United Master Executive Council Negotiating Committee
Ken Diaz
Master Executive Council President
Ken Diaz began his airline career in 1983 with People Express Airlines working in the Accounting Department and as a Flight Attendant. He continued his Flight Attendant career with Continental Airlines and Carnival Airlines just before being hired with United Airlines in June of 1998. Shortly after 9/11 Ken became involved in lobbying Congress for mandatory Security Training for Flight Attendants. He became Government Affairs Chairperson for Newark, Council 6 shortly thereafter. He went on to become the Grievance Chairperson, as well as being elected the Local Executive Council 6 Secretary of Newark in 2005.
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After United made the decision to close the Newark domicile, Ken transferred to JFK. Ken then became trained as an EAP Representative and Occupational/Benefits Committee Member. In February 2008, Ken was elected as Local Executive Council President for Council 5 and was elected for his second term of office in 2011.
Ken’s deep-seated passion for the rights and advocacy of his Union Brothers and Sisters found him compelled to further serve the Membership by seeking election to the office of United MEC President in May of 2014. After his successful election as our MEC President, Ken continues serving the Membership in his fourth term as our United Master Executive Council President and additionally serves on the AFA International Organizing and Ethical Practices Committees.
Ken was a Member of our 2012 -2016 Negotiating Committee who successfully negotiated our Flight Attendant Agreement during Expedited Negotiations.
Joe Burns
AFA General Counsel
Joe Burns is the General Counsel and Director of Collective Bargaining at AFA-CWA and has worked at AFA since 2001. Joe has over two decades of experience bargaining flight attendant agreements and has been involved in bargaining at most of the carriers in the industry. Joe worked as an arbitration attorney with the AFA MEC at United when he was first hired at AFA and also helped negotiate the merged contract at United.
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As the Director of Collective Bargaining, Joe oversees bargaining at all AFA carriers and has been involved in many successful strike votes and contract campaigns. Most recently, Joe was the lead negotiating attorney and strategist in the American Airlines flight attendant bargaining.
Joe is a graduate of New York University School of Law. Prior to law school, Joe was a local union president with AFSCME very involved in strike support efforts in the 1990s. Prior to working at AFA, Joe bargained in the healthcare industry. Joe is the author of three published books on strikes and labor theory and has written many articles for labor outlets, including Labor Notes, In These Times, and Jacobin.
Melinda Beal
United AFA MEC Negotiating Committee
Melinda has been a Flight Attendant for over 37 years. She was hired in August of 1987 and began her career in Newark as part of CAL-EWR/People Express. After two years on the East Coast, she relocated and started flying out of Cleveland, and as a proud Council 63 member, she never left.
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Melinda’s leadership and dedication to the membership in Cleveland have been instrumental to the success of the Cleveland base. Her journey began as Local Secretary nine years ago, leading to two three-year terms as Local Council President. Her influence extends to the Communications Workers of America State Council of Ohio, where she serves as a trustee, and as an active delegate in the North Shore AFL-CIO.
Melinda is one of the 14 Locally elected Presidents who comprise the Master Executive Council. She is a versatile leader, with previous grievance experience, line-building skills, and EAP coordination. Melinda’s commitment to her flying partners is unwavering, as she continues to fly and stay connected with Flight Attendant issues, advocating for them on a daily basis.
Melinda has attended many trainings throughout her career, from Retirement and Benefits to Advanced Leadership. Melinda has attended graduate courses at the Labor Center at UMass, making it her passion to stay connected to Labor issues.
She is highly motivated to bring her experience and talents to the negotiations table and will do everything in her power to get us the tentative agreement we deserve.
Chris Bruton
United AFA MEC Negotiating Committee
Chris began his flight attendant career at TWA in 1990. After being furloughed just four months into the job, he started as a United Airlines flight attendant in 1991, based in ORD. Over the next 15 years, he was based in JFK, BOS, LHR, and finally, DEN in 2007.
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In 2011, Chris began volunteering for AFA Council 9 and was elected as a Council Representative that same year. He served as C9 Vice-President for three terms beginning in 2013 before being elected LEC President in 2022.
As a union leader, Chris has contributed to numerous committees, including Grievance, Reserve, Family Leave, and EAP/Professional Standards. He is trained in Benefits and Retirement, Safety, and Occupational issues, bringing a well-rounded perspective to his roles.
Chris believes that contract education and enforcement is essential to our union's success. To that end, in addition to the C9 Newsletter, he has developed tools and resources to help make contract information more accessible. These include the MEC IRROP Survival Guide, C9 InfoLinks, and various online calculators to assist with Duty Max/Door Closure, Holiday Pay, Reserve Fly Through options, and Bad Day Worse Day trades, all of which can be found on the Council 9 website AFADEN.org.
Chris finds immense fulfillment in union work and embraces the challenges it brings. His passion lies in empowering, educating, and advocating for his fellow flight attendants.
Randy Hatfield
United AFA MEC Negotiating Committee
Suzanne Balzer
AFA Staff Negotiator
Suzanne joined AFA in 2010 as a Staff Negotiator after spending 40+ years at Northwest Airlines and the predecessor airlines and retired from Northwest at time of merger with Delta Airlines.
She brings a wealth of experience and industry insight – further strengthening our Negotiating Committee. Suzanne has spent the past 14 months working on the Delta organizing campaign and has participated in 11 contract negotiations, including our JCBA negotiations.
Additionally, she has served as Local Council President and on various committees including negotiating, grievance, system board, and seniority integration.
Christopher Thurber
AFA Notetaker
Christopher began his career as a Flight Attendant with United Airlines in 2006. Originally based in Washington, D.C. Christopher transferred to the Guam base in March of 2019, where is currently a Member of United AFA Council 65.
In 2009, Christopher's passion for assisting those in need led him to begin volunteering within his Local Council, where his eagerness to learn quickly made him a highly valued asset to the Membership.
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In 2010, his hard work and Union dedication resulted in Christopher becoming an important contributor to the Grievance Committee of Council 21. He remained active in that role until July of 2017, at which time he was elected to the position of United MEC Vice Grievance Chair, specializing in contract issues. Christopher, also served as an Information Representative during the ratification of the UA 2012-2016 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Christopher will be serving the Membership during our 2021 Contract Negotiations by assisting the Negotiations Committee with keeping detailed documentation during the negotiation process.
Our Mission & Vision
Our Negotiating Committee is committed to personally listening to you and gathering your feedback regarding our upcoming contract negotiations.
Our Negotiating Committee is steeped in experience and with the support of our MEC Committees. They recognize the most important part of being prepared for negotiations is You. Their focus is to ensure that every voice is heard - not only today but throughout the entire negotiations process.
Your voice matters. These negotiations are about you. This is your Contract, and with more than 27,000 strong you will make a powerful force in support of a new contract.
