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From: KevinGriffin from an email
T1:
Category: Northwest News
Date: 10 Jan 2006
Time: 15:01:09 -0500
Remote Name: 66.91.94.61
AFA/NWA Hotline Message 1/07/06 Today is Saturday. January 7th and this is an AFA update for Northwest Airlines flight attendants. DTW flight attendant and AFA campaign volunteer, Danny Campbell reporting. PFAA Threatens Strike Action in the Media NWA flight attendants were alarmed this week when PFAA announced that flight attendants were ready to strike. President Meek was quoted as saying he "believes the membership will authorize a strike to shut down Northwest’s operations." Flight attendants have questioned whether this will be yet another decision the Executive Board will make without their input or permission. Take a glance at your recent paycheck to see what happens when PFAA makes unilateral decisions for us. Threatening a strike can be a very effective tool when it is part of a comprehensive, well-planned strategy. But PFAA has not done its homework, has not prepared flight attendants for a strike, and does not have the financial, legal or other resources that are essential to support a successful strike. Clearly, PFAA is following the advice of their corporate law firm, Seham and Seham, the very same lawyers who led the mechanics into their failed strategy which ultimately cost them their jobs. We cannot afford to follow the Seham strike campaign playbook, risking our careers at NWA. We have a better alternative. AFA learned long ago about the vulnerabilities of flight attendants who follow the traditional strike model. They have developed and successfully tested their patented "CHAOS" strike strategy. During a CHAOS strike, flight attendants may strike one flight or dozens; one city or the entire country; for one day or stay out for a week. Management doesn’t know, the media doesn't know, and the traveling public doesn't know where, when, or even how flight attendants will strike. This approach maximizes the leverage of flight attendants and reduces the risks associated with a traditional strategy of walking off the job. NWA flight attendants deserve the kind of intelligent, tactical guidance and strategies that only AFA can deliver. NWA & Delta Seek Bankruptcy Reorganization Extensions As reported on PFAA’s hotline message, NWA has requested an extension from the bankruptcy court for filing their reorganization plan. Company executives say they hope to have such a plan ready by the end of this year. What PFAA has neglected to mention on their hotline message, however, is that Delta Airlines executives have also requested an extension for filing their reorganization plan. As you may recall, Delta and Northwest filed for bankruptcy protection on the same day. There appears to be a high level of coordination between the two carriers as they move through the bankruptcy process. The refusal of PFAA to acknowledge this coordination is probably due to fear. If we were to experience a future merger or another round of industry consolidation, they fear they might lose their organization to the combined strength of NWA and Delta flight attendants under the protective umbrella of AFA-CWA. Please be aware that as we NWA flight attendants draw closer to obtaining enough cards to file for a successful election for AFA representation, so do the Delta Airlines flight attendants. On a related note, some NWA flight attendants have said they believe it is "too late" for AFA to help us, as we approach the January 17th 1113(c) hearing deadline. It is vitally important for all NWA flight attendants to understand that January 17th is not the end of this bankruptcy process. In fact, there is NO LIMIT to the number of times NWA can return to the bankruptcy courts to file additional 1113(c) motions. Historically, AFA has contended with several carriers filing multiple 1113(c) motions while they were under bankruptcy protection. We would be wise to prepare ourselves for multiple filings and to position ourselves with the representation and resources to fend off potential future attacks on our wages, working conditions and pension. These are only some of the reasons why you should return an AFA-CWA authorization card today! AFA Open House / Town Hall Meetings Scheduled for SEA and DTW AFA International President Pat Friend has agreed to conduct additional Open House/ Town Hall Meetings for Northwest flight attendants. Such meetings will be held during the month of February in SEA on the 8th and in DTW in the evening of the 9th and during the day of the 10th. Please bid your schedules accordingly for the dates if you have any questions, concerns or are interested in learning more about what AFA-CWA can do to protect our careers. NWA Flight Attendants Bankruptcy Survey at www.nwaafa.org Finally, if you have not already done so, please visit our website at www.nwaafa.org and complete the bankruptcy survey that AFA has developed for Northwest Flight Attendants. This survey will close on or around January 13th and the results will be published in an upcoming campaign newsletter. This concludes the hotline message. This message will be updated next week.