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updated 03/04/2008 4:29 PM

September 25, 2007

The Company and District 143 had a labor-management meeting in July at which weight and balance matters were discussed. General Chairs Fay and Otto made suggestions and offered solutions to the very serious issues involved. Great concern and confusion has resulted from the actions the Company has taken since this meeting. The Company has initiated forms and procedures that were not talked about at the meeting and regrettably, the changes the Company made were not shared with District 143 prior to implementation. District 143 appreciates the Operations Agents and CSAs who are questioning and forwarding these procedures to us. Safety is still the first concern when you are completing your weight and balance duties. Safety means accuracy. We are currently working on the weight and balance issues involving the shipment of aircraft parts.

August 31, 2007

On July 30-31, General Chairs Otto and Fay met with Company officials, including CEO Bill Ayer, to discuss District 143's many concerns about the weight and balance issues around the entire Alaska Airlines system. Not only did the Union voice its concerns aggressively, but solutions and suggestions were offered by Jackie and Nan. Some of the ideas offered were presented by the SEA IAM Operations trainer as well. District 143 proposed the following:

• Operations lead classification
• Realignment of flight assignments in SEA
• Remodeling ideas for Operations areas that don't provide an atmosphere conducive for detailed duties (for example, the noisy and congested SEA location)
• Realignment of shifts and RDO patterns
• Additional training (Cargo Spot issues)
• Communication problems between ramp, gates, vendors, upline and downline stations
• Short comings of technology used for weight and balance (hand-held radios to the computer system)

These are but a few! Did District 143 suggest the SEA Operations work be given to PDX? No.

The weight and balance issues are far from being resolved. Thank you to the Operations agents and IAM stewards from around the system who are working to resolve this serious matter.

July 13, 2007

General Chairs Otto and Fay attended the weight and balance meeting with the Company this week. General Chair Fay also attended the safety meeting.

May 7, 2007

Both General Chairs Fay and Otto have received numerous telephone calls and email messages regarding the working conditions of the Operations agents, CSAs, RSSAs and lead groups when performing the weight and balance duties. Many IAM members have bid out of the Operations classifications. Many COPS and RSSA members have received the punishment of time off without pay. As the Company has been either unable or unwilling to rethink their punitive stance as it relates to weight and balance issues, correspondence was sent to Vice President Butler on May 3, 2007. Please post this letter on your IAM Union bulletin board and make sure the Operations members have a chance to read it.

May 4, 2007

Weight and balance issues continue to be of concern. If you are assigned duties that involve weight and balance, you must work together with your co-workers to get the right figures, watch out for the manifest problems created by Cargo Spot, delay the flight until you receive correct numbers and report all issues that occur or prevent you from doing your job to the lead, supervisor, manager, safety representative at your station, local IAM representative, District 143 general chair, Corporate Safety and the FAA.

As you are aware, adequate staffing does not exist in many areas. Ask yourself, did the Company not know the VSI employee departure dates? Did the Company use the slow season -- winter -- to rehire, remodel the SEA Cargo facility and prepare for the fish?

Please realize that YOU are responsible for your safety and no one else. Work in a manner to complete your assignments as one person who does not cut corners. Safety first. There is nothing fishy about it!

March 2, 2007

Weight and Balance is still a concern. The final or correct counts are not always given to the Operations agents. This is a daily occurrence across the ASA system. The weight and balance counts were affected the day of and after the new cargo procedures were implemented on the weekend of February 17. If a pilot releases the breaks early, please note the date, time, place and flight number. Forward this information to your general chair. You may remain anonymous and can leave the information on District 143's voicemail system. General Chair Nan Otto = 651-365-3347 and General Chair Jackie Fay = 651-365-3353. This data will be hand-delivered to the pilot safety representative. It is inappropriate to release the breaks to trigger the pilot's pay or to show an on-time departure. District 143 knows of no discipline or any discharged pilot for weight and balance mistakes, only lengthy suspensions and discharged COPS and RSSA members.

February 16, 2007

Inaccurate weight and balance counts continue to result in disciplinary suspensions being issued to both COPS and RSSA workers. General Chair Nan Otto visited the Anchorage operations area briefly in January and spent a day observing the Seattle operations area on February 12, 2007. With the noise generated from phones, communications radios, co-workers, supervisors, fuelers, incompetent replacement ramper workers and other airlines workers, it's an achievement to the IAM members performing weight and balance to report accurate counts. General Chair Otto has compiled a list of over 20 ways to improve the environment in operations. This list will be provided to the agents and the Company the week of February 20.

February 9, 2007

The Company advised the Union on February 1 that it has a weight and balance presentation to address the various issues that have come about from recent inaccurate counts. District 143 takes the responsibility of the Operations, Ticket Counter and Ramp Agents who perform the weight and balance duties very seriously. These workers should take a proactive, unified approach to completing this task. Demand the correct figures from each other. Once the Union has heard the Company's weight and balance plan, we will address the various disciplines our members have received since early December.