules, pay and rest provisions for combined domestic/international patterns.
Scheduling was the single largest proposal we presented to the Company. This proposal is the section most driven by the survey results. We proposed: better preparation of bid lines to include all known flying; distribution of analyses; earlier bid deadlines; elimination of critical bid; more authority for the Scheduling Committee; elimination of the 2-8 hour call; more access to open flying; reduced restrictions for trip trades, day trades, one-way trades, and open trades; better line adjustment language; tighter rescheduling language; better transition pattern language and definitions; easier and safer mutual pattern trades between bases; stronger charter protection; and no purser. The above list covers general areas and concepts, but the list should show you the commitment that your committee exercised to meet your contract demands.
The Reserve proposal clearly tried to enhance the language protecting the rights of reserve Flight Attendants. Number one item - NO OPR! In addition, we proposed: improved availability language; improved will-fly, early release, and crew orders/verification/VRU language; reserve preferencing provisions; more days off and GDOs and better day trade language; improved 'ZZ' day language; reserve tracking reports in order to protect reserve assignments.
The Retirement proposal was basically the same opening proposal we gave the Company: Final Average Earnings with a $60 per month, per year of service minimum; 401(k) contribution; earlier full and early retirement; and elimination of Republic offsets. In addition, we proposed restoration of leave/absence time for all pre-1988 Northwest Flight Attendants.
This communication from your Negotiations Committee is an accurate synopsis of the industry leading proposal given to Northwest management. Management's response was that the NWA Flight Attendants will NEVER be paid industry leading wages. In addition, the Flight Attendants will NOT receive any more money than was offered in the rejected tentative agreement, and the Company WILL NOT meet with the Union as long as this proposal, or anything like it, is on the table. Having heard our proposal and the Company's response, the National Mediation Board (NMB) decided that we would be placed in an "indefinite recess."

IMPORTANT- Please read everyone

From: Moderator- Kevin Griffin
Date: 12/8/99
Time: 9:33:59 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.194.196

Comments

December 8, 1999
Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,
I must share some information with you about some recent events and ask you to all use some caution when posting certain pieces of information such as taking actions that may be illegal.
Many people including management are reading this forum (and the original). During the past week I have had a sheriffs officer here in Honolulu trying to serve me a subpoena approximately six times. I received a phone call during the week also from a Pacific Business News reporter also asking me about the lawsuit that I, (Cleardaze) am listed in from a complaint from Northwest Airlines. He found out about the lawsuit from his weekly investigative work at the courthouse. At the time I am not quite sure what the lawsuit is about as I have not received the subpoena nor the details in writing but the reporter seems to think Northwest Airlines was not happy about some things said in this forum in the past. (I don't know why). I will keep you posted as to what it says when I finally receive all the details and am served.
Until then please refrain from calling for certain actions that may be illegal. I know we all want results and we all wanted them yesterday if not three plus years ago but there are certain guidelines we have to follow even if NWA does not always do so. We must continue to keep the pressure on the leadership of the Local and the Company too.
I do not want to discourage anyone from posting his or her ideas and thoughts here. The day I found out about the lawsuit I worked 16 hours to get this site back on the Internet. I am determined to get a contract and keep the communication going. I say let the Company read how we feel and perhaps it will stimulate them to get us that contract sooner. We will not go away. Perhaps if we had a site going three years ago we would have a contract now. At the same time we must continue to let the union leadership know what we want and what we will not settle for.
So stay determined and keep the focus on the contract and job issues. I will keep you posted on the lawsuit and any information. What intrigued the reporter most was that a Company the size of Northwest Airlines would be going after a small company like ClearDaze. Well, ClearDaze Web Hosting and Design may be small but our 10,000 voices have been heard loud and clear. Let us continue to be heard and get ready to Rumble.
For anyone concerned about the old site and what may have been posted on there you have no worries. The old Cleardaze Forum was killed, as it became a monster in size. That is what happens to forums and newsgroup sites when they grow so large. That is one of the reasons for this new site. If you are reading this back in MSP Northwest Management it was done prior to my notice of the lawsuit.
So let us keep the information flowing and get involved.
In Unity,
Kevin Griffin
Moderator

H.A.V.O.C. Scheduled for Southern CA on 12/16.

From: Gary Helton--LAX
Date: 12/10/99
Time: 5:11:08 PM
Remote Name: 12.72.82.65

Comments

Next scheduled HAVOC meeting is from 10 AM to 1 PM on 12/16 at my home located at 3812 East Casselle Avenue, Orange, CA 92869. Easy directions can be obtained by going to www.mapquest.com on the Internet or by e-mailing me. I fly out to KIX tomorrow. If you will be laying over in Osaka on 12/12, contact me at the hotel if you're interested in a mini-presentation. Another HAVOC presentation will be conducted at the regular Local 2000 Union meeting on December 21 at the LAX Wyndham Hotel from 10 AM to 12:30 PM. Others are planned for January. Let us know when and where you'd like them and we'll do our best to accommodate ya.

Write the National Mediation Board

From: Dale Allen
Date: 12/10/99
Time: 3:13:33 PM
Remote Name: 152.172.108.70

Comments

December 9, 1999
Magdalena G. Jacobsen
National Mediation Board
1301 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20572
Dear Madam:
I am employed as a Northwest Airlines flight attendant. I am quite disappointed with the NMB’s decision to ‘indefinitely recess’ talks between NWA and IBT Local 2000. According to what I have read, the NMB feels that the Union is asking for unrealistic contract items. We are not. The contract we seek would be, in most effects, the same as other major carriers such as United and American. Northwest is the fourth largest airline and therefore should have a Flight Attendant agreement commensurate with its marketplace. For example, the wages we currently are paid were negotiated in 1988… twelve years ago! Since then there have been concessions and only a one time 3% increase. That is not a livable wage. What is unrealistic (as well as unconscionable) is that a government official feels she can unilaterally deem what a flight attendant deserves, or in this case, does not deserve. It is terribly unfortunate that the NMB, an organization whose mission is supposed to result in fair and equitable resolutions, instead falls prey to corporate lobbying and obviously sees flight attendants as second-class citizens.
Sincerely,
Dale Allen

We need to get the media involved

From: MaryJo in DTW
Date: 12/10/99
Time: 2:31:24 PM
Remote Name: 152.172.108.70

Comments

Send comments. Here is Datelines's address dateline@nbc.com

Political Pressure/Dianne Feinstein

From: Dennis McCarthy, SFO
Date: 12/10/99
Time: 6:24:17 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.199.166

Comments

For those of you who are not aware, one of our senators from California, Dianne Feinstein, is married to Richard Blum, who happens to be one of the majority stock holders of NWAC. Sen. Feinstein is up for reelection in 2000 - perhaps it's time to put some pressure on her. Think of the headlines - MANY NORTHWEST EMPLOYEES ON FOOD STAMPS, FEINSTEIN'S HUSBAND REAPS MILLIONS FROM NWA STOCK. My my, wouldn't that make for some interesting copy for the new millenium? Or perhaps a well timed visit to Ms. Feinstein's offices? Think about it.

It is Time for some involvement. We need to get some action going

From: Kevin Griffin 19 yrs
Date: 12/12/99
Time: 11:30:44 PM
Remote Name: 171.211.210.134

Comments

December 12, 1999
Dear Fellow Flight Attendants:
We need to get people involved and soon. It is time to start getting involved for all our futures. A few days ago Rich Stone came into the briefings here in HNL and told us basically what happened back in Washington and told us the position of the National Mediation Board. He also reasserted that "they" told us this would happen. Well we did know it. Right now there does not seem to be any real plan back in Minneapolis so I think it is time for us to create one. I think it is time to wake up the Company, the Union and the traveling public. We have to get the word out. Rich seems to think we have to narrow our demands down to those few things. He and the committee still do not realize that half of those demands were created by their screw-ups. (20 hour duty days, OPR, etc.) Northwest has stated their position to the world and the NMB. It is time for us as a group to do the same. Richard Anderson told all of us in an email how unprepared the union was in writing full text proposals. They have had almost four months to prepare written text for new proposals but have delayed with one tactic after another from surveys to vacations.
I published the addresses of the NMB and government contacts recently and now we have to get the word going that we are in a struggle. We have to get everyone who has a computer to start hitting those links and emailing whomever. We also have to take some action. So let us get down to specific business

Topics
1. National Mediation Board- we do not have to use them, as they are a "last" resort in bargaining and the Railway Labor Act. They are not a necessity for bargaining, only in getting released. We can force NWA to bargain now. We can do this with actions and the media. We have to get everyone to recognize this.
2. Informational picketing--We need to get it going now. People are tired of rallies and want demonstrations. We have to call it like it is.
3. Work to Rule statements- we must get everyone on board this. Ashley printed up a Holiday trouble-shooting guide. We need to get it out there to all.
4. No high time-no more favors to the company. (We are all broke.)
5. Special Assignments-We must get all Flight Attendants on special assignment to stop and get back on line. If we can get the ART instructors first to not teach then all whom have ART will not be current and will be paid to stay home unless NWA can replace the instructors in a hurry with the FAA watching.
6. Informational Picketing- we need it at all airports with all involved. Even if it is five or ten people a day once or twice a week. We must get the public involved and concerned. If we can reach the smallest of airports to the largest it will be important. Call a Happy Hour day or something and get people to come out once or twice a week for a few hours. We cannot rely on MSP news coverage to hit all corners of the globe. Many Flight Attendants also want to be included and want action now. They want to do something. This is legal and lets people vent. We don't need to have a thousand people in a picket line but we do have to be out there. People want action so let us let them do it.
7. We need to bring attention to a few people. Diane Feinstein, senator from California married to Richard Blum major stockholder, Al Checci , future politician, Walter Mondale, former Vice President on the board of NWA who managed to work out the 1952 Bilateral treaty for NWA and then reap its profits and leave Japan etc. after he finished that. James Hoffa needs a wake up call too. The list goes on. We need more. We have to put their names on the picket signs and let the public know. It will be election time soon. It does not look good when the Senators husband is a major shareholder of a corporation that has its employees on food stamps because of substandard wages. I don't think the California voters would like to see that. Let us involve these people.
8. Informational Picket Signs- We need signs that reflect our wages, (food stamp qualifying), working conditions (20 hour duty days), flight delays (we are tired of them too as no pay until the door closes), retirement (35 years and 62 years of age for full retirement for $1225.00 per month using old contract rate. Let them know your mortgage amount today or how that won't cover rent in most cities today in 1999 let alone in twenty years from now. The list goes on. We need to reflect them. The alarm clocks and Havoc signs are history. We need to let the "issues" be known.
9. Phone trees- we must activate them again. Let Flight Attendants know all that is happening before they start believing this is a lost cause. We cannot let Richard Anderson's letter or the committee statements make them believe it is our fault for the list of demands. That 20 hour duty day etc. were not there 3 years ago nor were the OPR positions. The company and committee created that list. Our demands of raises, routes and retirement are the same. They created the new work rules and vague language.
10. Language in the contract- We need good defined language. The scope language is not working for the Pilots. All NWA resources are now going to the regional jets. We need stronger language to protect jobs or payoff jobs like the Allegheny Mohawk LPPS language provides. Look at the recent ads in USA Today hiring for the Northwest wholly owned regional jet carrier with growth plans of 300+% over the next five years. Look at all the RJ's now occupying our gates in DTW where once we had DC9s, 727 etc. We need some professional help with LPP language and other issues. Rich says that the language they are using is what "we" wanted - Pilot language. Well how many have seen the 19 pages of Pilot language. How can you want something or make an informed decision with out seeing it? We can go to the university law schools and get help with contract language writing if we do it before the next semester starts. Many law professors would love the chance to make history by writing a union contract for such a large company. We need help. They could take it on as a class project.
11. Media Attention- we need to get TV and press coverage etc. to let the public know our wages, working conditions retirement plan etc. There are addresses to write 20/20, dateline etc. posted on the web now. We must get all to write and bombard them. We also should consider newspaper advertising. Full page ads. NWA and the board have the deep pockets to pay for ads so we have to be creative. How can we do it? Perhaps in small papers around the country, travel magazines etc. Perhaps also have everyone go down to sign up for food stamps on a particular day or week to see if they qualify. Many do. We can do a billboard like the Alaska Airline did in Seattle. Point people to our web sites. Create more web sites too and let the public know them. We can do the T-shirts again, bag tags etc. Get them out to everyone.
12. Fund Raising - We need to raise some cash for printing flyers for both internal use ( luggage tags, etc.) and external use at airports(picket sign and flyers). We need to find economical ways to create picket signs. The costs have been borne by a few and we need to get more involved. If we had the $50.00 the Local wanted to assess us initially from every Flight Attendant we would have $500,000.00 plus. We could do a lot. So let us get people involved and contributing. We can not rely on the union or the IBT to fund us. It will be ten years if we do. We have seen how long they take to do anything. Those of us printing and distributing have spent more than their share. We need everyone involved even if it is just a few dollars now and again. It would help out those who are spending their substandard wages for this cause.
13. We need to do all this soon! Let us use the Holiday season like we planned. We can do it with or without the union leaderships help. If they finally decided to help it would be great. If not then we can do it on our own. Imagine the Company calling Billie and Al and asking, "What the hell is happening? What are you doing?" It will let throw the union off guard and let them know "we", the membership have taken the union matters into our own hands like we did on 26th of August. Hoffa won't like it. Anderson won't like it. The stockholders won't like it. Well we don't like not having a contract either. Let us be heard and now. Let us use the holiday season like we should have used the summer season.
So call today and volunteer. I know it is a holiday month and we all have plans but the time to act was yesterday. If USAir negotiators can meet round the clock for 19 days then our negotiations committee should be able to meet internally and hammer out that contract with all the defined language just as fast. We cannot expect the Company to meet with us if we are not ready with a counter offer proposal (Anderson was correct on that one). We cannot expect the NMB to release us if we do not have something in writing and ready to act on. Call and urge to start moving this Contract along. If you cannot volunteer for this month let them know you will be available next month. We have to remember we are the union and can determine our futures.
For the demonstration /rallies I have put a few signs here on the web sites main page. You can download them or copy them and bring them to Kinko's and enlarge for a few dollars on poster board. Feel free to create and post more here so others can copy.
One last item. I have created another link to a chat room. Let us get the communication going again. We must reinvigorate ourselves. We are more united than ever and want that contract now more than three years ago. It is Time.
Have a great Holiday Season!

We Warned You Kevin ? Are you ready to Post Bail ? Johnny and Jerry (MSP) 12/13/99

and a posting

Knock Knock Who is at the door ? Johnny and Jerry 12/14/99

Y2K at NWA

From:
Date: 12/18/99
Time: 5:13:28 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.196.58

Comments

I simply would like all NWA Flight Attendants to seriously think about calling out sick over New Years. Northwest Airlines has stated that they are indeed Y2K compliant and also stated that over 40 Million has been spent to insure Normal Operations. I am sure they have prepared but of course, there can always be some little glich in any system. Northwest Airlines even printed out on the SPIL to tell our customers that if a customer asks if NWA is Compliant what to say. Its states that 40 Million has been spent and Operation will resume as normal. But will they?
I just want those who plan on calling out to think about this. NWA supplied to our group, exactly what to say. They want the Flight Attendants to tell passengers every thing will be just fine! So Flight Attendants call out in masses and flights are cancelled and service is disrupted. Well..if NWA is truly not Y2K compliant. A mass sick out will simply put any responsiblity from the companys part and direct it to the Flight Attendant group. NWA would direct all the blame to the FAs. Of course we all know that even with a tremendous amount of sick calls Normal Operations would still resume. But this time they can place the blame directly on us for not being 100 percent prepared. Just think about it. We dont want to lose any public support and believe me, NWA will document sick calls and revert all responsiblity to FAs. Do want you have to do, but just think about the consequences this would cause our contract negotiations. Believe me, we would get screwed on this one.

Sick Calls

From:
Date: 12/18/99
Time: 6:12:36 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.205.37

Comments

If you call in sick over the holidays and have not used sick time there is nothing the company can do except maybe require a doctors note. The union is not going to tell you to call in sick and has to request that all show up for work or they can be sued. READ BETWEEN THE LINES and do what YOU feel good about doing...give NW the service that they deserve!

Re: Sick Calls

From:
Date: 12/19/99
Time: 2:36:27 PM
Remote Name: 166.90.237.96

Comments

That is very incorrect. You will be terminated this year. Why? Because some Brilliant Posters on this Forum stated that they were calling out sick over the Holidays. Post after post in the previous forum clearly stated That FAs were going to cause Havoc during the Holidays. Now you are hear saying, all NWA will requires this year is a Doctor's Note. What is different this year from previous years? This year calling out sick over Christmas will be viewed as a Work Slowdown. This year it will be viewed as The Flight Attendants Revenge because the TA was rejected. Northwest Airlines will simply note all the FAs calling out sick on December 25 as a Disgruntled Work Force taking matters in there own hands. Northwest Airlines has warned us, believe me they wont have a problem terminating a Flight Attendant. NWA fired Mechanics during their slowdown.
Just a little FYI. Whoever the Flight Attendants were who posted Sick Outs over Christmas please remember that when You post on the Internet it can be seen by anyone. If you plan on calling out sick, You don't tell anyone and for the love of God you don't post it on a Public Forum. Remember we were warned.

Re: Sick Calls

From: Scott Garb CHI
Date: 12/22/99
Time: 2:12:49 AM
Remote Name: 152.163.207.177

Comments

I believe that the Company can't fire someone for calling in sick on the holidays. They can request a doctor's note. The Company still has to adhere to our present contract. If someone is truly fired for a sick call, I believe there has to be more to it than just a sick call. Hector also took a lot of heat for his threatening note to the FA's. He has agreed that NWA must follow the rules of our contract regarding sick calls.

Re: Sick Calls

From:
Date: 12/18/99
Time: 6:38:37 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.196.46

Comments

Remember the full page ads that Northwest Airlines put in the National Newspapers apologizing for the Pilots strike when we all know that NWA Locked out the Pilots. We all know that is was NWAs responsibility for that shut down.
The only difference about calling out sick this year and from years previous is this, NWA expected call outs over the Holidays, that infamous Critical Bid was a direct result of that. Right now we are in direct negotiations with NWA, or I should say the lack of negotiations at this point. For our group to call out sick this year will only disrupt any public support we are trying to gain at this time. Don't be surprised this time or I should say this holiday to see Full Page ads from NWA in the newspapers stating an apology for the disruptions from the Flight Attendants because of sick calls over the holiday. I am not telling any FA what they should or should not do. But we are at a point when we should be on our best behavior and strictly adhere to all contractual rights and obligations to fly our scheduled trips. This is a time when it really matters. We are trying to gain the raises we are due and any sick call at this time would simply feed the game that NWA would use against us to the general public. They did it with the Pilots and believe you me, they will do it with us as well. Can we forgo just one holiday from calling out sick and not Let NWA have an edge to come across as the Victim due to sick calls. Because this time they are going to try to prove their point to the MAX. Just my opinion on this one. Do what you have to do, I just don't want our group to do anything that will make us look like we are not being professional and not playing fair. Just wait and see what will happen this year if there are massive sick calls. Don't be surprised. Remember we are labor cost to NWA, they don't care one way or the other and will attempt to use anything at this time to make the Flight Attendants look bad.

Cancelled Flights

From: Gary Helton--LAX
Date: 12/30/99
Time: 1:43:49 PM
Remote Name: 12.72.77.93

Comments

I'm just waiting for the first person to write in and complain that their companion couldn't go with them on their FLY2K pass cuz the flight got cancelled.
Recent reports indicate that United Airlines has cancelled 34% of its flights on 12/31, Northwest has cancelled 20% thusfar, Delta 18%, Alaska 18%, TWA a whopping 30% and the list goes on and on. No flights into Peru whatsoever. 230 flights cancelled into Hong Kong. Uffda...yah sure...you betcha.

HELLO! THIS IS FLU SEASON.

From:
Date: 1/4/00
Time: 6:46:35 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.200.56

Comments

I think this action was extremely premature. I think NWA should have waited and collected the Doctors Notes first, and then they could have determined if it was a sick out or not. I had the FLU, with a 102 Temp. and a Note proves that from an accredited Physican. If this wasnt Flu Season I think NWA may have had some reason to question a sick out. I think this is going to be a real pie back in Managements Face

Important Please Read

From: Kevin Griffin- Moderator
Date: 1/5/00
Time: 3:21:34 AM
Remote Name: 205.188.195.34

Comments

January 4, 2000
Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,
As you have seen from the news today the management of NWA is attempting to silence us further using legal tactics and a large wallet. Your union (which is all of us) and many individuals including myself have been named in a lawsuit claiming that we are to blame for the amount of sick calls over the Y2K period. A few days ago they blamed the cancellations on light loads and the fact that the public was wary of what may or may not happen because of the Y2K. They told us in memos to tell the passengers who inquired about NWA's readiness that they had spent 40+ million dollars readying and preparing for the moment. Now that the moment has passed they seem to want us as a group to pay for their preparations and mistakes.
Your union leaders and many others have made public statement reminding all of the Railway Labor Act and the fact that a sick-out or any work action was illegal until the NMB released us after a 30 day cooling off period. We have heard this over and over. We have also heard from Richard Anderson, Hector Adler and the company via e-mails, press releases that the NMB has recessed us indefinitely. They made sure we know the rules and we have abided by them like the professionals we are.
Now we find ourselves being sued to silence our Free Speech over the Internet. They will try anything. They are blaming individuals and the web sites for their problems in managing this airline. I am surprised they have not blamed us for the lengthy flight delays in Minneapolis and Detroit last week. Why not blame us for the weather too and all air traffic delays the last few years? Perhaps it was disgruntled Flight Attendants that caused the Passenger Bill of Rights movement last year. I do not know who is counseling them back at the World Headquarters but someone must see that the blame is going in the wrong direction for NWA's troubles and soon it must stop.
Last month I told you that Cleardaze, my company that brought you the forum was being named in a suit from Northwest. I have not told you the facts of the suit, as I had not been served. I looked into the suit at the Honolulu courthouse after I finished my months flying late in December and pulled all the documents to see how and why this web site was being subpoenaed. It appears NWA and their executive board believes comments made on this site have damaged NWA and their executives. They believe that the First Amendment is not for their employees, as our founding fathers believed when they created the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for us here in the United States of America. The suit is for defamation and libel. The defendants being sued are John Does1-20, Jane Does 1-20; Doe Corporations 1-20; Doe Partnerships 1-20; and Doe Entities. Northwest and their law firms are after the web site to locate certain individuals and silence them and yes collect damages. They have also subpoenaed an Internet Service Provider and another company trying to locate the individuals.
I found out about the second lawsuit today just as I did last month from a news reporter. Last month I received a call from a reporter with the Pacific Business News who wanted to know about the lawsuit NWA had named me in. As I had not heard of the suit prior I had no comment until I found out what he was talking about. (It is hard to comment about something you have no idea is going on until you see the paperwork.) Today Northwest informed the media once again about today's lawsuit before notifying all individuals and the union officials involved. I found out this time from a reporter with the Minnesota Public Radio that I was named in the recent suit blaming us for the amount of sick calls over the Y2K period. There seems to be a pattern here. NWA seems to be trying to divert all their problems and delays on others and calls the media to let them know as soon as they can that it is not their fault. Perhaps it was an act of God. Who knows but it was not their fault this airline is such a dismal state of affairs with the public. They have to blame someone.
Tomorrow morning at 8am in Minneapolis Northwest and their lawyers will be going before the judge to get a restraining order to stop their problems (or what they see as their problems). The Y2K caused many well-managed airlines to stop flying and cancel flights over that doubtful period. Northwest first blamed the cancellations on low bookings and passengers staying at home. Now that it is over they are trying to recoup those losses by suing Flight Attendants who live on food stamp wages and have taken concessions over the years to pay for incompetence at the top. The politicians in Seattle cancelled the New Years event in that city over concern for the safety of its citizens. It was an event that had been planned for years and cost millions of dollars to set up. The center for Disease Control and newspapers all over the country have also been talking about this years Flu and the amount of people it has effected. All of these are factors beyond our control. How many flights were cancelled over the Y2K? I do not know? Why were they cancelled? I do not know. Have I or anyone I know on the Internet called for a sick out? The answer is a definite NO.
What I do know is that this the most outrageous step the management of Northwest has taken to silence a group who have been fighting for decent wages, working conditions, and retirement in all my 19 years here. Perhaps we are the first to stand up for workers rights and stop corporate greed. The first Amendment gives us the right to Free Speech and we have used it to turn down a horrendous Tentative Agreement they tried to shove down our throats. We have discussed many issues here dealing with the contract and for once are educating ourselves on the issues of our careers. We were heard loud and clear back in August and now they are trying to silence us. You would think this was a communist country if you did not know better by their actions of recent.
Northwest has many political contacts back at World Headquarters including a former Vice President. They have the pockets to use the media at will and the expensive law firms as well. They have many up there also who have law degrees. Why they do not know of the First Amendment and it being a basic right is beyond me. I do know that we will prevail and that "Silence is not Golden". It is time for a contract and now. It is time to get this airline running again like it once did and should.
To refresh the memories of those who have forgotten the Bill of Rights which is taught in school I will refresh your memories and the memories of NWA and it management core. A complete version can be found at the web site (yes it is on the Internet NWA).
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/billrights/billmain.html I
Please pay special attention to number one.
THE FIRST 10 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION AS RATIFIED BY THE STATES
Note: The following text is a transcription of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution in their original form. These amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is known as the "Bill of Rights."
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The rest of the Bill of Rights can be found at the site listed above.
I am writing this tonight as only the judge will know the outcome of tomorrow mornings hearing and if NWA and their pocketbooks prevail we may have lost our First Amendment rights and will no longer be able to practice Free Speech here on the Internet.
In Unity,
Kevin M. Griffin
Moderator

IMPORTANT- PLEASE READ

From: Kevin Griffin - Moderator
Date: 1/6/00
Time: 5:44:07 PM
Remote Name: 205.188.192.172

Comments

January 6,2000
To All Flight Attendants:
As you can see from yesterdays court room proceedings Judge Frank has issued the following:
His order temporarily restrains Local 2000 from "calling, permitting, instigating, authorizing, encouraging, participating in, approving of, or continuing any disruption of Northwest Airlines' normal airline operations."
I accept the obligation to follow this, even though I intend to try to get it lifted. Please comply with this order and do not post anything that may be misinterpreted by others as calling for any illegal work action. Please remember we are working under the Railway Labor Act.
Kevin M. Griffin
Moderator