Sep 3, 2010

Activism With AFA Increases Your Professional Marketability & Experience

For Our Collective Future....and Yours

AFA Flight Attendant Activists & Committee Volunteers have utilized the skills learned while performing AFA work in many different fields. Many of your local activists, past and present — have taken advantage of trainings, seminars and day-to-day duties to supplement their resumes and add to their professional accomplishments. Get involved — personal involvement in our union is a personal investment in your career!

Whether they remain with the company and retain the expertise as a back up, or find other job opportunities are open to them because of the gained experience; the wealth of knowledge is an added asset for AFA activists. AFA involvement allows us to concurrently fly and receive experience in a wide variety of fields that each committee and level of involvement provides. Plus, it looks good on a resume and provides personal growth too! Activism with our union increases your professional marketability and experience — isn't in important to invest in YOU?

Learning & Growing

Learning and growing is a process. It doesn't happen overnight. Every single AFA Activist & Committee member can cite AFA involvement as a vehicle for learning more about our Contract, our rights, and our power. It's our profession — and our future — so involvement and growth go hand-in-hand. As activists and volunteers support and assist our colleagues, they in turn gain valuable skills and expertise in many areas that impact our jobs.

At AFA Los Angeles Council 12, we have activists who have been involved for a few months, a few years — to decades. We all got our start somewhere, and we must commit to ensuring our history is sustained into the future. We all have our individual reasons for getting involved, but the common theme remains the focus and interest in our collective futures.

No Commitment or Obligation...

From one hour per month — to one day per month — the skills acquired are not only a supplement to your personal growth, but a vested interest in our unified power and our proud profession. Many of our AFA Activists & Volunteers provide support and assistance solely through phone, email and computer (meaning that you don't have to physically be in the office to contribute and make a difference). If every Flight Attendant at LAX Council 12 volunteered one day each, we'd have our LEC Office manned for almost 5 years!

Let's face it — all of us have busy lives, outside commitments and/or secondary jobs — it's a common reality in our world. But, are we "too busy" to care about the jobs where we spend so much of our lives at? If we continue to believe that "someone else" will take care of it, we'll have no one left to stand up for our rights, and to support the needs of our collective membership. There is simply no better advocate for a Flight Attendant than another Flight Attendant! Make the time to get involved in our union — be heard, learn more, and take a stand.

If you make it a point to check email and get online several times per week; you too, can be involved! Electronic communication has transformed the way business is handled, and AFA Activism is no different. Drop us an email and make your mark on our careers and our coworkers!

Committee Work Makes A Difference...

Grievance Training and Grievance work has led to committee members’ pursuit of law degrees and jobs in the legal field. This committee is an integral component of our Union as it defends members in hearing procedures and disciplinary processes. Local volunteers have also moved from LEC involvement to the MEC level, which allows for broader contributions to our Union’s overall defenses for the membership as a whole.

EAP/Professional Standards committee members have added to their marketability in the fields of social work, human resources and vital oversight and development positions outside the company. The working knowledge AFA committee members receive while doing work on a committee is useful in a wide variety of work environments — keeping them fresh and marketable.

Open Up Doors...

Skills acquired on the Communications Committee are afforded by participation in press and media interviews which further our message to the public on Flight Attendant issues. Writing, editing and publishing of articles has provided volunteers a competitive edge in many communications/public relations occupations. One committee member was accepted into the media/public relations department at a major motion picture studio’s internship program based on volunteerism and experience gained with their AFA activism.

Involvement in our Government Affairs Committee has paved the way for AFA activists to pursue roles as political lobbyists and advocates in various legislative arenas. Several committee members have worked with our MEC Government Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill. The training and experience also provides strengths in forging relationships with elected public representatives, thus opening the door to in-depth involvement in politics.

The Sky's The Limit...

These committees are just a few of the many committees that have provided volunteers and activists the ability to receive training and real world experiences to enhance their own personal skills and professional attributes. Many AFA volunteers have cross-trained in multiple committees, and continue their strives to protect and maintain defense of our Flight Attendant profession. We encourage you to get involved now, and start your involvement in our future — AND YOURS!

Ready to get involved? Here's how: Just drop us an email at afalax@unitedafa.org for more, or give us a call — come by the office and see what makes our Union tick!

WE are the Union. WE affect change through our involvement!

Copyright © December 2006 - AFA-CWA Council 12 Los Angeles. All Rights Reserved.

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