Vote for Ken Ratliff for USW Local 9-772 Union President

 

Dear Pinnacle Flight Attendant Colleagues,

Hello from Ken Ratliff!  By now I'm hoping that most--if not all of you already know me as your "Acting" President for our flight attendants' union. 

 In June of 2009, we held elections for your Local 9-772 union officers.  Back then, I ran for and was elected Executive Vice-President.   I would like to thank all of you who voted and supported me in that election, and for entrusting this role, responsiblity and position of Executive Vice-President  to me.  Little did I know, nor was I expecting -- that after just three months of being elected, that I would assume the role as "Acting" President, due to our elected President unexpectedly being unable to fulfill his duties. 

In this new leadership role, I have given my best dedication and attention to providing the type of leadership that our flight attendant union members deserve.  My commitment and passion have always been focused towards the best interests of the Pinnacle flight attendant group, and I hope I have never let you down.

I hope that during my interim tenure as "Acting" President I have proven to all of you that I am the best candidate for the position of President to represent our group of flying professionals.  During the five months that I have served as "Acting" President I have accomplished, improved, and am currently working on several things such as:

 

     1.  Pre-planning for Contract Negotiations:

• One of my biggest concerns right now, is that our current flight attendant Contract with Pinnacle Airlines will end on February 1, 2011, so our Contract will be up for re-negotiations in a year.  A year can pass by very quickly, so the elected President will have much to do in a year's time.

  In the past negotiations, flight attendants weren't really involved in the negotiation process, and their issues and concerns were not always addressed.  Currently as your "Acting" President, I am actively trying to get as much feedback from flight attendants as possible, and to collect suggestions, ideas, and concerns on what is important to all of us as flight attendants.  This information, which is intended to improve or to "add to" our existing contract, will be presented to Pinnacle Airlines during our Contract re-negotiation.   In order to gather this information, I have implemented that each flight attendant base in our system form a "Base Contract Committee".  This committee, consists of the Base Vice-President and line flight attendants from that base, who were elected to this commitee.  By gathering input from "other" line flight attendants, this committee meets and discusses what they would like to see improved in the contract.   From each "Base Contract Committee", their respective Base Vice-President then shares the information back to me, since not all flight attendants can be "physically" at the negotiations table.  This way, flight attendants' voices and issues can be heard and be involved in the process. 

  Please strongly consider this before casting your vote, and compare the experiences of all candidates running for Union President.  The President you decide to have in office plays a major role in the negotiation process.  Having the best and most experienced people involved who are not afraid to speak up at the bargaining table is crucial.  My current and past union experience, familiarity and knowledge of the current Contract is valuable and important, not only during negotiations, but every day of representing our members as Union President.   Through the USW, I was also given the opportunity to participate, and recieved a certificate of completion, in a Collective Bargaining Training Course, which emphasizes successful negotiating and bargaining techniques.  Due to my experience, I have formed and already established a relationship with Pinnacle Airline's executives and management which should also help in the negotiation process.  As "Acting" President, I have brought many flight attendant issues and concerns to the attention of management, so they know exactly what type of person and flight attendant they're dealing with...a flight attendant advocate, that is always willing to fight for what's right. 

  I hope you agree, that a successful negotiation depends on having the right people in office, starting with the President.  Having the right people to negotiate successfully will strongly affect our future career and livelihood at Pinnacle Airlines.  With today's economy and financial downturn, I would like to see improvements in our pay, reserve issues, flight benefits, health care, sick leave and FMLA, retirement, uniforms, and work rules and conditions.  I would also like to see a better relationship between Pinnacle and Delta Air Lines, as we play and maintain an integral and important part of the Delta network, as a Delta Connection carrier.  If we are going to grow as a Delta Connection carrier, we should be given the same work tools, flight benefits, and respect as other Delta Connection carriers.  When the time comes, if elected, I will be prepared and aggressive in bringing flight attendant ideas and suggestions to the bargaining table, and my goal will be to have an improved Contract between us, the flight attendants, and Pinnacle Airlines after our existing contract expires.

 

     2.  Decreased the expenses paid to our Executive Board members:

• Controlled our local union spending by implementing a flat rate for expenses an executive board member can claim on expense reports, such as:
• Phone bill expenses used for union business.
• Trips bought out for union business.
• Hotel expenses while on union business.

 

       3.   Provided flight attendants with effective Union communications:

• Increased and encouraged communication through email, to eliminate paper and postage to save costs.  Ever since my tenure, the flight attendant email database has grown, and more flight attendants have been receiving Union email communications regularly than ever before.
• Encourage phone calls from membership, and ensure phone calls are returned ASAP to members from myself, the executive board, and stewards.

 

     4.  As "Acting" President, I established and re-established several flight attendant committees in order to improve our working environment and to get flight attendants involved.  The committees include:

• The Base Contract Committee
• The Policies and Procedures Committee
• The Safety Committee
• The Hotel Committee
• The Scheduling Committee

 

     5.  In order to provide our flight attendants with more available base stewards/representatives to help them when needed, I have encouraged and enlisted additional flight attendants to become stewards, and provided them with necessary steward training.   The more stewards the better. 

I would also like to see that additional Union Education be made available to any officers and stewards.

     6.  Improved and follows through, the grievance process, by ensuring grievances are filed, heard, and disputed in a timely matter.  While having not to file grievances is "ideal", I have noticed more grievances being filed these days.  In reality, these grievances have helped out our flight attendant group as a whole by not having these grievances become a recurring issue for others.

 

In addition to the above, I want to share with all of you, that I have always enjoyed my job as a professional flight attendant for Pinnacle Airlines (almost 6 years), and I also enjoy being part of your (our) Union.  Like many of you, the flight attendant profession is a career, and I plan on being here for a very long time.  Being a professional flight attendant comes naturally.   We provide our passengers with the best safety and customer service onboard our aircrafts on every flight, and we always strive to be "on-time".  However, we all know that sometimes things go wrong at the workplace no matter how hard we try to avoid them, and no matter how hard we try to be the best.   When these unforeseen circumstances and unexpected situations occur, these occurences often lead to injustices and wrongful disciplinary actions.  If elected as your President, I will ensure that all flight attendants who encounter any injusctices, disciplinary action, and conflicts by management or scheduling, are well represented and helped out by your Union.  I will always be an advocate for not having our contract violated, and an advocate for flight attendants who are unfairly disciplined.

Make no mistake, I am very excited about this election.  If elected, I look forward to working with the elected officers so that we can work together and become the best Executive Board this Union has ever had.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that my qualifications, experiences, abilities, commitment and dedication makes me the best candidate for Union President.  I hope you agree and will vote for me.  Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

In Unity, Solidarity, and Strength,

Ken Ratliff

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FLIGHT ATTENDANT TESTIMONIAL SUPPORT:

 

" I want to say that I think we all need to think very closely about this election.  We need someone who is willing to stand up for us; someone who is going to put themselves on the chopping block in order to help us out.  It is in my strong opinion that Ken Ratliff is that person.  I have been with Pinnacle for over 5 years, and until Ken took over as acting President, I have heard more of what our union is doing for us!!!  I think we that we need to give him the chance to do the job he is doing without all the negativity!!!  Ken has been there for us, has answered all questions in a timely manner, and he works very hard to get done what needs to get done.  Ken is very professional, dedicated, and ethical.  We need someone who is not going to bash the union and then want to serve for us.  Please think very hard before you vote.  Lets give him the chance to show us how well he can perform for us with the right backing behind him.  We need someone in our corner right now that is going to stand with our union and back us.  We need a hardworking and honest President.  I believe Ken Ratliff is the right person to lead us!! "  

-  Bonnie Preston, MEM base FA

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"  I have had the pleasure of knowing Ken Ratliff since December of 2006 and would like to offer the following reasons in my decision to nominate Ken for the position of Union President :

1. Ken has not only been a flight attendant for Pinnacle Airlines since June of 2004, but has also worked as a flight attendant for four other companies.  He not only understands what we do daily here at Pinnacle, but has also lived through what flight attendants with other companies have experienced.
2. Ken holds a degree in Business Administration/Management and has 17 years of upper management experience prior to working with the airlines.  I believe he has the necessary education and experience to work with management and represent our members on all issues.
3. He is not new to Union business and has previously held positions of Trustee, Recording Secretary, Executive Vice-President and currently Acting President of our Union.  During his tenure, he has continued to send email updates to members on various issues relating to our union and the company.  While serving as Union Officer, Ken has responded quickly to a variety of issues that I have personally inquired about.
4. In my opinion, he has always presented himself with the utmost of professionalism and integrity.  He has shown great commitment and true concern for our members.

I am no stranger to serving others, after 20 plus years of active duty military service with the United States Air Force, I have had the privilege of serving the past 12 years as a duly elected and appointed public servant to dozens of community boards, commisions, and committees, but more importantly, I have had the honor of serving with some of the most dedicated and committed public servants I have ever met.  With this in mind, I was very confident with my decision to nominate and support Ken Ratliff for the position of President of our Union.  His sense of pride and commitment in serving our membership are apparent in everything he does. " 

-  Bob Schnurr, DTW base FA

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"  I, being a Pinnacle flight attendant going on 7 plus years, I paid my dues to "A UNION", but never getting involved or caring to know and definitely didn't think this union was doing anything that could help in my behalf.

Then, I meet Ken Ratliff and in a few short months I saw our acting union president, a person that was willing to take over the office of Union President with an abundance of never ending energy and determination in getting the word out to, not only 1 or 2 bases, but ALL the bases that make up Pinnacle Airlines.

Ken has taken the task of letting everyone know what this union is doing for the flight atendants.  Making sure commitees were started in order to work with management for the sole purpose that would make our jobs easier.

Ken has worked endlessly in making sure what is asked of us in our working environment goes strictly by the contract, if not, Ken is the first to step up and ask WHY NOT?

Ken is a person that will stand with you, not against you.  He is true to his word and does what he says he will do.

In the 7 years, I have never seen a person that was so determined to make a difference in the union and desperately try and make it work for the good of the flight attendants.

I hope you will follow me in giving Ken Ratliff your vote for Union President, I think you will be glad you did."

-  Dee Parrish, MEM base FA

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" I have been with Pinnacle Airlines for almost 6 years and have known Ken Ratliff the entire time.  As a flight attendant our scheduled "OFF" time is very precious to us, and when I spend it with others, they are usually of high importance to me.  I consider Ken in this circle.  Ken's integrity, compassion for others, his conviction to uphold his responsibilities and more, and his prompt and timely manner in which he responds to all FA's that come to him needing union assistance, is why I am confident in knowing that Ken Ratliff will be the best President our Union has ever had.  After all, he has been our "acting" interim president for several months and has proven, at least to me, that he has the knowledge, abilities, and professionalism to be the type of "Active" President this Union needs. 

I have watched him perform these duties in the interim and I have been very impressed at his professionalism and eagerness to make sure all FAs were well informed of what he was doing all along the way.  Ken is not running for this position for the glory as this is a thankless job and involves many hours of sacrifice but he truly believes in trying to make a better work environment for each FA and WILL fight for us when needed.  He has proven himself to me many times over.  He should be our next President.  Please help me make this happen.  Vote for Ken Ratliff for Union President, he is "Simply the Best!" 

-  Denice Barth, DTW base FA

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"  Hi Ken, just a note to thank you for helping me at out the MSP base as I was only supposed to be there for the month of January 2009.  As you know, I was stuck there for 10 months passed over for my bid to me.  Missed it by one the next bid.  As you know, our former President was supposed to be working on this for me, but never did anything, and would give me lip service each time I brought it up.  I have given you both copies of the crewtrac messages stating the bid was for one month only.  When you took over as Acting President, it took you only one week to resolve my issue.  I wish you would have been Acting President when I lived at the airport and commuted on reserve for 10 months.  I hope everyone will vote for you as you get things done.  We need someone honest and active in our Union.  Ken has my vote! " 

-  Sarah Atto,  MEM base FA

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"Election time is coming up, and I hope you will win the Union Presidency because you care about FA's needs.

IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT INFORMATION IS POWER!

1. You always inform us immediately what is going on in the Union, and that is important to all of us FAs.
2. You get out of your way to bring up certain subjects with detailed information thus we have someone to help us resolve issues which we are faced with every minute during our flying hours.

I believe, the above are good attributes for our new Union President.

Good luck Ken, and fly safe!" 

-  Michelle Mikulec, DTW base FA

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UNION EXPERIENCE:

• Current USW Local 9-772, "Acting" President
• Participated and recieved a certificate of completion, in the Collective Bargaining and Negotiations Training Course
• Participated and networked at the Coalition of Flight Attendants Conference, representing Pinnacle Airlines and USW Union.
• Former USW Local 9-772, Executive Vice-President
• Former USW Local 9-772, Recording Secretary
• Former USW Local 9-772, Trustee 

 

FLIGHT ATTENDANT WORK EXPERIENCE:

• Currently a flight attendant and former ATS for Pinnacle Airlines - DTW
• Former flight attendant for Nomads Charter Club Airlines - DTW
• Former corporate flight attendant for GM (General Motors)
• Former flight attendant for USA Jet - YIP (Willow Run Airport)
• Former flight attendant and base representative for USA3000 Airlines - DTW 

 

EDUCATION: 

• Northeast Missouri State University - BS Busines Administration
• North Shelby High School - Shelbyville, Missouri

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"Thank you for your time and support.  I hope you will consider and vote for me as your Union President."  - Ken Ratliff

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