- A union which has failed miserably to see outside its own self-serving interests.
- A union which has failed to improve the lives of its members.
- A union which has failed to create a winning strategy for contract bargaining
- A union which has failed to focus on its members, rather only the dues $$$$$
- A union which has failed to be honest or have integrity
- A union which has failed to halt the fear mongering and scare tactics
- A union which has failed to listen to the membership
- A union which has failed to rid itself of internal petty politics
- A union which has failed to support democratic ideals with unwelcome appointments
- A union which has failed to deliver, again and again.......
So the AFA membership is now stuck (into 2010) with an International President that is no longer a flight attendant!! Queen Bee Friend will continue siphoning off hundreds of thousands of $$$ dollars more from AFA during her tenure and not even be on a flight attendant seniority list; all the while collecting her airline retirement.
We can only imagine the princely sum AFA-CWA will begin paying out in retirement benefits to the Queen when her term ends in 2010. Curious to know exactly what President Friend will collect from your dues for her AFA tenure?? (Alongside her United pension too.) Ask your lecmec@nwaafa.org
Ask yourself.....And what exactly has Pat Friend done for you??
Like we said, Patricia Friend has done well for "herself". Ask the Aloha or ATA flight attendants how well Queen Friend & Company has done for them??? Ask those flight attendants working under pay concessions (the majority of AFA members) and those airlines facing further bankruptcies (hello, United)....How well has Pat Friend and her team done for them???
What is the term "a vacancy in office"?? (AFA Constitution Article IV, Sec G.1) One can ask, if an officer is no longer a flight attendant, how can one "fairly" represent the largest "flight attendant" union in the world? Would not it make ethical sense to relinquish the the top position when one decides to no longer participate in the profession??
What kind of public image does such failure to relinquish power display to the membership? What of the "transparency" within our union? The political and power hungry International Queen wants the best of both worlds! To accept a lucrative "buyout" from a major airline while continuing to siphon off a substantial salary from the beat up and bruised membership.....OUTRAGEOUS!
"Consistent with our Constitution and past practice I will serve out the remainder of my term" Defending such an unethical decision in the name of "past practice"? Is this not reminiscent of having International Officers not even being flight attendants but speaking on their behalf?? Is this not eerily reminiscent of former Teamster base representatives speaking on your behalf and not even being flight attendants!
So much for the AFA claim we are a "bottom up" organization. Quite the contrary. AFA leaders on the Local Level (LEC) are required to remain active flight attendants while Queen Pat's decision seems to insolate those at the top levels of AFA from the same requirements! That sounds like a "top down" organization, if ever there was one!! The membership is not fooled by your "past practice" rhetoric!
Let's see....2010. Isn't that the time about 14 different AFA Council's contracts are up? Hmmmm
Pat Friend, your failure to relinquish your AFA International Presidency in the face or your recent resignation at United Airlines, is NOT fair, honorable or even in the best interest of your membership!! With more than one half of your term remaining, an immediate election should be called: it's the right and ethical thing to do!
(Then again, ethical and AFA........quite the oxymoron!)
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2 comments:
Oh Mike...if only it WAS a lucrative buyout. That's what makes this so funny (in a gallows humor sort of way). AFA United itself makes clear that this is a "minor cash payment" (See Dear AFA of June 10). It is only $12,500 payable over the course of 12 months starting in January, 2009.
While that might be a lot of money to the AFA flight attendants who are paying dues to support Pat and her cronies, compared to her combined United pension (which was not protected the way PFAA protected ours) under the PBGC and her AFA International Officer pension (the terms of which are apparently TOP SECRET), plus whatever she will get from CWA, $12,500 over 12 months is not a lot of money.
What truly amazes me is how she can get around the C&B where it is clear that "A retired member shall not have the right to vote or hold elective office." (Article II, Section C.7.c). Ms. Friend indicates that past practice allowed it when the previous Secretary-Treasurer was allowed to continue in office when Tower Air went out of business. Clearly there is a difference between an airline shutting down (something over which an individual flight attendant has no control) and the voluntary act of a flight attendant to retire.
I am certain, however, that Ms. Friend, while ignoring the first part of Art. II, Section C.7.c, will avail herself of the remainder of the subsection by not paying dues ("While such member remains retired she/he shall not be required to pay dues, provided, however, that if such member resumes her/his flight attendant career at an airline where the flight attendants are, or become, AFA-CWA-represented, the dues obligation will resume for the duration of that employment.")
How nice it is to pick and choose what part of the "law" one will follow.
Of course, that is what the Royal Prerogative is all about, isn't.
GOD SAVE US FROM THE QUEEN!
Dear anonymous,
Thanks for the truthful insight. When an out-of-touch and extravagant Queen continues to ignore the masses; the starving street peasants begin murmurs of a revolution..... Unfortunately, the Queen and her Court have yet to hear the distant din "Off with their heads!"
Michael
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