Dear Compass flight attendants,

            I am writing because I want you to know all the facts about the Mesaba bankruptcy and how well AFA insulated us from something that could have been much, much worse.  It is important to know that the final outcome to our concessionary talks were ultimately approved by our Flight Attendants at Mesaba Airlines due to our legal standing as an AFA represented work force. 

For background - on December 2, 2005 Mesaba management presented us with an initial proposal which contained a drastic 19.4 % in wage and benefits cuts, including a 16.1 % cut in pay rates a reduction of three hours in minimum monthly guarantee, sick leave paid out at 75 % and a increase in the employee –paid portion of medical premiums from 30% to 50%, as well as other work rule concessions.

Bankruptcy law (Section 1113) permits a company in bankruptcy to seek to reject its labor agreements and impose cuts if it cannot reach agreement with the union on necessary cost reductions. AFA and the other unions (ALPA, AMFA) defeated Mesaba’s 1113 motion twice, including once on appeal. But on its third attempt, Mesaba management was authorized by the Bankruptcy Court to impose wage and benefit cuts totaling 17.5 % including a 6% pay cut, sick leave paid out at 75% a 24 moth longevity freeze, among other things, this is what Mesaba management would have the right to impose.

However, with many AFA members (and other employee groups) threatening a mass number of people leaving Mesaba, they had no choice but to go back to the table and come to an agreement that could be approved in a vote of our employees.

In the end, the AFA Mesaba flight attendants who comprised our negotiations team were able to limit the overall concessions to 15.8%.  These wage cuts were a 2.7% improvement over management’s original 16.1 % pay cut proposal. Also, our sick leave pay was preserved at 100 % and we were able to negotiate pay raises to restore our pay rates and more. And when it’s time to negotiate a new agreement we will get another raise if we have not reached a new agreement by the amendable date, then again each year until we get a new agreement this is an unheard of proposition in most if not all contracts in the airline industry. We also negotiated a bankruptcy claim in return for our concessions which will pay the flight attendants back for a significant portion of our concessions  (this equity claim was paid out to each Mesaba Flight Attendant and averaged approximately, $10,000)

Our AFA Constitution and Bylaws provides that all AFA proposed tentative agreements be submitted to the Flight Attendant membership for consideration.  This tentative agreement was presented to the Mesaba Flight Attendants in order for them to vote on the proposed tentative agreement.  Our Flight Attendant membership had the final say in this process by exercising their vote.  The tentative agreement was ratified by 81.9 %.  The process truly worked for us at Mesaba.  With AFA’s assistance, our Flight Attendants were able to have a legal voice in the process.  This process would not be possible without AFA representation.  

While John Bendoraitis’ memo would lead you to believe differently, take it from someone who actually sat at that bargaining table, negotiated in good faith, presented a tentative agreement to the Mesaba Flight Attendants, in order for them to have the final say in the process with their legal right to vote on the contract. While we recognize that the negotiation of contracts in bankruptcy are a very difficult and painful experience under the current US laws, in the end, we proved we had the final say simply due to being represented by AFA.

Tim Evenson

Mesaba Flight Attendant

AFA Negotiations Team Member