Fact Check

Get the facts, be informed

Explore the facts to be informed about the decision to hand over our voice to a 3rd party. We’ve gathered and presented the following fact based information to help fellow Crewmembers do their due diligence.

Lengthy negotiations

Historically, initial contract negotiations for large workgroups like Inflight could take years before even a tentative agreement is reached. Here are some timelines for reference:

Every vote counts

The majority wins in a union vote, but only the majority of those who vote! If only 500 crewmembers vote, it will only take 251 crewmembers to elect union representation. It is imperative that every crewmember casts their vote. You will receive a PIN number via mail to cast your vote via phone or web to the NMB. Check out the Election Update page for the latest information.

Retroactive Pay

This is the statement from TWU Local 577’s FAQ’s as to why retroactive pay was not included in their contract following 7 years of negotiation: “‘Retroactive Pay’ is a negotiated item and is intended to cover the time between the time a Contract becomes amendable or expires and the time a new Agreement is reached. Since this is a first contract, there was no previous contract to go back to. Retroactive pay does not apply to a first contract.” Read more here

Speak Up

In 2017, the average participation in the SpeakUp survey of Inflight Crewmembers at each base were as follows: 33%-BOS, 26%-FLL, 32%-JFK, 51%-LGB, 36%-MCO. As Crewmembers, we have underutilized the platforms provided to maximize our seat at the table. Based on the survey results from JFK alone, 68% of Crewmembers did NOT complete a survey. Roughly 7 out of 10 JFK Crewmembers voices were not heard, but we (as Crewmembers) have to be honest about who’s fault that is – OURS. Before we hand over our voice to TWU, let’s SpeakUp and not leave our seat at the table empty. Learn how we can move upward & maximize our seat at the table.

TWU only represents two flight attendant workgroups

TWU only represents two flight attendant workgroups: Southwest and Allegiant. Southwest has had the TWU since 1975, when it was a small airline operating only within the state of Texas. If Inflight Crewmembers want to see what might happen today if the TWU was elected, Allegiant, which elected the TWU in 2010, is the only recent example. We look at Southwest as well, but from a first contract stand point, Allegiant is a more relevant example.

After waiting seven years with no pay scale increases, Allegiant’s flight attendants finally got their first contract in December 2017. The TWU thinks Allegiant is a valid comparison; its president has said that voting for the TWU was a “no brainer” for JetBlue’s Inflight Crewmembers because of the Allegiant contract. Given the TWU’s claims about how good the Allegiant contract is supposed to be, and the fact that it is the only first contract it has negotiated for flight attendants in this century, we think it is important to see what they have done.

How did the TWU get your phone number or address?

JetBlue does not – and will not – provide any of your personal contact information to the TWU. The only information JetBlue provided, which was required by the NMB’s rules, is the name, position and duty station of all of the Inflight Crewmembers who would be eligible to vote if an election is held. If an election is authorized, JetBlue also must provide the NMB – but NOT the union – with home addresses for the Inflight Crewmembers so the NMB can send you voting instructions. They have never given the TWU Inflight Crewmembers’ phone numbers, email addresses, employee numbers, or home addresses.

We have heard reports that Inflight Crewmembers have received unwanted texts and phone calls from the TWU, and unfortunately, there is no way to trace how they got the phone numbers. It is possible they were able to purchase numbers like what telemarketers do, or a fellow Crewmember may have had your phone number and shared it with them.

We are also not sure why the TWU would require you to give them your Crewmember ID number in order to ask a question on their conference call.

Appealing a decision by Crew Services

There are already procedures in place to appeal a decision made by Crew Services. You can always reach out to your Team Leader, Base Manager, or Inflight Duty Lead team to look into something that does not seem right. There is also a tool on HelloJetBlue called Tell Crew Services where you can submit an event that gets escalated to Crew Services Leadership for review.

Profit sharing could be part of negotiation

When employees unionize, their participation in profit sharing becomes part of union negotiations. No one can say at the beginning of the collective bargaining process what will be in the end product, and that includes profit-sharing.

Could the Onboard Lead Productivity Adjustment be up for negotiation?

Yes. If a union is voted in, a company is legally required to negotiate over pay rates, benefits, work rules and other working conditions. The pay and work rules for Onboard Leads would be included.

Could job share or Crew Flex be affected by a union?

It’s possible. No one can say at the beginning of the collective bargaining process what will be in the end product. Typically, programs like job share or Crew Flex are included in negotiations, but there would be no guarantee that they would end up in a contract.

As an example, TWU’s contract with Allegiant includes part-time flight attendants with the caveat that their seniority accrues at 50% of those that are full-time: “Upon transferring to part time status, a Flight Attendant’s departmental seniority will thereafter begin accruing at a rate of fifty percent (50%) of a Flight Attendant on full time status.”

Protection in a merger or downsizing?

In addition to the McCaskill Bond, a federal law that protects us with seniority integration in the event of a merger or acquisition, JetBlue has done more to proactively protect it’s crewmembers in the event of poor performance or M&A than other competitor airlines, with or without unions. First, JetBlue has always had a no furlough policy in place to protect us from downsizing. Second, in April 2016, JetBlue made a Seniority Integration Commitment which was created following feedback given during business meetings and collaboration with the IVC. In the event of a merger, a peer-elected committee would be formed, and if legal counsel is desired by the committee, JetBlue will assist in the hiring process and pay all legal fees and costs associated with the integration process. This is a result of our direct relationship.

Unions cannot fix technology

A union could not negotiate for JetBlue to change its technology systems. We know there have been several technology issues causing headaches in recent months, ranging from FLiCA to password log-ins. JetBlue suffers from them right along with us. While they’d love to go to the store and pick up another system off the shelf, our Business Partner, Sabre, is the dominant provider of this type of technology for the entire airline industry.

Additionally, building our own system is extremely expensive and such a project would leave less money to invest in Crewmembers, Customers, and growth. Delta did this, but it still has the same issue we do with managing volume. While a new crew management system may be unrealistic in the near future, our subsidiary, JetBlue Technology Ventures, shows us that technology is an issue that is top-of-mind for our leadership.

IFCAT, IVC & Work Rules Committees would end

If a union is elected, Crewmembers involved in these groups would not be permitted to collaborate with leadership to identify & implement improvements to pay and work rules. Only the union’s negotiators and officers could legally discuss these issues with JetBlue leadership.

Laboratory conditions

Any improvements JetBlue could make to pay, work rules or benefits are prohibited until EITHER we vote NO on certifying the TWU or, if we vote YES, until an initial contract is negotiated, which could take years.

It’ll cost us!

The TWU website and responses from their representatives vary on what our dues would be. Some say definitively that we will pay ~$35 per month, then a letter posted by Steve Roberts, Organizing Director of TWU, says it will be a “weighted average of your hourly pay scale,” with no mention of $35. If the latter is the case, as our pay scale rises as well as the size and seniority of our workgroup, dues will be more than the current calculation of $35/mo. This is important to note as $35 may sound relatively nominal now as a selling point, but the truth is, it will most likely be more by the time an initial contract is ratified. You will be paying ~$420+ per year for representation that we currently enjoy for free (via IVC, IFCAT, Work Rules Committes, SPA’s, etc.).

Who got us a 22.5%
pay increase?

WE DID! As it is now, we have pay reviews and pay increases happening every two years via IFCAT. In less than 5 years, from 2015-2018, we will have received pay increases totaling 22.5%. Our next IFCAT will occur in 2018, pending we do not elect TWU. Keep in mind, that TWU, as an example, got Allegiant pay increases of 11-23% but only after 7 years of stagnation. Since it was their first contract, “retroactive pay” did not apply, and they also now pay dues with their pay increase!

TWU cannot guarantee anything better

In a collective bargaining agreement, negotiations do not start with what you have today as a floor. A union cannot guarantee any of the existing benefits nor can they guarantee improvements on work rules, policies and pay. In this give and take situation, improvements in one area are often achieved by sacrificing or downgrading other benefits.

Team Leaders would be limited

In a union environment, the union wants to be the sole voice for the employees in dealing with management on issues such as pay, benefits, scheduling, and other work rules. As a result, your relationship with your Team Leader would change as their ability to help you with these types of issues would be limited.

Grievances could take months or years

A grievance is a formal written complaint that a union files on behalf of an employee when the employee believes the company has made an error or committed a wrong doing. A grievance can relate to how the company is interpreting a work rule, or to disciplinary action. Grievance processes vary, but in general, an employee writes down the account of an event, the union files a grievance, and it goes through multiple levels of review to determine an outcome, ending in arbitration (which is sort of a less formal version of a trial in court). It can take months, even years, before a case gets through this process and gets resolved. How does that compare to how we can work together today to address issues promptly?

It’s almost impossible to turn back

It is extremely difficult to “decertify” a union once it is elected under the Railway Labor Act, and it has never happened with a group of employees the size of our Inflight Crewmember group. There is no formal “decertification” process, where airline employees can simply petition to hold an election on whether they still want to be represented by a union or not. Instead, there is a complicated system that requires another organization or individual to collect authorization cards from a majority of the Crewmembers, submit them to the NMB to get an election to run against the union, and then hope that the choice of “no union” wins the election. Even then, the NMB will not even allow this process to start for two years after the union is certified, meaning that our Inflight Crewmembers would be stuck with the TWU for at least two years – and likely much, much longer. Allegiant flight attendants tried to decertify the TWU a few years ago and were unsuccessful, even though they have many fewer flight attendants than we do.

FREE travel benefits could go away

In collective bargaining, everything is on the table and open for negotiation. A union might decide to give up benefits that employees currently enjoy (like free travel benefits) in order to “pay” for something the union wants more. Nothing is guaranteed to be in a contract at the end of the process.

Credit card commissions would be up for negotiation

Compensation, including commissions on sales, are part of what would be negotiated in a union contract. At the end of the day, a program like this could end up being traded away by the union for something that it wants more. Everything is on the table, and you have no idea at the start of the negotiating process what the final agreement will look like.

Pay dues or face termination

One of a union’s primary goals during negotiations is a “union security” clause (also known as an “agency shop” or “union shop” clause). It compels all Inflight Crewmembers in the group to either (a) join the union and pay dues or (b) pay the union what is called an “agency fee” or “service charge” (roughly the same amount as dues). If an Crewmembers does not do so, or falls behind in his/her payments to the union, then, under the typical union security clause, the union can require the company to fire the Crewmember. This type of clause is legal under the Railway Labor Act in spite of “right to work” laws in various states. Every TWU contract in the airline industry has a union security clause. The tentative contract that the TWU has negotiated for the Allegiant, for example, says that flight attendants cannot bid if they have not paid their dues or service charge.

“Job protection”

Unions often talk about “job protection” as a benefit of union representation. However, with a union contract, a company is still able to make employment decisions, including terminating employees for such things as poor performance, violation of company rules, and attendance. It happens all the time. What a union contract does provide is a grievance process that ensures that terminations don’t happen without “just cause” – which means that the company must have had a good reason for the termination. But we already make sure that is the case at JetBlue. Currently, every separation goes through five levels of review – a Team Leader, Base Manager, Director, Crew Relations and VP of Inflight. This process is in place to ensure each decision is fair, logical, legal, and in line with our values. Separating someone is not something leadership ever does lightly, but having a union contract isn’t going to stop a termination from occurring when the circumstances require it.

False: Unions can improve RSV scheduling process

A union cannot guarantee any specific improvements of any sort (though that won’t stop them from making promises). When it comes to scheduling, a union would be limited to working with the technology and programs that we have in place.

Dependability

A union can seek to negotiate over a company’s dependability program and incentive points, but that doesn’t mean that the union will get the company to agree to change them – or to include them in the contract at all. The TWU is using Facebook ads to mock dependability point systems, meanwhile, Southwest & Allegiant, TWU contracted workgroups, are subject to points systems. At Allegiant, for example, the company’s attendance policy is not even part of the union contract, and the company is free to change it as it sees fit. In bargaining, all a union can do is ask for changes it wants. The company is not under any obligation to accept any particular union proposal, especially one that could negatively affect the company’s ability to run its operation.

Why pay for what you already have?

As it is already, you have the right to have someone assist you in a progressive guidance meeting, without having to pay $420+ a year to get it. Currently, all Inflight Crewmembers are allowed to bring another Inflight Crewmember to a progressive guidance meeting (Inflight Blue Book Supplement section 5.3). We believe that this system works, and allows both sides to ascertain all circumstances, support Crewmembers and make values-based decisions, while protecting the interests of the Crewmember.

What if I want AFA instead of TWU?

If the TWU succeeds in getting an election this time around, there will be 3 options on the ballot: (1) representation by the TWU, (2) representation by some other organization or individual (the “write in” option), or (3) no representation. The AFA will not be on the ballot as one of the choices. Crewmembers would be free to vote for another union under the “write in” option, but it is very rare that a union which is not on the ballot, and which does not campaign, is elected through a write-in campaign.

If TWU doesn’t work for us, could we go with AFA?

If we wanted to replace the TWU (if it wins) with the AFA at some point, that would be extremely unlikely. Both the TWU and the AFA are members of the AFL-CIO, sort of a “union of unions.” The AFL-CIO has rules against one member union “raiding” a company whose employees are represented by another member union. The AFA could not seek to represent flight attendants represented by the TWU without violating the anti-raiding rule. And in any event, the NMB will not take an application to replace a union for two years after the union is certified, meaning that our Inflight Crewmembers would be stuck with the TWU for at least two years if it is elected. Further, under the NMB rules, once a union is in place it is especially difficult to remove/replace that union.

When is the vote happening?

Voting will open at 0001 ET on March 19, 2018 and continue until 1359 ET on April 17, 2018.

Voting Instructions

The National Mediation Board (NMB) will mail voting instructions to each Inflight Crewmember eligible to vote in the election, using your current address on file with JetBlue. You will receive your instructions in the mail the week of March 12. The instructions you receive will include an Access Code that you will need to vote. This Access Code is unique to you and will allow you to lodge your confidential ballot so it should not be shared with anyone.

You will need to have the information included in the instructions in order to vote. If you lose your copy of the instructions, or if you don’t receive a set of instructions, you can request a duplicate set of instructions from the NMB. To do so, you must send a signed, written request to the following address: NMB, Office of Legal Affairs, 1301 K Street NW, Suite 250 East, Washington, DC 20005. More information about the deadline for instruction requests will be shared once the NMB establishes this timeline.

When You Can Vote

Inflight Crewmembers may use their personalized Access Code to vote either online or by phone anytime during the voting period (0001 on March 19 through 1359 ET on April 17).

You can cast your ballot any time before voting closes, so a vote on the last day of the election is counted the same as a vote on the first day. You may only cast your vote once, and you may not change your vote once it is cast.

Check the Election Update page to get the latest information on the election process.