1. Active Members
a. An active member is a flight attendant employed by an airline for whom the Union is the bargaining representative who has met the qualifications of Section A. of this Article and has been approved for such status in accordance with Section D. of this Article. An active member in good standing shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of the Union, including the right to vote and hold elected and appointed office. A member shall remain active until:
(1) That person is transferred to another classification.
(2) That person resigns or is expelled under any provision of the Bylaws; provided that during the period of appeal, if any, that person shall remain in active status.
(3) That person is terminated from her/his airline, provided that the person shall remain in active status during all grievance procedures incident to the final decision under that person's employment agreement relating to the termination.
(4) That person retires subject to the provisions of Paragraph 6. of this Section.
b. (1) Any member who takes a leave of absence for any reason under ninety (90) days shall remain active and pay dues.
(2) Any member who takes a leave of absence for any reason which exceeds ninety (90) days shall continue in active status and pay dues for the first ninety (90) days of said leave of absence.
(3) A member on a leave of absence which exceeds ninety (90) days may opt to remain on active status for the duration of said leave, providing that member notifies the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union and continues to pay membership dues and assessments directly to the Union for the duration of such leave of absence, except that Local Council Officers and Master Executive Council Officers who are not receiving any airline income while on leave of absence shall be exempt from paying dues. A member choosing to remain active under the provision of this subsection shall be entitled to all rights and privileges of the Union, including the right to vote and hold elective office.
(4) In the event any member in good standing on leave becomes delinquent in pay¬ment of dues for months prior to becoming inactive, because of financial hard¬ship, that member may be exempt from paying the dues obligation during such leave period by the application to and approval of the Local Executive Council. It is the responsibility of the Local Executive Council President to diligently track the return of the deferred member to active status.
(5) Any member who has outstanding dues for months prior to being furloughed may be exempt from paying the dues obligation during such furloughed period by the application to and approval of the Master Executive Council.
2. Executive Active
An executive active member is any member on leave from that person's airline to serve in any position deemed necessary by the Union to implement organization and administrative services.
a. All such members shall be appointed by the International President and approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the Executive Board.
b. An executive active member shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of the Union including the right to vote and hold elective office.
3. Apprentice Members
An apprentice member is a flight attendant who possesses all the requirements for active membership with the exception of having completed the required company probationary period stipulated in that member's employment agreement, or who need not be represented by the Union under that member's employment agreement, and whose application for such status has been approved in accordance with Sections of this Article. Such member will not be required to assume any financial obligation until becoming eligible for active membership. An apprentice member is excluded from the rights and privileges of the Union until that member meets the full requirements for active membership. However, an apprentice member shall be allowed full privileges of the floor at any Local Council meeting or portion thereof which has not been specifically declared closed to apprentice members.
4. Affiliate Member
An Affiliate Member is any person employed as a cabin crew member at a carrier where AFA is not yet the collective bargaining representative who applies for membership in AFA-CWA, and who otherwise meets all membership requirements. Such Affiliate Members shall have all the rights and privileges of the Union, with the exception that collective bargaining rights and access to a system board of adjustment would have to await formal recognition of the Union as the collective bargaining representative for the flight attendants on that airline. Those rights and privileges include the right to vote, and the right to hold elective office with the exception of International office.
a. When a carrier whose flight attendants hold affiliate membership has a certified election that results in that carrier becoming a newly organized carrier, that affiliate member will then have all the rights and responsibilities of an active member belonging to a newly organized carrier as outlined in the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws.
5. Management Status
a. When a member in good standing is employed by that member's company in a managerial, executive or supervisory capacity for a period to exceed ninety (90) days, that person shall notify the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union and the Board of Directors in writing within fifteen (15) days of entering such capacity. Upon such notification that person's active membership status shall be suspended, until return to active flying status. Dues obligation will continue until such time as that person notifies the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union and the Local Executive Council in writing or until reclassification. If that person does not give timely notice to the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union and the Local Executive Council, that person shall be reclassified into management status and be subject to charges under Article X.
b. The effective date of such classification shall be from the time the member assumed a managerial, executive or supervisory position.
c. To regain membership status that person shall be bound by the provisions of this Article.
d. A member in management status shall not have the right to vote, hold elective office, attend Union meetings, receive Union mailings or otherwise participate in Union affairs but shall be subject to provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws.
6. Inactive Members
a. Any member in good standing, including an apprentice member, shall become an inactive member automatically when:
(1) That member is placed on furlough and is not receiving furlough pay from the company.
(2) That person leaves in excess of ninety (90) days to fulfill a military obligation.
(3) That person takes a leave of absence in excess of ninety (90) days and fails to meet the provisions of Section C. 1. b. of this Article.
(4) That member is placed on non-paid status caused by an airline's aircraft being unavailable for flight due to action by governmental authorities or any other circumstances beyond the control of that member's carrier.
b. An inactive member shall not be able to vote or hold elective office.
c. An inactive member, other than one involuntarily furloughed, must pay her/his membership account in full within ninety (90) days from the date that member is placed on such inactive status, or make satisfactory arrangements for payment with the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union within such ninety (90) day period. When such ninety (90) day period has elapsed and no steps have been taken to settle that person's account, said member shall automatically be expelled unless, at the discretion of that member's Master Executive Council, there shall appear to be extenuating circumstances warranting an extension of time for the payment of such account.
d. Subparagraph a. shall not apply to any member who is placed on involuntary furlough leave of absence, or whose employment is severed by reason of temporary cessation of that airline's flight operations resulting from a work stoppage.
7. Retired Members
a. A retired member is a member whose service as a flight attendant with that member's company is terminated at normal retirement age and who is a member in good standing at the time of such termination. Further, any member in good standing who has accrued ten (10) years of active and executive membership in good standing in the Union, including good standing membership in any predecessor organization of the Union, and retires while in good standing prior to normal retirement age shall be classified as a retired member.
b. Recognizing that retired members are a valuable resource to the Union, a retired member shall retain the right to attend union meetings, receive union mailings or otherwise participate in union affairs. Any other communication other than Flightlog, shall be on a subscription basis or electronically. While attending meetings or otherwise participating in union affairs such retired flight attendant shall, except as provided in this paragraph, be subject to all other applicable provisions of the Constitution & Bylaws and the AFA-CWA Policy Manual.
c. A retired member shall not have the right to vote or hold elective office. While such member remains retired she/he shall not be required to pay dues, provided, however, that if such member resumes her/his flight attendant career at an airline where the flight attendants are, or become, AFA-CWA-represented, the dues obligation will resume for the duration of that employment.
8. Honorary Members
An honorary member is any person who, by a three-fourths (3/4) majority vote of the Board of Directors, has been granted honorary membership in the Union. There shall not be more than three (3) such honorary memberships granted in any one (1) year, and posthumous awards may be granted, by a three-fourths (3/4) majority vote of the Board of Directors. Honorary members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA will be exempt from paying dues.
9. Applications
a. All applications for membership shall be on a standard form provided for that purpose by the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union. Each applicant, by becoming a member of the Union, agrees and subscribes, without reservation, to all the provisions, conditions and stipulations in the Constitution and Bylaws currently in effect or as they may be added to, repealed or amended from time to time as specified in the Constitution and Bylaws.
b. An application for apprentice membership shall be processed in the same manner as applications for active membership, except that Local Council or Local Council President approval will not be required.
c. An applicant for active membership shall have completed that Company's required probationary period and be eligible for representation by the Union in accordance with that person's employment agreement before action on that person's application for such membership can become final, and the day following completion of such probationary period shall be the date of the applicant's active membership, subject to the prompt approval of that person's application by the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union and the Local Council or Local Council President having jurisdiction. Where there is no established Local Council, applicants for membership shall be subject to approval by the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union.
D. Approval
1. All applications for membership shall be submitted to the International Secretary-Treasurer.
2. Any member may file, with the International Secretary-Treasurer, an objection to the application within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the application.
3. If an objection is received, the applicant shall be investigated by the International Secretary-Treasurer, who shall submit a report to the Executive Board. The Executive Board, at its sole and complete discretion, may approve or disapprove the application.
4. The applicant and the applicant's Local Council shall be notified immediately by the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union of acceptance or rejection.
5. The making of willful misstatements, or the entering of untrue or misleading information, or the withholding of essential or pertinent information on an application for membership in the Union shall be cause for rejection, disciplinary action or expulsion.
E. Transfer of Inactive to Active
An active member who has been transferred to inactive membership is automatically returned to active membership upon return to flight attendant employment status with that member's carrier, and shall advise in writing to that person's Local Council President and the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union of such return immediately after the date the condition or conditions causing that person's inactive status are removed. Dues, assessments, and penalties shall begin to accrue as of the date of eligibility for transfer to active membership.
F. Transfer of Management Status Members to Active Membership
1. An active member who transferred to management status is immediately eligible for active membership upon return to flight attendant employment status with that person's carrier provided:
a. A written application is submitted to the Local Executive Council and the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union within ninety (90) days for reinstatement to active membership.
b. Such reinstatement shall be contingent upon receipt by the International Office of majority approval of the Local Executive Council.
2. The financial obligations of the members shall begin to accrue as of the date of eligibility for transfer to such active status.
3. Should Local Executive Council approval for active membership not be granted, charges shall be filed under the provisions of Article X. and heard by that person's Master Executive Council at its first regular meeting and a decision rendered at that meeting affirming or reversing its initial decision. That person may appeal therefrom to the Appeal Board utilizing the procedures of Article X.
4. When application for transfer from management status membership to active membership is refused by the person's Master Executive Council and the Appeal Board, that person's membership in the Union will be terminated. To regain membership status that person shall be bound by the provisions of Sections C. and D. of this Article.
G. Termination of Membership
1. Membership shall be terminated by expulsion when:
a. A member is expelled as provided in Article X.
b. A member is terminated as provided in Sections D. and F. of this Article.
2. Membership shall also be subject to termination by expulsion when a member is three (3) months in arrears in dues, initiation fee, assessments or fines, or when a member is two (2) months in arrears in such financial obligations if the member has been in arrears with respect to a prior obligation within the preceding two (2) years, as provided in Article XI.
3. Membership shall also be terminated when:
a. A member voluntarily resigns from the Union, provided that member's obligations to the Union as of the date that member's written notice of resignation are paid in full.
b. A member severs employment with that member's carrier.
H. Reinstatement of Former Members
1. Any member who has been expelled for non-payment of dues, initiation fee, assessments, or fines, or who has voluntarily resigned from the Union while continuing actively in such profession, or who was in bad standing at the time membership was terminated, may submit an application for membership to the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union. If that person's application is approved by the Local Executive Council and by the International Secretary-Treasurer of the Union, that person shall become a member in good standing upon payment of:
a. All outstanding indebtedness to the Union as of the time former membership ceased, and
b. An amount equal to the sum total of all dues and assessments which would have been paid as an active member in good standing, but which have not been paid from the time of termination of former membership until the time of membership reinstatement, and
c. A reinstatement fee as set forth in Article XI.
2. Any former member, other than those outlined in Paragraph 1. of this Section, is eligible to reapply for membership, subject only to the provision of Section C.8. and Section D. of this Article, and provided further that an individual who resigned her/his membership should be required to pay a reinstatement fee as set forth in Article XI. as a condition of reinstatement to AFA-CWA membership.
3. When application for transfer from management status membership to active membership is not made within ninety (90) days from date of eligibility, that person shall be required to pay an amount equal to the sum total of all dues and assessments which would have been paid as an active member in good standing from the time that person was eligible to apply for return to active service.
I. Acceptance of Rejected Applicants or Reinstatement of Members Expelled for Reasons Other than Non-Payment of Dues or Assessments
Any former active member or other person who has engaged in any activity, directly or indirectly, opposing the Union, or its aims or purposes, or against the best interests of any member or members thereof, or who has been found guilty of any actions under the provisions of Article X, resulting in expulsion from the Union, shall not be accepted for membership except by special action of the Board of Directors at a regular annual meeting, subject to the provisions of Section H. of this Article and such conditions or fines as the Board of Directors may fix. Nothing in this Section shall be construed as giving any mandatory right to any such former active member or other persons.
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