Join National Call-In For Employee Free Choice Act - IAM members, their families and friends can help get the landmark Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) passed by joining a nationwide call-in this week sponsored by the AFL-CIO.  The proposed bill will strengthen employees’ rights to form unions free from employer harassment.  The U.S. Senate is scheduled to start floor debate on the EFCA this week and could vote soon.  The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed its version of the bill.  The AFL-CIO has sponsored a toll-free number that will connect you with your U.S. Senators.  If you live in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania or Virginia, dial: 1-800-774-8941.  Residents of other states can call 1-800-718-1008.  Please thank senators who are co-sponsors of the bill.  Click here for a list of co-sponsors.

Senators Ask Airlines For Pension Data - Changes in a pension law have prompted two senators to ask American Airlines and Continental Airlines to provide pension data.  Senators Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, objected to a last-minute provision inserted in military spending legislation aimed to reduce the carriers' cash contribution to employee pension plans.  "We will review in the light of day exactly what deal they got," said Sen. Baucus, who joined Sen. Grassley, in requesting information in letters to the two carriers.  Airlines, including Fort Worth-based American and Houston-based Continental, might be able to cut employee pension contributions by $2 billion over 10 years under language inserted into the Iraq measure, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said May 24^th.  The White House tried unsuccessfully to remove that provision from the bill, he said then.  Mr. Baucus is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees pension issues.  Mr. Grassley is the panel's leading Republican.  The provision, inserted in the bill late during negotiations, wasn't approved by the Finance Committee, according to the statement.  Mr. Bush signed the Iraq legislation into law May 25^th, a day after the House and Senate approved it.  The law lets the airlines assume an 8.25 percent annual discount rate to calculate their pension obligations, rather than the 6 percent they use now.  Each 1-point increase in the discount rate reduces the airlines' calculated pension liability by 10 percent to 15 percent, Douglas Elliott, president of the Center on Federal Financial Institutions, said in a report in August.  The senators asked AMR chief executive Gerard Arpey and Continental CEO Larry Kellner to tell them, by June 15^th, the amount of pension contributions that would be required without aid in the Iraq law.  They also asked for minimum contributions required using the provision in the Iraq law.

Continental Micronesia Flight Attendants will have the opportunity to attend a presentation on the IAM National Pension Plan.  Workshops are scheduled for June 19th to the 23rd at the GIAA conference room.  The power-point presentation will begin at 1:30 p.m. and take approximately 45 minutes to complete.  District 142 General Chairperson Larry Newcomb will be available to answer any questions you might have during the presentation.  We hope you will find the workshops informative and it will answer your questions about the pension plan as well as help you plan for your retirement.  Mark the dates in your calendar and we’ll see you there.

Continental Flight Attendants are reminded that transfer requests on-file will be removed July 1st, 2007, in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.  Section 12.B.4, Base Transfers, states, “Transfer requests remain on file until granted, replaced or withdrawn, rescinded by the Company, or until July 1st, whichever comes first.  (All requests will automatically expire on July 1st each year.  Flight Attendants who continue to desire to transfer after July 1st must therefore resubmit such requests.)”  The Company offers additional information regarding the transfer request expiration in Inflight Bulletin # 07-34, stating “Those of you who currently have transfers on file who are still interested in transferring, may either submit a new request after July 1st (and prior to the July 5th deadline), or may indicate your wish for your request to remain on file after the July 1st expiration date by checking the box supplied for this purpose on the transfer page of the Inflight Forms System.  (This box was made available for your use on June 1).  Requests to transfer for the August bid month must be on file by 1000 hours local time on July 5th.”  Continental Micronesia Flight Attendants also have this provision in their agreement, Section 17.K.  If you have any further questions about this process contact your Base or Inflight Administration Department or your local IAM Union Representatives.