Agenda Item # 19
SUBJECT: Mobilization Fund (Article XI.A.3.)
STATEMENT OF QUESTION:
Should this provision be modified to retitle and reference the AFA SIF Fund, and in keeping the context of the purpose, propose a SIF like application process, and memorialize the current $.50 CWA Defense Fund contribution?
SOURCE AND DATE SUBMITTED: International President – February 27, 2015
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Since the AFA-CWA and CWA Merger in 2004, AFA has had access to the CWA Union Defense Fund. This is a fund provided through the Merger Agreement, which is funded from a portion of member dues at the rate of $0.50 per member per month.
At a recent CWA Convention, the delegates voted to convert this Defense Fund to a Strategic Industry Fund (SIF), which could be used more broadly than the limited Defense Fund. There is now an AFA “silo” that is specifically designated for activities within AFA, some of which would have been previously funded by the AFA Mobilization Fund.
The SIF, which is an existing and available Fund, can be used to provide resources for activities which were previously funded by the Mobilization Fund. Since the AFA SIF has become a de facto replacement to the AFA Mobilization Fund, consideration should be given to updating the existing constitutional language of Article XI.A.3.
PROPOSED RESOLUTION:
WHEREAS, the AFA-CWA Strategic Industry Fund (SIF) is currently funded and available for strategic campaigns of AFA-CWA; and,
WHEREAS, the Mobilization Fund has not been funded for several years and an alternative fund is available through the AFA SIF;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Article XI.A.3. be amended as follows:
- $1.00 per member per month from all active members and service charge payers’ dues on any airline shall be allocated to sustain a Mobilization Fund to promote and achieve the goal outlined in Article I.C. Such Mobilization Fund shall be over and above the regular Organizing Departments annual budget. Up to 90% of the Mobilization Fund can be reallocated to support first contract negotiations for newly organized carriers with more than 10,000 flight attendants. Section 9.b. of the AFA-CWA Merger Agreement addresses the CWA Defense Fund, which is now named the Strategic Industry Fund (SIF). This Fund is available for use by AFA-CWA in conducting strategic campaigns, mobilizations, etc., by application to the International President, and in compliance with existing rules and guidelines as established by the CWA Convention and Defense Fund Oversight Committee (DFOC).
