Dear Mr Arpey,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply to my recent inquiries. Today,
however, I have a complaint. The decision to rewrite the attendance policy to
count snow days as unauthorized absences (UA) is harmful to morale &
eventually will prove costly.
This last winter local management at JFK began issuing UA's for what
traditionally has always been a transportation emergency. The new policy
charges us with an occurrence against our attendance records with every
incident. In the storm-prone Northeast this will lead to unnecessary
discipline. Furthermore, I'm at a total loss how this may even be considered a
cost saving measure.
In Nov & Dec we were blanketed with several blizzards. I live 30 miles
from JFK & during the snow storm of 12/14/03 it was impossible to trek into
the airport. My county had declared a transportation emergency & my entrance
to the highway was closed. After 2 hours on the road I returned home & called
in snowbound. When I checked my attendance the following week, I was
astonished to find my snowbound coded a UA. I learned from the Union that snow
days were now regarded as such. 3 months after that I was counseled for the UA
by local management & advised it would count against my attendance. I consider
being counseled 3 months after the event untimely & harassment.
Mr Arpey, is it management's contention that I should risk my life or
imperil other motorists in a blizzard just so I'm not charged with an
unauthorized absence??? The company has already lost an arbitration case in
PHL on this same subject . . . why does management persist on continuing a
policy ruled unreasonable by an arbitrator???
I made it into JFK in an earlier storm. However, my back pains were
excruciating from shoveling snow in the morning. If AA insists on counting
snowbound as a UA, my coworkers & I are now inclined to call sick in the
future & collect 4 hours pay.
Mr Arpey, I implore you to reverse the injustice of the UA policy for
travel emergencies. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
G Santos
Mechanic-JFK