May 19, 2009 Update - A settlement to this issue is currently pending!

The union was notified of the company’s decision not to continue to pay the 70-hour guarantee when vacation is taken and your hours drop below the guarantee. Past precedence (or practice) has been established with regard to the 70-hour guarantee for months in which a flight attendant takes vacation. This practice has been in place since the first contract in 1998.

The Union will respond to the Company's position. The Union only learned of this an hour or so before the Company put out the notice. Any response from the Union would be for information purposes only as the Union has no ability, at this point, to force the Company to rescind its position.

The Union will file a formal grievance over this issue. Under the federal Railway Labor Act, filing a grievance is the only recourse that is permitted. We lack the legal right to seek an injunction or temporary restraining order to stop the Company from violating the past practice. Unfortunately the rule of law in this instance is "comply now, grieve later." The Union protested, but the Company has the legal right to do what they are doing until the matter is finally arbitrated and a decision rendered by the System Board of Adjustment. Sections 19 and 20 of the contract deal with the actual grievance procedures we must follow in addition to the Railway Labor Act.

The process of filing a grievance in this matter began immediately after the Union was informed of the Company's intention to violate the past practice of paying the seventy (70) hour guarantee.