Negotiations: Tentative Agreement Update!
Dear Fellow Spirit Flight Attendants,
We want to address several questions that have been expressed to your AFA leaders and Negotiating Committee after the TA announcement.
There seems to be some confusion regarding the tentative agreement (TA) pay rates we published. On the Effective Date of Ratification (Vote Count Day), IF the TA passes, all Spirit Flight Attendants (except those in the 1st six months rate) will receive a MINIMUM 10% Pay Raise on the Ratification Date. Additional raises will then occur on 1/1/24 and 1/1/25.
Q. When can we see a copy of the Tentative Agreement?
A. We are working as fast as possible to prepare the full text of the Tentative Agreement for distribution. The tentative agreement with management was reached on Thursday, and we are currently in the process of marking the TA against the current Contract, so you can easily track the changes that were made. This process takes time, and we want to ensure the job is thorough and without mistakes. Typically, the complete TA is released with the start of the roadshows, which will begin on March 6th (in 2 weeks). We will attempt to compile this information for you sooner.
Q. Why is our negotiations committee being so secretive?
A. The Negotiating Committee is not being secretive and withholding information. When we put out information, it must be correct. We are working diligently to prepare the presentation for the upcoming roadshows. Additionally, we will create support materials explaining the negotiated changes. When a TA is reached (by AFA or ALPA), it is entirely standard procedure to delay putting out the TA details until the entire TA document, marked up with changes from your current Contract, is finalized and proofed and can be published with supporting charts, videos, and explanations. This process can sometimes take up to 2 weeks (we hope to complete the task before then).
We would like everyone to review all the information previously released in the Negotiation Update e-lines. You can check all the past e-lines here: Negotiation News — Spirit AFA-CWA.
Q. When and how will the information be released to everyone?
A. We will follow the schedule outlined below.
Announce that we have reached a TA (we did this today).
Compile information for the roadshows and release a complete text of the TA. We will release the TA in its entirety and not publish it section by section. It will be announced and posted on our Spirit AFA website. We hope to get this done in the next week or two.
Creating videos that explain different aspects of the TA will be produced by the Negotiations Committee and posted to the website.
We will conduct in-person (and zoom) roadshows from March 6th through March 17th. Please stay tuned to your e-lines for the schedule once it is finalized.
Once the roadshows have been completed, voting will begin.
Q. When will we be voting on the TA?
A. Ballot information will be mailed to Flight Attendant homes around March 16th (please ensure AFA has your correct address), and voting will begin on March 20th. The count date will be April 13th. You may submit an address change to AFA International here: AFA- Change of address.
In the meantime, the TA secures the following:
The new pay rates of the TA are very similar to our counterparts at JetBlue, their “straight pay scale,” AND we will continue to receive our 150% pay when working above 85 hours.
We made significant language improvements in the Scheduling and Reserve sections of our current CBA.
No changes to our current medical coverage.
We maintained our current bidding system (including MDDs).
We created a hybrid DOT system, so seniority will play a role in making changes to your schedule before the “first come/first serve” open time begins. We also agreed to a method for flight attendants to pick up trips out of base.
No maximum cap on the number of hours flight attendants can work each month and no monthly minimum number of hours required.
We appreciate your patience as we complete this process and prepare materials to present you with during our upcoming roadshows.
Lastly, please ensure you are current with your AFA dues or set up a payment plan to get current. Only members in good standing will receive a ballot and be able to vote on this TA, and we want all our members to be able to vote on this TA. We appreciate your patience and understand that everyone is eager to see the information. We are working hard to get that information together and out to the membership as soon as possible.
Reach out to your local leadership for assistance with your Union Dues.
Local 37: MCO/MIA Local 73: LAS Local 74: DFW/IAH Local 76: DTW/ACY Local 77: ORD/ATL Local 78: FLL
In solidarity,
Your Negotiations Committee
Jason Kachenmeister
Colleen Burns
Olson “Rick” Santiago
Paula Mastrangelo
